Henny Penny was worried. The 2021 World series had ended and now there was serious talk about a lockout. Major league baseball and the players’ association had to negotiate a new contract. That made Henny nervous. There has not been a real “work stoppage”, as they call it, since 1994. That was the horrible season that stopped and never started again.

“I need something else to think about!” she said to Cocky Locky. She wished she could enjoy football. There were 33 college bowl games in December and then the college football championship games. Cocky Locky had been around for a good while. “Used to be just the Rose Bowl, the Cotton Bowl and the Orange Bowl…” he recalled. “Then came the Gator Bowl. These days there is even a Cheez-it Bowl. Sometimes, if they lose the bowl game, they end up with more losses than wins.” But Cocky Locky knew that Henny Penny wasn’t going to be a football fan. She would be asleep before halftime.

Cocky Locky was more concerned about the shrinking minor league system from which MLB was withdrawing support. “They’ve got revenue coming in by the trainload!” he cried. “They should be supporting young people in this country and showing professional baseball in as many parks as they can. Folks don’t love baseball because it’s on TV, it’s on TV because they fell in love with it by playing it and by seeing it up close in person. It’s much more than a television show. It’s a great game!” he crowed.

Turkey Lurkey agreed. He liked to see young stars like Mike Trout, Christian Yelich, and Fernando Tatis Jr. when they make it to the big leagues but also there were few things more fun than watching these stars as they develop and learn the game in the lower leagues. Turkey’s big concern was something else though. “They say that the universal designated hitter is a sure thing when the next contract is signed. Will that be the end of pitchers batting? What about the sacrifice bunt? The squeeze play? I don’t want to watch Home run Derby. I want baseball.” Ducky Lucky offered Turkey Lurkey a swig of his sarsaparilla.

“I agree with some of that,” quacked Ducky, whose favorite player was Joe Medwick. “There is something else that has me scared, though. It’s that it seems like all of a sudden gambling is okay. We are supposed to forget 1919, I guess. And why was Pete Rose banned? Does anyone remember? Now they are advertising places to bet during games. Are we pretending that some people don’t have real problems with that? Are players so rich and so averse to cheating that they can’t be tempted? It scares me, I tell you..”

Loosey Goosey had a big laugh. “You all are people brained. You don’t have the sense God gave a Senator. The world isn’t coming to an end because your stupid game isn’t going to be played. These millionaires and billionaires will make their deal by St. Patrick’s Day. Stop your whining and think.”

Henny Penny was not convinced. She scratched the ground and thought about what Foxy Roxy had told her. She said that all of the major league teams should be owned by the local city or state that they played in.. Ticket prices should be affordable to the lowest paid workers in that location. Salaries should directly reflect how the team does in the standings. Bonus money should be available based on achievement. Every player could be a free agent every two years. All post season games would be played in daylight. Henny Penny told the group about Foxy Roxy’s ideas and that they were all invited to her den to discuss it all. They were all very excited and off they went to Foxy Roxy’s den

None of them were ever seen or heard from again.