BROWN: We wear caps and aprons at the bargaining table

Published 2:23 pm Thursday, July 31, 2025

Well, what do you know. You bring up Matt Olson’s consecutive games played streak and …

No. As of July 29, nothing happened to end that streak. The Atlanta Braves played 105 games at that point, and Olson was in every one of them.

This has to do with a point made by me the last time out about how long he would need to get into the company of “Iron Horse” Lou Gehrig and Cal Ripken Jr. It’s a long time, more than a decade.

The former Baltimore Orioles legendary shortstop had his quest for the record delayed a few times by work stoppages, but he made it and went well beyond that to establish an even more unreachable mark.

Then I read about a confrontation between another All-Star player in baseball and the current commissioner. This one involved some foul, unrepeatable language. The topic: upcoming labor negotiations.

The implied suggestion of a salary cap made Bryce Harper of the Philadelphia Phillies blow his cap.

And I am aware that there are some people right here in Georgia who had similar words for the current commissioner. They just didn’t have the face-to-face audience with Mr. Rob Manfred. It had something to do with Atlanta and the All-Star Game and 2021.

Four years later, the Mid-Summer Classic made its way finally to Truist Park, four years too late for some people.

Have to hand it to the commissioner, though. He gave it right back to Harper in the middle of the Phillies clubhouse.

The collective bargaining agreement between baseball players and owners expires after the 2026 season. The players’ union’s opposition to a salary cap is nothing new. You could point to it as the main reason the 1994 season didn’t get completed.

Yes, other major professional sports leagues have it. Like the NBA. Apparently, National Basketball Association salary negotiations are so messy they need to wear an apron … really, nobody got that?

It’s new term for the year. I’m looking at a definition that says aprons are additional salary thresholds that bring strict penalties which can hinder one’s ability to make trades or draft picks.

There are two aprons, one I guess is for baking in the kitchen and the other for outdoor barbecue grilling … again, anyone getting this? Just trying to inject some humor into the already boffo world of economics.

But the scene in Philadelphia wasn’t too funny if you were there. Here are Harper’s words thanks to ESPN: Players “aren’t scared to lose 162 games.” Then came the censored words.

And so there’s the potential pause in the Olson quest. But I am sure he is also a team player when it comes to his union.

As for that All-Star Game in Atlanta, I am certain it was a big ratings boost to have the first ‘swing-off’ — essentially another home-run derby — determine the winner. The NFL seems to have a winner with a Pro Bowl tug-of-war.

Hey, the WNBA had an All-Star game recently, too. Did they actually play a game, or were people still honed in on the “Pay Us What You Owe Us” theme of the day while the players took part in a little cornhole? Another collective bargaining statement brought out in the public.

But then you have this statement from Harper:

“I’ve talked labor and I’ve done it in a way that I don’t need to talk to the media about it. I don’t need it out there. It has nothing to do with media or anybody else.”

At least he and the W kept these clean. Aprons must have been in the laundry.

(If at all possible, give pet adoption a try through the Animal Rescue Foundation in Milledgeville. Donations of any kind are also in great need. ARF is the little red building at 711 S. Wilkinson St., and more information is available at animalrescuefoundation.org.)