PHOENIX (AP) \u2014 The only hint of activity outside of Chase Field on Thursday afternoon was the low humming noise from a construction crew, which was busy hanging some signs for an upcoming col\u2026<\/b>
\nBy DAVID BRANDT PHOENIX (AP) \u2014 The only hint of activity outside of Chase Field on Thursday afternoon was the low humming noise from a construction crew, which was busy hanging some signs for an upcoming college football bowl game. Otherwise, the home of Major League Baseball\u2019s Arizona Diamondbacks was quiet, almost serene. That\u2019s fine \u2014 and even expected \u2014 on Dec.2. The problem is if it still feels like this on March 31. That\u2019s the day the 2022 MLB season is scheduled to begin and Chase Field\u2019s downtown concourse should be bustling with fans, ready to start the 162-game schedule with a day game against the Milwaukee Brewers. But it\u2019s unclear if that game or any others will be happening this spring now that the sport has entered its first work stoppage in 26 years. Bill Pupo \u2014 a longtime baseball fan and Diamondbacks season-ticket holder \u2014 said he\u2019s hopeful of a quick resolution, but also acknowledges the current labor squabble has the feel of the 1994-95 strike that lasted 7 1\/2 months and wiped out the World Series for the first time in 90 years. \u201cI think ownership is entitled to make a profit,\u201d Pupo said. \u201cThe players feel like they need a bigger slice of the pie and I don\u2019t blame them. They\u2019re the talent, the entertainers. \u201cThe question is, what\u2019s the middle ground?\u201d MLB\u2019s labor showdown pits the league\u2019s owners vs. the players with a notable third party warily watching: the fans. It\u2019s unlikely the ticket-buying public will be very sympathetic to public bickering between the owners and players. Even in the best of times, fans want their baseball and it was clear in the aftermath of the 1994-95 strike that fans were slow to forgive. Some never did. Largely thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, this is not the best of times. The 2020 regular season was drastically shortened and played in parks with no fans. Last season was better, but crowd capacity limits were still in place in many locations. Now labor strife. The topic was on people\u2019s minds after a softball game on an artificial turf field in Manhattan near the Hudson River. \u201cIt\u2019s going to turn people off,\u201d said 63-year-old Joe Cannizzo of Brooklyn, a self-described \u201clifelong Yankee fan, a lifelong baseball fan\u201d who was wearing a Curtis Granderson T-shirt. His friend,60-year-old Paul Weinstein of Queens, said he grew up playing baseball \u201cseven days a week,12 hours a day.\u201d But at this point, he said, \u201cI think we\u2019re beaten down.\u201d \u201cI understand collective bargaining and unions,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd I think we have some of the greatest players ever playing now \u2014 Mike Trout and Clayton Kershaw and more. It\u2019s a golden age of baseball, and no one cares.\u201d \u201cWe\u2019ve become disinterested. The marginalized fan, there\u2019s too many other things, too many other sports that draw them away,\u201d he said. Pupo didn\u2019t get to attend Diamondbacks games in 2020 due to COVID-19 so he rolled his season tickets to 2021. He still didn\u2019t feel comfortable attending games because of the pandemic so he rolled them again to 2022. Now \u2014 because of the lockout \u2014 there\u2019s a chance this season will be affected, too. The sport\u2019s labor issues \u2014 on top of the D-backs\u2019 recent struggles \u2014 make him wonder if it\u2019s worth the money and trouble. \u201cIt\u2019s a cumulative effect,\u201d Pupo said. For now, there\u2019s not much for fans to do but wait and hope. MLB\u2019s owners and players probably have around three months to come to an agreement before the regular season is affected. How many fans will be around to watch when they return? That remains to be seen. \u201cI\u2019m very forgiving of the game, so I\u2019ll go when they start playing again,\u201d said Cannizzo, the Yankees fan at the softball game. \u201cBut it\u2019s not a good look for the sport.\u201d ___ AP Baseball Writer Ben Walker in New York contributed to this story. ___ More AP MLB: https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/MLB and https:\/\/twitter.com\/AP_Sports<\/p>\n