An arbitrator rules that the A's defaulted on Catfish Hunter's contract and declares him a free agent. They challenge the reserve clause and arbitrator Peter Seitz rules that they are free to sign with any team. Ryan's career record at the time is eight games over .500. 1980 NBA commissioner David Stern negotiates a salary cap for his struggling league. The NBA explodes in success and popularity, and Stern's plan becomes the model that baseball owners yearn for.
Baseball players strike again.
It takes baseball 103 years to produce its first million-dollar player. Four years later, the Mets release Foster - and win the World Series. Henderson goes more than a week before complaining that he's underpaid. The team is immediately dismantled and returns to the NL cellar in 1998. The players strike again, this time because the owners want to enact the NBA-inspired salary cap.