Davidoff: Not much controversy as pitchers and catchers head to spring training

Pitchers and catchers report this week, which means we at Newsday put out our spring training preview section. Which means that I find some big-picture issue to present as "looming" over the sport, with potentially dire consequences awaiting.

This year, though? I've got nothing, so much so that I found myself complaining to the commissioner that I had no complaints.

"I always say to the clubs, 'When we can only talk about the on-field activities, then I know we're in great shape,' " Bud Selig said in a telephone interview earlier this week.

Seriously, hit us with your best shot. Illegal performance-enhancing drugs? We always should be suspicious, yet the most for which we can realistically hope is a half-decent testing plan, and baseball has that. Consider that the latest poster boy for steroids, Mark McGwire, hasn't faced a major-league pitch in more than eight years.

Our country's economy? Most of us know that problem hasn't gone away. Baseball's attendance dropped by only about 6.6 percent last year, however, which puts the industry ahead of the curve.

The intertwined concerns of the baseball economy and labor tension? Now those are worth addressing. The collective-bargaining agreement expires after the 2011 season, and we've seen disputes rise both between players and ownership and between small-market owners and big-market owners.

Said Selig: "I've been thinking about it a lot. [Major League Baseball executive vice president of labor relations and human resources] Rob Manfred and I have a lot of conversations about it. Rarely do I have it off my mind."

We've had 14 straight seasons of uninterrupted action, though, featuring two CBAs negotiated peacefully. The first one, in 2002, went down to the final minutes. The more recent one, in 2006, reached agreement months before the deadline. That history must count for something, to both sides, as do the relatively positive relationships that have been constructed.

"I really think all of us understand that the sport really is in a golden age," Selig said. "We've had a constructive relationship. I'm very confident. That doesn't mean there aren't some things I want to think about. Things I really believe need to be done."

Translation: Some tweaking in the revenue-sharing formulas - some to appease the big-market folks, others to appease the smaller markets.

"I don't think any of us really comprehended how seriously labor difficulties were hurting us," added Selig, who has been in the game since owning the Milwaukee Brewers in 1970. "Every two to three years, we'd have something.

" . . . You can see how this sport has grown, and there are a lot of reasons for that. I'd have to say right up at the top would be labor peace. The fans have had enough. They're tired of reading about owners, most of whom are extraordinarily wealthy, and they're tired of reading about players, most of whom do extremely well financially."

Accordingly, you won't be reading too much about that stuff - for the moment, at least.

No, instead, we'll talk about the competition to be the Yankees' fifth starter. And the competition to be the Mets' second starter. And what in the world the Phillies were thinking when they traded Cliff Lee. And just how many 3-2 games the Red Sox will wind up winning.

Most of you view sports as your escape. It's our duty to feed that desire, but also to address the real-world problems that arise.

Right now, though? Enjoy your guilt-free escape. That sound you hear from Florida won't be from warning flares of any sort. It'll just be that beautiful "Pop!" of ball hitting glove.