It was a baseball season for the ages, filled with historic chases—Tony Gwynn flirting with .400, Matt Williams on pace to break the single-season home run record, and the small-market Montreal Expos dominating the National League. Then, on August 12, 1994, it all vanished.

In this episode of BenchMarks,Tom Albano transports us back to the longest and most devastating work stoppage in Major League Baseball history. Ghosts of '94 explores the bitter labor war between millionaire players and billionaire owners, focusing on the owners' push for a salary cap and the players’ unwavering resistance, rooted in years of mistrust over previous collusion schemes.

The strike ultimately led to the unthinkable: the cancellation of the 1994 World Series for the first time in 90 years. We dissect the massive economic fallout, the fan disillusionment that saw attendance plummet, and the ripple effects that permanently altered the game's landscape, including the heart-wrenching demise of the dominant Montreal Expos franchise. More than a story about contracts, this is a look at a moment when the sport betrayed its promise to its fans, and how the specter of that lost season continues to haunt baseball to this day.

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