The date of a "strike" by baseball fans has been moved from Aug. 13 to Aug. 11.
Several groups are calling a national, one-day boycott of major league baseball for the day before the players are scheduled to go on strike."We'll quit on them before they quit on us," said Frank Sullivan of "Fans First."
Sullivan, a Cleveland Indians season ticket holder, says the boycott is intended to send a message to players and owners alike.
"The fans are the only people with any idealism left in baseball," Sullivan said. "Perhaps these millionaires on both sides of the issue can resolve their problems a different way."
Fans with season tickets to Aug. 11 games are being urged to stay home. Fans with single-game tickets are being urged to at least miss the first couple of innings.
Between now and then, fans are being urged to chant "No strike, no strike," during the third inning of major league games.
Sullivan said neither the players nor the owners have "taken the time to understand the concerns of their customers."
"In any other business, that would be a death knell," said Sullivan, chief financial officer of a corporation in Medina, about 30 miles southwest of Cleveland.
Richard Levin, a spokesman for the baseball commissioner's office in New York, says both sides are trying to work out the best deal possible.
"I'm sure both sides are very much aware of what the fans think about a work stoppage," Levin said. "Whether these particular groups will have an effect, I couldn't tell you."
Officials from the players' union in New York did not return telephone calls seeking comment.
American League games Aug. 11 are scheduled in New York, Detroit, Baltimore and Oakland. National League games are scheduled in Cincinnati, Houston, Denver, Miami, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh.
Sullivan said he had spoken to dozens of newspaper and radio stations. He appeared on "CBS This Morning" on Monday.
"The response from fans has been incredible," Sullivan said. "I think they're really fed up."
Fans First is now working with seven other groups around the country - two each in New York, Florida and California and one in Georgia, Sullivan said. Others, including groups in San Francisco; Nashville, Tenn.; and Arlington, Texas, have expressed an interest in fan strikes.