ocably turned off from the game, and in fact baseball was perhaps more popular in 1998 than it had ever been previously.
In the article "Fans resigned as season 'ends'," The News & Observer writes of the last day that baseball was played before the strike began:
Fans in high places and fans in the upper sections of stadiums knew it was coming. As Major League Baseball played what might be its final day of the season Thursday, they tried to handle the disappointment of the imminent players' strike. Sens. Howard Metzenbaum, D Ohio, and Orrin Hatch, R Utah, tried to bring the pressure of the federal government on baseball by introducing legislation "to encourage serious negotiations to prevent a strike." The measure doesn't force any resolution and "doesn't tip the balance in favor of the owners or the players," said Metzenbaum, who tried earlier in the season to lift the antitrust exemption enjoyed by baseball as a means to averting a strike.
However, the actions of the Senators, and even the attempted intervention of President Bill Clinton, were to no avail. At the same time, the involvement of the Senators indicates the sense in the nation that this was not merely another strike, but rather one which touched the nerve of the nation. The bill which was introduced by Senators Metzenbaum and Hatch was called the Baseball Fans Protection Act. Metzenbaum inserted a note of humor, but it also served the purpose of showing the people that he was not merely a lawmaker but was also, and perhaps more importantly, a fan of the team from his state: "I'm not doing this just because the Cleveland Indians are within strikin
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