STEE-RIIIKE TWO!

Thereal players may be back, but now the umps have been locked out. Pro baseball umpires are walking picket lines at stadiums where exhibition games are being played to protest. The umpires today balked at a contract proposal from the owners, but neither side would discuss the details. The umps have demanded a 53 percent raise over four years and other financial improvements. When their contracts expired at the end of 1994, the owners proposed cost-of-living raises that would increase salaries by just 2.7 percent this year. Umps expect the owners to start the regular season on April 25 with replacement umpires. Using replacement umpires, says TIME sportswriter Steve Wulf, "is not a pretty sight" because they make so many bad calls.