Late Rally Saves Baseball Season

With just hours to spare, baseball negotiators worked through an all-night bargaining session to reach a tentative agreement Friday on a labor contract. The four-year deal ended the threat of a season-ending strike, allowing both players and fans to head to the ballparks in relief.

"It came down to us playing baseball or having our reputations and life ripped by the fans," said Steve Kline, the Cardinals' player representative. "Baseball would have never been the same if we had walked out."

Commissioner Bud Selig called the deal "historic," the first time since 1969 that players and owners agreed to a deal in collective bargaining without a work stoppage.

"All streaks come to an end, and this was one that was overdue," union head Donald Fehr said at a news conference with Selig.

CBS News Correspondent Bob Sirkin reports it's a four-year deal, in which the union made enormous concessions on the luxury or payroll tax, lowering the threshold by $35 million, and allowing it to be in effect for all four years of the agreement. The owners, in turn, have put off -- at least through 2006 contraction -- the elimination of financially-weak teams

Owners gained their most significant concessions in 26 years with a luxury tax, a new revenue-sharing plan and mandatory testing for steroids. They also agreed not to eliminate teams through the 2006 season. Owners had attempted to fold the Montreal Expos and Minnesota Twins after last season.

The deal also could mean the Expos will move to Washington. Earlier this year, Selig had said that relocations of teams would be discussed after an agreement.

The deal was reached about 3½ hours before Friday's first game, between the St. Louis Cardinals and Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field. The players had set Friday as the strike deadline on Aug. 16.

A walkout threatened the final 31 days and 438 games of the regular season as well as the World Series, and fans were angry at players and owners for their repeated quarrels over a business that generates $3.5 billion annually.

Fan Tony Pencek was sitting in a bar across from Wrigley Field when he heard the news. He immediately ran over and bought a ticket for the game.

"America needs this. Especially with September 11th coming up," he said. "You need to get people's minds off of it. And for something good to happen is great."

Selig and Fehr attended a morning bargaining session that wrapped up the deal, which averted the sport's ninth work stoppage since 1972. The previous eight negotiations resulted in five strikes and three lockouts.

"I think a lot of people thought they'd never live long enough to see these two parties come together with a very meaningful deal and do it without one game of work stoppage," Selig said.

Still, the pact has not been signed and parts weren't even in writing. It was unclear when it would be ratified.

Two lawyers from each side bargained until 2 a.m. before the sides broke for caucuses. Players gave owners a proposal during a 20-minute meeting that began at 4 a.m., and owners responded with a counteroffer about 6:30 a.m. The union returned with a response at 9:15 a.m.

The final meeting, which completed talks that began in January, lasted almost three hours. As soon as it ended, teams started heading to ballparks.

"It was close. I was about to make my flight arrangements to go home," Cubs outfielder Roosevelt Brown said.

With the deal, owners gained concessions from one of the most powerful unions in the nation. The players' association has lifted the average salary of its members from $51,501 in 1976 — the last year before free agency — to $2.38 million this season.

As part of the agreement, high-revenue teams will have to share 34 percent of their locally generated money, up from 20 percent. An additional $72.2 million will be taken each year from the central fund and distributed to lower-revenue teams, and the commissioner will be given a $10 million discretionary fund.A luxury tax will be levied on high-payroll teams to discourage spending. Portions of payrolls will be taxed, with the threshold starting at $117 million next year and rising to $120.5 million in 2004, $128 million in 2005 and $136.5 million in 2006.

For the first time, players agreed to mandatory testing for steroids, which will start next year on a survey basis. The minimum salary will rise next year from $200,000 to $300,000.

Since the last strike in 1994-95, a 232-day stoppage that forced cancellation of the World Series for the first time since 1904, the New York Yankees have won four world championships. For that very reason, Selig and many team owners said they needed changes to restore competitive balance.

The mid-market teams figure to be the biggest winners in the deal, receiving much more of their competitors' money.

The biggest losers are the New York Yankees, whose $242 million revenue last year was $40 million higher than any other club. The Yankees, who paid $28 million in revenue sharing last year, expect the new deal will cost them $50 million to $55 million next year.

The New York Mets, the Boston Red Sox, the Seattle Mariners and the San Francisco Giants also will have to pay a lot more, and they may have to raise ticket prices to cover the increases.

"It's going to affect a lot of teams with high payrolls, there's no question about that," Yankees pitcher Steve Karsay said.