After a one-day strike by the umpires during the 1970 playoffs (the first games of both the ALCS and NLCS), the union was recognized by both the National and American League presidents.
[4] Technically, rather than going on strike, the umpires just did not return their contracts to Major League Baseball.
Several people made comments about the replacement umpires, including Phil Niekro, who said: They can be rattled.
[4] On May 1, 1980, Bill Madlock, of the Pittsburgh Pirates, had an argument with umpire Jerry Crawford.
[5] In 1999, Phillips advocated a strategy of mass resignations in hopes of forcing negotiations for a new collective bargaining agreement.