Poll Indicates That Fans Oppose Strike, Have Little Sympathy for Either Side

WASHINGTON —  A nationwide poll has found that most major league baseball fans and citizens as a whole do not want a strike but have an indifferent view on the issues and have not taken sides with either the players or owners.

A Washington Post-ABC News Poll concluded that 83% of baseball fans oppose a strike. Of the rest of the people asked, not categorized as baseball fans, 67% oppose a strike.

Both fans and the general public expressed little sympathy for either the owners or players. Only 13% surveyed said they sided with the players, and 18% with the owners. Sixty-three percent said they sided with neither.

Among those people who called themselves baseball fans, 16% sided with the players and 24% agreed with the owners. Fifty-five percent said they sided with neither the owners nor players.

Two of three people interviewed said they thought the players, whose average salary is $350,000 a year, are overpaid.

The survey was conducted by telephone last Thursday through Monday night. In all, 1,506 people were interviewed. A total of 550, or 37%, said they follow major league baseball.