Player Salaries In 1990, the average player salary
was $597,537; in 1992, the average rose to $1,028,667,
and by 1997 the average was at $1,380,000. Team pay-
rolls skyrocketed in the 1990’s. In 1995, the Yankees
had the highest payroll, $54,889,849, and the Cincin-
nati Reds were second with $46,763,886. The World
Series champion Atlanta Braves had $46,423,444,
the fourth highest. The lowest salary belonged to
the Montreal Expos, with $12,956,557. The Yankees’
average salary was $2,000,271, compared to the aver-
age major-league salary of $1,110,766. The average
salary of the Expos was $750,840. In 1998, the Ori-
oles had the highest payroll, $70,408,134; the Yan-
kees were second, with $63,159,901. The Expos were
the only team to have a team payroll below $10 mil-
lion, with $9,202,000.
Individual player salaries burgeoned during the
1990’s. In 1993, Cecil Fielder of the Tigers received a
five-year deal worth $36 million. Barry Bonds signed
as a free agent with the Giants to a six-year contract
worth $43,750,000. In January, 1996, the Seattle Mari-
ners made Ken Griffey, Jr., the highest-paid player
ever with a four-year, $34 million contract. However,
in November, 1996, Albert Belle became the highest-
paid player by signing a five-year, $55 million con-
tract with the White Sox. In 1997, Sammy Sosa signed
a four-year deal for $42.5 million with the Chicago
Cubs, and on August 10, 1997, Greg Maddux inked a
five-year deal guaranteeing him $11.5 million per
year with the Braves. On December 10, 1997, Na-
tional League Cy Young Award-winner Pedro Marti-
nez of the Expos became baseball’s highest-paid
player when he signed a $75 million, six-year con-
tract with the Boston Red Sox. Even draft selection
players received lucrative signing bonuses. On Au-
gust 11, 1996, pitcher Kris Benson of Clemson Uni-
versity became the highest-paid draft choice ever
when he signed a $2 million bonus with the Pitts-
burgh Pirates, but in November of 1996 Tampa Bay
signed a high school pitcher for a record $10.2 mil-
lion bonus.
Labor and Management Relations Baseball in the
1990’s included a number of owner and player dis-
putes. Owners were determined to roll back salaries
through some form of salary-cap arrangement, to
curtail salary arbitration, and to cut down some of
the other gains that players had made. The players
had one weapon, to strike. On February 15, 1990,
baseball owners announced that spring training
camps would not open as scheduled. Previous lock-
outs had taken place in 1973 and 1976. The lockout
was a result of an unresolved dispute over salary arbi-
tration. As a result, the thirty-two-day lockout re-
sulted in a season opening that was one week late.
Baseball’s four-year collective-bargaining agree-
ment expired on December 31, 1993. Baseball own-
ers introduced a salary cap as a means to curtail the
rising contracts offered to players as a result of free
agency. Negotiations continued into the 1994 sea-
son without any agreement. On July 28, 1994, the
Major League Baseball Players Association executive
board unanimously approved August 12 as the date
for a strike. It was the third work stoppage in the past
twenty-three years. The dispute focused on a salary
cap, free agency, salary arbitration, and minimum
salaries. Shortly after the strike began, the owners
offered an alternative to salary caps by proposing
a luxury tax, which would be levied on team pay-
rolls exceeding $51 million. On September 14, 1994,
the baseball season was canceled by the owners
after thirty-four days of the players’ strike. For the
first time since 1903, there would be no World
Series.
As the strike continued into 1995, President Bill
Clinton urged both owners and players to resolve
their differences by February 6. Meanwhile, on Janu-
ary 1, 1995, baseball owners locked out the sixty-four
American and National League umpires. On April 2,
after 234 days of strike, the players and owners came
to an agreement. The season would begin on April
26, and teams would play 144 games instead of 162.
League play opened with replacement umpires to
fill in for the sixty-four umpires who were locked out.
On May 1, the owners ended the lockout after reach-
ing a five-year agreement. As a result of the players’
strike, owners lost revenue estimated at between
$800 and $900 million; players lost $350 million in
salary, and a total of 921 regular-season games were
canceled, as well as playoffs and the World Series.
Statistics for the 1995 season showed that atten-
dance was down 21 percent from 1994.Pitching Performances In 1990, there were seven
no-hitters (excluding performances of fewer than
nine innings) pitched; 1991 also saw seven no-hitters.
In only two seasons, pitchers had surpassed the num-
ber of no-hitters thrown in the 1980’s (thirteen).
Four pitchers threw perfect games: Dennis Marti-
nez, Kenny Rogers, David Wells, and David Cone.84 Baseball The Nineties in America