Twenty-two years ago today Major League Baseball players went on strike
Coming of the remarkable 1993 NL Championship season, the Phillies entered 1994 with a chance to repeat. Clearly struggling and falling well out of the pennant race, the Phillies ended up defending champions for another season, despite being 20 1/2 games out.
The players strike of 1994 began 22 years ago today and wiped out the remainder of the season and postseason.
For the first time since 1904, there would be no World Series. The strike not only affected the 1994 season, but shortened the 1995 season to 144 games. All told, the 232 day strike was the longest in MLB history, surpassing the strike of 1981.
The strike affected many throughout baseball, as Tony Gwynn was on pace to hit .400. Frank Thomas won the MVP award and was having a career season, but was unable to see what his final totals could have been. Giants third baseman Matt Williams had slugged 43 home runs and was within striking distance of surpassing Roger Maris home run total of 61 for a season. The Montreal Expos had the best record in baseball at 71-40 and could have been on their way to their first World Series title.
Not only did it affect potential record-breaking seasons, because of the strike, Julio Franco, Shane Mack and Kevin Mitchell, all hitting over .300, opted to play in Japan. Yankee star Don Mattingly lost a chance to play in the postseason for the first time in his career.
What made the strike more ridiculous was the inclusion of replacement players to begin the 1995 preseason. These replacement players included former MLB players and those that tried and never made it to the Major Leagues or even professional ranks.
Fortunately, the strike ended before these players stepped on the field for the regular season, unlike the NFL in 1987 when replacement players were used for the first three regular season games.
As to how the strike affected the Phillies, Danny Jackson was 14-6 at the strike and had an outside shot at a 20-win season. Newly acquired closer Doug Jones was on pace for a 40-save season. Darren Daulton was hitting .300 with a .929 OPS and could have ended with his best season ever in the Major Leagues.
Longtime reliever and current Phillies broadcaster Larry Andersen retired following the season.
The 1995 Phillies finished second in the division, but were six games under .500 at 69-75. This began a streak of seven consecutive seasons of sub-.500 baseball.