Owners playing a game of capitalism

Contrary to most of what we hear, the baseball strike is not about greed. The position of the owners is the essence of capitalism. They are attempting to maximize profits by reducing the cost of labor.

In the opinion-page article ``Drowning in a Field of Greed,'' Sept. 27, the author would have us believe that only owners take risks. If players don't take the financial risks that owners do, it's because they didn't arrive with any money to lose. How many players does the author know born into rich families?

Players must earn as much as they can in the short period (an average of four years) of most major league careers. To do so, they are required to take potentially career-ending risks every day. Because there are only several hundred players in this hemisphere with genuine major league skills competing for even fewer jobs (because of baseball's antitrust exemption), they are paid accordingly.

In this day of busted unions, high unemployment, and shrinking wages, we should throw our support behind the striking players and celebrate their solidarity in not breaking ranks. Barry Flanagan, Cincinnati,

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