Without a bargaining agreement guaranteeing completion of this and future seasons, much of the anger and apathy produced by an eight-month strike linger.

Declining attendance continues to affect nearly every franchise, but time seems to have eased some of the hurt.

Approaching the symbolic midpoint of a delayed season, the damage has become tougher to measure.

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I’m cautiously encouraged, acting Commissioner Bud Selig said of attendance. I think we’ve stopped the downward spiral.

I don’t want to be Pollyannaish, because we have a lot of problems and a lot of work to be done, but the trend of the last few weeks is more positive than it was a month ago.

Let’s see what happens in July and August. But I think the clubs that are in contention, at least, have reason to be optimistic.

General Manager Sandy Alderson of the Oakland Athletics agreed. He said the strike’s impact has faded a bit in the face of other issues.

Schools are out. The weather has become better. The pennant races are taking shape, and the passage of time has had a therapeutic effect, he said.

We lost star players like Ken Griffey Jr. and Matt Williams (because of injuries), but the performance of Hideo Nomo has transcended Los Angeles and had a big impact on the popularity of the game, as did Eddie Murray going for 3,000 hits. Maybe our Ariel Prieto (the Cuban pitcher who is already with the A’s after having been the fifth player selected in the June draft) can have the same impact as Nomo.

The situation has improved, and I think we can be reasonably optimistic that it will continue to improve, although it’s still uneven.

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The clubs that have new

see BASEBALL, page 11