BASEBALL / DAILY REPORT

Tom Geoghegan, a union advocate and labor law expert from Chicago, understands why the average worker cannot relate to the striking baseball players.

“When you think of people who are union types, (I) can’t think of worse material than young, millionaire ballplayers who are probably Reaganites,” he said. “Why are they in a union? Because they can get away with it.

“Fans don’t have the right in their own work lives to go out and bargain with their employers through a union the way the players do. Unlike steelworkers, they can’t be as easily replaced. That’s the real resentment. If you had unions like in the 1950s, you wouldn’t see fans begrudge the players.”