(NewsNation Now) — One is tempted to try to come up with a baseball analogy to define what’s going on between the Major League Baseball players and owners right now, but that would sully the image of America’s Pastime.

What’s at stake here, essentially, is money. Lots of it.

“Everybody in the mix or kind of the real baseball fans knew that it was coming,” said baseball fan Bernie Zarnesky, expressing the resignation many hardball fans feel at seeing their sport grind to a halt yet again while millionaires fight about money.

The first two series of the regular season are canceled, and more games are on the chopping block if owners and players don’t come to an agreement soon. “I want to assure our fans that our failure to reach an agreement was not due to a lack of effort by either party,” said MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred.

After nine days of meetings, the players association rejected the owners’ latest offer unanimously, saying, “Against the backdrop of growing revenues and record profits, we are seeking nothing more than a fair agreement.” 

For those who work at the stadiums or operate businesses dependent upon stadium attendance, a fair agreement would be everyone getting back to work so they can start making a living. 1,200 concession workers at Dodger Stadium are currently out of a job, along with the men and women who work as security guards, ushers, parking attendants, etc.

Union member DeeDee Reed, who works concessions at Dodger Stadium, told NewsNation’s Alex Caprariello, “Just like during the pandemic we have to make it work. We have to cut back on a few things. I mean it is what it is. But they need that fight and if that’s what it takes then we are willing to suffer,”

Bars and shops across the country that rely heavily on the MLB season to bring in revenue during the usually slow summer months have to cut corners and rely on hope that the issue will be settled. They’re once again bracing for the unknown.

Yankee Twin Eatery Bar co-owner Joseph Michiali said, “I don’t know what they’re going to do and I have to think for the worst because 2020 was no baseball and it was a ghost town.”

He’s echoed by Ultreia Restaurant general manager Robert Hoelting, who said, “Missing those couple hours, even if it’s a couple of hundred bucks or a couple thousand dollars that’s a big deal to us right now,”

To borrow a phrase from the late, great Yankee Yogi Berra, “It ain’t the heat, it’s the humility.” Baseball fans are just hoping that both sides see the larger picture and get back on the field soon.