LOS ANGELES — If negotiations for a new collective bargaining agreement were akin to a benches-clearing brawl, players and owners would be bunched in front of the mound, their bullpens and dugouts having emptied, pointing fingers and hurling insults toward one another, with some needing to be restrained.
Baseball reached such an inflection point with Tuesday's breakdown in talks and cancellation of the first week of regular-season games, leaving players, owners, fans and all whose livelihoods depend on the sport to wonder: Will fists start to fly or will cooler, more conciliatory heads prevail?
Spring training games were pushed back to March 12 and the first two series of the regular season, scheduled to begin March 31, have been canceled, reducing the schedule from 162 games to 156 games.
