Major League Baseball has a long history of anger between the players and owners, which has led to a detailed timeline of lockouts and strikes in the league.

The MLB players' union first formed in the 1950s, but it wasn't until the 1970s that the union flexed its muscles to put pressure on the owners. While that has led to many positive changes for the players, it has also meant lockouts and strikes that frustrated fans across the country.

While MLB has experienced more labor peace in the last three decades, disagreements between the players and owners are always lingering below the surface. Here's a detailed breakdown of lockout history in Major League Baseball.

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When was the last MLB lockout?

The last MLB lockout came in the 2021-22 offseason, which marked the first MLB lockout or strike since 1995. After years of labor peace, the relationship between the owners and players deteriorated to the point where a lockout was inevitable.

There were a host of issues at play during this lockout, including the owners' ongoing desire for a salary cap. However, a salary cap was not instituted, but the new CBA had many changes for the 2022 season, both big and small.

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When was the first MLB lockout?

The first MLB lockout came in 1973, which was just a year after players went on strike for the first time. The issues for both of those instances included how much money the owners were offering for players' pensions and the eventual establishment of salary arbitration.

This was the beginning of continued labor strife between the owners and players, as there were eight strikes or lockouts between 1972 and 1994. 

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History of MLB lockouts and strikes

1972 strike

The first time baseball was halted due to disagreements between the players and owners was in 1972, when the players went on strike over their pension. The players' three-year pension agreement expired, and owners weren't initially interested in making any improvements.

Players went on strike from April 1-13 in 1972 before owners gave in to the players' proposal. The season ended up losing total games 86 games as a result in those 13 days, and they were not made up by the end of the season. The strike meant that teams played an uneven number of games.

1973 lockout

In 1973, owners locked out the players for the first time in baseball history, with the lockout lasting from February 8-25, 1973. This occurred because the CBA between the two sides expired, and they weren't initially able to agree on a new deal.

The lockout ended when the players and owners agreed to establish salary arbitration, which was the main issue at hand. While early parts of Spring Training were delayed, the season started on time.

1976 lockout

Three years later, the owners once again locked out the players when the deal expired in the Spring of 1976. Like in 1976, the lockout only lasted a few weeks, from March 1-17 this time around, and no games were missed when Spring Training resumed. However, some owners let players continue participating in workouts amid the lockout.

The 1976 lockout was a seminal moment in baseball history because it led to the establishment of free agency for the first time. That process began in the previous winter, when the players challenged the existing reserve clause, and with federal courts further on the players' side, the owners ended the lockout on March 17 when they saw the writing on the wall.

The season began without a CBA, but the two sides eventually agreed to a new deal in July that included free agency.

1980 strike

Before the 1980 season began, players went on strike as they negotiated a new CBA with the owners, with free agency issues at the top of the disagreement. However, the strike lasted just eight days, from April 1-8, as players returned to action in time for the start of the season. Both sides agreed on a new CBA in May.

1981 strike

Players went on strike during the 1981 season, splitting the season into two halves over free agency disagreements. The owners wanted to be compensated when their teams lost players in free agency, but players maintained that was not in the spirit of free agency.

The strike lasted 50 days, from June 12 to July 31, and it ended when players agreed to let teams that lost major free agents be compensated with draft picks and the ability to select players from a pool of unprotected players. 

This was a very intense negotiation that created major friction between the two sides. Due to the season being split into two halves, the strike also led to a bizarre playoff expansion at the end of the season and 712 missed games in total.

1985 strike

For two days in 1985, from August 6-7, players went on strike when owners limited pension offerings and wanted to put a cap on arbitration. In that span, 25 games weren't played, and 23 of them were made up later in the season.

1990 lockout

In February of 1990, owners locked out the players following the expiration of the CBA, which occurred the previous December. Free agency and arbitration were once again major issues, especially after owners were found guilty of suppressing player wages in the middle of the 1980s.

During negotiations, owners wanted to increase revenue sharing and institute a salary cap, while players were concerned that these would limit free agency action. Ultimately, the lockout ended when commissioner Fay Vincent agreed to raise the league's minimum salary and begin the process of revenue sharing. The lockout lasted from February 15 to March 18, and no regular season games were missed.

1994-95 strike

The most infamous strike in perhaps sports history came in 1994, when players went on strike on August 12, which cut the season short and cancelled the World Series. Players began the season without a CBA, but went on strike while owners held firm on their desire for a salary cap.

It was an extremely chaotic stretch of baseball history where players felt they had to strike for the good of the game while owners tried to continue playing baseball with replacement players. The rest of the 1994 season, including the World Series, was cancelled, and that bled into the 1995 season as well.

Some of the spotlights in this strike included the union declaring all 895 of its players as free agents, while the owners made changes to contracts and implemented a salary cap without player approval. The union had multiple lead negotiators, and even President Bill Clinton got involved. 

The strike reached federal courts, and those rulings led to players returning to action in April of 1995. The two sides were forced to continue under the rules of the old CBA until they found an agreement on a new deal.

In total, the league lost 938 regular season games over two seasons, along with an entire postseason. There were major repercussions from not playing out the 1994 season, including lost television deals, but this would be the last time MLB had a strike or lockout for the next 26 years.

2021-22 lockout

When the owners locked out the players on December 2, 2021, it marked the first lockout or strike since 1995. Among the issues in play during CBA negotiations were the luxury tax, ongoing tanking, and the owners' continued desire for a salary cap.

This lockout lasted the entire offseason before the two sides found common ground on March 10, 2022, allowing free agency to resume and Spring Training to begin. The new CBA had many changes, including raised luxury tax thresholds, increases in minimum salaries, increases in the pre-arbitration bonus pool, an expanded postseason, a draft lottery, and the universal designated hitter.

Opening Day was delayed by one week, but the games missed at the start of the season were all made up by the end of the season.

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