The 1994 MLB Season | 30th Anniversary of the Season that was Cut Short

2024 marks the 30th anniversary of the 1994 MLB Baseball Regular Season that was abruptly cut short due to MLB heading to a lockout where there was no postseason baseball at all which was uncharacteristic and unprecedented.

The 1994 MLB Regular Season began on April 3rd but the season ended on August 11th 1994 which had resulted in MLB Baseball Strike. Then there were cancelation of 669 remaining games of the season. The season started despite the expiration of the MLB’s previous collective bargaining agreement at the end of 1993. It was the first season under the current 3 division format in each league.

Another nugget was that it was the 1st with an Opening Night game involving 2 National League teams that didn’t become permanent until 1996. Over 260 players were scheduled to exceed 1 million in compensation in 1994. Despite the season being cut short due to the strike, there were awards given out such as Frank Thomas winning MVP of the American League and Jeff Bagwell won MVP of the National League

In the National League,Raul Mondesi of the Los Angeles Dodgers won Rookie of The Year and Bob Hamelin won Rookie of The Year In The American League. Greg Maddux and David Cone won the Cy Young Award in the National and American League respectively. The managers of the year was Felipe Alou and Buck Showwalter of the Montreal Expos and New York Yankees respectively.

Those were some of the major awards that was given out in 1994. As for the television coverage this was the 1st season of The Baseball Network which was the joint venture between MLB, ABC and the NBC. ESPN renewed its contract for Sunday Night Baseball and Wednesday Night Baseball. During the season certain moments stood out from that season was on Opening Day: April 4th at Wrigley Field where the Chicago Cubs outfielder Tuffy Rhodes hit 3 home runs becoming the first player in major league history to hit home runs in his 1st 3 at bats of the season.

But arguably the best game of the season was on July 12th at the All Star Game when Moises Alou hit a walk off double in the 10th inning giving the National League an 8-7 win over the American League. The National League record is 9-0 in extra inning contests. John Hudek of the Houston Astros becoming the first pitcher in major league history to appear in an All-Star Game before recording a major league victory. Fred McGriff hit a 2 run home run to tie the game in the 9th inning as he won the MVP honors.

Overall if the season didn’t end with a strike there could have been milestones like Paul O’Neill hitting over .400 for the season he was hitting .359 and Tony Gwynn was hitting .394 very close to hitting .400. Ken Griffey and Matt Williams had at 40 home runs:40 and 43 respectively which could have resulted in challenging Roger Maris's single season home run record of 61 in 1961.

From a team perspective, the New York Yankees and the Montreal Expos looked on paper like they were on a collision course to face each other in the World Series. The Expos had the best record:74-40 and the Yankees had a record of 70-43. The 1994 MLB Regular Season was a season that could have been but it will be a season of hypotheticals and "what if's."