The 1972 Major League Baseball strike was the first players'
strike in
Major League Baseball history. The strike occurred from April 1 to 13, 1972.
Baseball resumed when the owners and players agreed on a $500,000 increase in
pension fund
A pension fund, also known as a superannuation fund in some countries, is any plan, fund, or scheme which provides retirement income.
Pension funds typically have large amounts of money to invest and are the major investors in listed and priva ...
payments. Owners agreed to add salary
arbitration
Arbitration is a form of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) that resolves disputes outside the judiciary courts. The dispute will be decided by one or more persons (the 'arbitrators', 'arbiters' or 'arbitral tribunal'), which renders the ' ...
to the Collective Bargaining Agreement. The 86 total games that were missed over the 13-day period were not rescheduled, because the league refused to pay the players for the time they were on strike. As a result, the
Houston Astros
The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston, Texas. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division, having moved to the division in 2013 after ...
and
San Diego Padres each played only 153 games, nine fewer than normal, and no team played more than 156 games.
[
One major effect of the uneven schedule was that the ]Detroit Tigers
The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...
played one more game than the Boston Red Sox, which enabled Detroit (with a record of 86–70) to win the American League East as Boston (with a record of 85–70) finished game behind. Detroit won the division on the next-to-last day of the season when they beat Boston, 3–1, at Tiger Stadium.
See also
* 1972 Major League Baseball season
The 1972 Major League Baseball season was the first to have games cancelled by a player strike. It was also the last season in which American League pitchers would At bat, hit for themselves on a regular basis; the designated hitter rule would g ...
References
External links
*Google Search (timeline)
Jan–Jun, 1972
Major League Baseball Strike, 1972
Strike
Major League Baseball labor disputes
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