FORT MYERS, FLA. – The Major League Baseball Players Association had a midseason strike that wiped out 38% of the games in 1981. The schedule was shut down on June 12 and did not resume until Aug. 10.
The minor leagues continued through this and played a full season. The Reusse lads and I went to Wisconsin Rapids, in the Class A Midwest League, during the strike.
The primary purpose was to see Jim Eisenreich, drafted in June 1980 out of St. Cloud State. It was worth the trip. He could run, he could roam center field and, mostly, he could hit with that splendid lefthanded swing:
A .311 average, a .409 on-base percentage, 23 home runs (before they were plentiful) and 99 RBI in 134 games. The Twins were so impressed by his Class A dominance that, when the 1982 season started in the Metrodome, Eisenreich was leading off and filling what had been a void in center.
The players went on strike again in 1994, canceling games starting Aug. 12 and wiping out the rest of the season, including the World Series for the first time in 90 years.
What that stoppage did not prevent were full minor league seasons, including playoffs that crowned Richmond (International), Indianapolis (American Association) and Albuquerque (Pacific Coast) as Class AAA champions.
As the Twins head into the final portion of this big-league spring training, the pandemic has offered a challenge not faced previously by organized baseball:
Decisions being made on present and future prospects without the benefit of evidence gained in the minor leagues in the previous year.