Players call a halt to costly strike

Major league players called off their near eight-month-old strike yesterday, bringing to an end the longest and costliest labour dispute in the history of professional sport.

The 232-day strike came to a conclusion when a federal judge ruled against the team owners, and the union said that "real baseball" could resume quickly if there is no owners' lock-out.

It was still uncertain last night if the players will return immediately, or whether the regular season will start as scheduled tomorrow night with replacement players.

The end was hastened by a New York court granting an injunction against club owners. Announcing her decision with unexpected speed, judge Sonia Sotomayor issued the injunction sought by the National Labor Relations board which restored the economic system whose scrapping by the owners prompted the players' strike which began last August, in the process wiping out the World Series for the first time in 90 years.

"[Barring] a lock-out by the clubs, we can get real baseball on the field in a short period of time," union chief Donald Fehr said. "We could put together a quick spring training, and opening day would be delayed a little bit. We'd hope that the players would play the maximum number of games possible."

Owners need 21 votes for a lock-out, but several owners and management officials have said this week that they were unlikely to get the necessary total of 21 of the 28 clubs.

If there is a lock-out, however, replacement players will be used to open the season, but owners would risk damages of more than $5m (£3.2m) per day, the amount of lost players' salaries.