Baseball Players Association (MLBPA) had negotiated contracts eight times, and each time a strike action of varying length had occurred. By the spring of 1994, the possibility of a strike was rising, as owners and players argued over a salary cap, revenue-sharing (which would "tax" the sport's top money-making teams and redistribute the funds to the weakest teams), and the extent of salary arbitration. The NLRB was closely monitoring the situation, (in no small part because Chairman Gould was an avid baseball fan). On July 28, the MLBPA set a deadline of August 12, 1994, for a new collective bargaining agreement or it would strike. The strike began on August 12, but despite the appointment of former Secretary of Labor William Usery Jr. as a special mediator on October 13 the World Series was cancelled for the first time in history. On December 22, the owners unilaterally imposed a salary cap and eliminated salary arbitration. On Christmas Eve, MLB announced it would start spring training with strikebreaker players. Two days later, the owners and the players' association both filed unfair labor practice (ULP) complaints with the NLRB, with each side claiming the other had not negotiated in good faith. Meanwhile, the NLRB had initiated its own investigation into the strike (led by NLRB Regional Director Dan Silverman and NLRB General Counsel Fred Feinstein). The key issue for the board was whether the legal rules of negotiation had been followed. Under American labor law, the employer is permitted to implement its last offer if an impasse had been reached. But the two sides had been negotiating since November, and it was not entirely clear that an impasse had been reached. Congress was considering legislation to make baseball subject to United States antitrust law, and on January 26 President Bill Clinton announced that the two sides would have to make major progress to an agreement by February 6 or the federal government would intervene. On February 3, the owners unilaterally lifted their salary cap. But with no agreement even close, Usery hinted that he would recommend a legislative solution (perhaps removing the antitrust exemption, perhaps imposing binding arbitration) to the President. But Republicans in Congress (who had just won control of the House and Senate) signaled they would not enact any such legislation. These developments made it more likely that the NLRB would be the one to decide the fate of the