Businesses near Turner Field will be hurt by baseball strike

ATLANTA - A motel just down the street from Turner Field has already felt the sting of a potential baseball strike, whether or not the players walk out Friday as threatened. <br> <br> Jim Zeigler, general manager at the Country Inn And Suites, said between 50 and 60 visitors have called to cancel room reservations for next week at the 87-room motel. <br> <br> Zeigler said, ``It&#39;s terrible, it&#39;s devastating to us.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> A strike will hurt more than just baseball fans. It will punish vendors outside Turner Field and other nearby businesses that depend on the Atlanta Braves, who have 15 home games remaining -- and even more in the postseason, which is a virtual lock for a team running away with the N.L. East. <br> <br> The Braves are scheduled to open a three-game series against Pittsburgh on Monday, and Zeigler said his rooms were booked six months in advance, often for two or three nights. <br> <br> If there&#39;s a strike, Zeigler said ``we&#39;ll lose all of September. And the way the Braves were playing, they would be going to the postseason, so we&#39;ll lose October, too.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> Other losers include John Byrd, a 62-year-old vendor who had a heart bypass last year and receives a small disability check each month. He said he depends on the $200-$300 he earns at each Braves game, selling caps, T-shirts, shirts and memorabilia. <br> <br> About a block from Turner Field is the Pollard Funeral Home, which uses its 50-space parking lot to charge ten dollars per car during the regular season and about double that for the playoffs.

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