ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Karen Mathews has heard the story told, repackaged and occasionally garnished plenty of times over the years.
Her husband, Bill, was an Eckerd College freshman in the spring of 1976, when major league players were locked out of their spring training camps as part of a labor dispute — much like the current crew of players will be this week.
Select players from teams that trained in the Tampa Bay area were gathering at the field on Eckerd’s south St. Petersburg campus for daily workouts, a group that included stars such as Lou Brock, Manny Sanguillen, Ted Simmons, Willie Stargell and Joe Torre.
