It's time to fight back against the SOBs that are ruining baseball. Here are five strategies to take a chunk out of them.

Three days ago, we posted a call to arms against the rich bastards whose lockout  now threatens baseball. I'm mostly referring to the owners - the billionaire oligarchs who have more in common with Vladimir Putin than with the average fan. But let's not forget that players, who in their rookie years alone, bank what school teachers earn over a decade. 

Eventually, it will be our turn at bat. 

Fans need a strategy to register our fury. Though it's insane to think the job would fall to us - I've always viewed IT IS HIGH, at its heart, as a parody of fan sites - nobody ever thought a comedian could rally a nation. It's gotta start somewhere. If it's up to us, so be it.

Still, every strategy requires a footprint far larger than this site. Otherwise, it's all just an exercise in venting. (Which is fine, it just won't make a difference, that's all.) Whatever we do, we must hit on social media, on Reddit, on Instagram, and across other fan blogs - not just Yankee sites. We must recruit Gammonites, celebrities, everyone, and let them take over the whole campaign, if necessary.  As Ken Kesey once said, "I'd rather be a lightning rod than a weather vane." It's time for us to lightning rod this thing. 

Here are some of your suggestions. 

1. Hit MLB's anti-trust exemption, explained here. Doug K writes, "At a minimum we need a form letter to send to Congress." 

We can do this. The form letter is easy. The problem: Congress. Do any of us have faith in our government to do anything?  The good part: We know who they are and where they are. It's a slam dunk. Inundate them. Online petition. Special site.  

2. Boycotts. Several of you mentioned this. It's a no-brainer. But let's face it: once the season starts, fans will forget. It's human nature. When the pennant race ignites, fans will feel the pangs of their personal history. We cannot change this. 

But but BUT... we can rally behind a Silent Opening Day. 

When MLB finally opens, each team will concoct a grand pageant to celebrate the religious moment. Some local hero (sadly, in this case, used as a flunky) will throw out the first ball. "Dignitaries" will show up. A band will play. The first 500 fans will get some cheap form of swag.

Imagine 30 empty stadiums. Thirty silent home openers.

And once we knock out opening day, we start on Day 2. Let the players hear our silence, and the owners feel their money draining down their legs like piss.

3. Boycott MLB sponsors. Here's a site. Here's a list.

Arm&Hammer
Budweiser
Chevrolet
Camping World
Draft Kings
Geico
Google
Lysol
OxiClean
SiriusXM
Taco Bell
T Mobile
Audi
Toyota
H&R Block
Bank of America

Let's not forget the small, radio in-game sponsors - the injury attorneys and muffler repair dealers that John and Suzyn extol. They could be more inclined to jump ship. If any major sponsors drop out, that's a big hit. 

The always-trenchant ZacharyA writes:

If we try to start a social media movement boycotting MLB sponsors, it needs to be a very clear correlation between cancelling a subscription/service and the lockout. Something like this on Twitter:

"Today I cancelled my phone plan with @TMobile since they are a sponsor of @MLB. I will have nothing to do with the league or any of its sponsors due to the owner-imposed lockout and cancellation of games."

We should also hit the gambling sites.

"Today I withdrew all my funds from @DraftKings and will not be placing any more bets due to the league-imposed @MLB lockout. I placed 25 bets at a total of $2500 in 2021."

I love this. 

4. Personal action. DickAllen writes: 

I just called the MLB public relations office in NYC. Not surprisingly, my call went to voicemail. I left a message informing them that I hold the owners personally responsible for taking the game away from us - that it is OUR game, not theirs, and that I cancelled my MLBTV subscription today and would boycott any and all sponsors of corporate baseball until the owners gave the players what they have earned.

Please feel free to call them: 212.9317800

OR...

...you can send then an email:

publicrelations@mlb.com

Can we carpet bomb them with calls and emails? Or would we target certain people, influencers on the bubble?

5. Hashtag campaigns. Local Bargain Jerk - the genius whose MOON BIG PAPI campaign drove the Yankees into Defcon 5 -  suggests hashtag campaigns on social media.

Maybe we take a page from those who are famous for misinformation campaigns (e.g., Brad Parscale, QAnon) and plaster FB, Twitter, etc.  with information campaigns outlining in simple, brief terms what a bunch of scumbags these 30 oligarchs are ... i.e., by name. E.g., #HankSteinbrennerRuinedYankeesBaseball, #PeterAngelosRuinedOriolesBaseball, etc.

Whatever we do, hashtags must be part of it. Some of you might not be tech-savvy on this stuff. We will need to educate each other- simple instructions on how and when. It's easy, fellow geezers. Tom Selleck won't take your house. 

Folks, we need to start working on this. Part of us all wants to believe the owners and players will soon stop this nonsense. We had the same feeling about the war in Ukraine. The fact is, this might go on for a while. And in the end, the lords of baseball need to hear from us. They need to pay for what they've done. 

So... honestly, now... who's in, and what can we do?