MLB owners lock out players in first work stoppage since 1995

Baseball league management hopes lockout will jumpstart negotiations and get us to an agreement that will allow the season to start on time'

Major League Baseball plunged into its first work stoppage in a quarter-century when the sport's collective bargaining agreement expired Wednesday night and owners immediately locked out players in a move that threatens spring training and opening day.

The strategy, management's equivalent of a strike under federal labor law, ended the sport's labor peace after 9,740 days over 26 and a half years.