At the time of this writing, Major League Baseball was still in the middle of a labor stoppage, or a “strike.”

It certainly hasn’t been the first standstill in the game, and likely won’t be the last. Baseball’s last major strike was in 1994 when the season was halted in August and the rest of the season and postseason was postponed.

But do you recall baseball’s first major lockout was in 1972 when it occurred from April 1-13. Baseball resumed when owners and players agreed on a $500,000 increase in pension funds. Bowie Kuhn became a household name as baseball’s commissioner.

Nearly 10 years later, the Phillies were involved in a memorable strike in 1981, one that has slipped many of your minds and probably some of theirs. too.

In fact, the Phillies haven’t fared in strike-shortened seasons. Ironically, their last ones came after World Series appearances.

This latest installment of my look back at YESTERDAY -- a trip back in time to the late 1960s, 70s and sometimes dipping into the early 80s and 90s’ -- is a recollection of memorable baseball strikes and some other related items.

In 1981, baseball had its first stoppage since the previous year and the fourth since 1972. However, it was the first one since 1972 when games were lost. The strike began on June 12 and play resumed on Aug. 9 with the All-Star Game.

At the time, the Phillies came off their first World Series title, and they had the majority of their cast intact with the notable exception of Greg Luzinski, who was shipped to the Chicago White Sox, and replaced in left field by Gary Matthews.

The “Sarge” was acquired from Atlanta for pitcher Bob Walk, and Phillies’ fans were excited about the prospect of Matthews, who was coming off an all-star season with the Braves. He eventually became part of the Phillies Dallas Green connection in Chicago in March 1984 when he was traded for Bill Campbell and Mike Diaz (does anyone really remember these guys in Phillies’ uniforms?)

Along with Matthews, the Phillies had Sparkly Lyle in their bullpen, who still was effective in the twilight of his career and won nine games, and young outfielders/first basemen named Len Matuszak and George Vukovich, both of whom were fan favorites, but their careers sputtered.

The Phillies also had hopes for 20-year-old lefthander Mark Davis, who spent two years in Philly of his 15-year career that had an overall 51-84 career mark.

One of the team’s best hitters that year was Dick Davis, who hit .333 primarily in a reserve role after he came over from Milwaukee for heralded lefty Randy Lerch.

The Phillies lost any momentum they had at the time of the strike, as they were 34-21 and in first place. They had a 25-27 slate in the season’s second half and eventually slipped to third place.

They went on to meet the Montreal Expos in a best-of-five divisional series in which the Expos prevailed in one of the Phils’ more epic playoff sets.

Gary Carter, Andrew Dawson, and Chris Spier – mostly of San Francisco Giants fame – had big series’ for Montreal, and the Expos’ Stever Rogers outdueled Steve Carlton in two classic games, and Rogers gave up a combined one earned run in his two starts.

A year after the Phillies lost a heartbreak to Toronto in the World Series of 1993, they had a sluggish finish in a season cut short by a stoppage.

In 1994, baseball encountered its eighth work stoppage and its fourth in-season haltage

The strike began on Aug. 12, and it resulted in the cancellation of the remainder of the season and postseason, marking the first time since 1904 that a World Series wasn’t played. The strike was finally settled on April 2, 1995.

As far as the Phillies in 1994 under Jim Fregosi, they never got untracked as they were in fourth place with a 54-61 record when play was stopped. The late Darren Daulton paced the club with 15 homers and a .300 batting average and John Kruk hit .302 among the regulars.

Danny Jackson led the pitchers with a 14-6 mark and Bobby Munoz and Shawn Boskie (ring a bell?) were among the staff along with Curt Schilling. Ex-Dodger Fernando Valenzuela (yes, he was a Phillie) made eight starts.

Doug Jones was the closer and Paul Quantrill, Ben Rivera, and Andy Carter were among those that dotted the pitching logs.

Name That Tune: March 8, 1972, memory-trigger “Without You” by Nilsson was the top song in the land, and another one in “I Love a Rainy Night” by Eddie Rabbit was the top hit in 1981. In 1994. “The Sign” by Ace of Base was atop the charts.

Take a Wad: In 1980, “Big League Chew” hit the market as a bubble gum version of chewing tobacco for youth. Even if you were in your 20s at the time, you had to try it and give it a spit of two.

It proved to be an effective gimmick and tool for grade and high school students, who actually chewed it during their games. The item still has its place among youth today.

Coming Back at You: If you were fortunate, you had a “Pitchback” in your backyard. This was the squared net that returned the ball back to you. One of the more popular models was the Hank Aaron 1965 version that had the automatic umpire red square.

Depending on how fast you threw or where you hit the next, you could get balls in all different directions returning to you. It was good practice for your Little League or high school team, or you could even play a game with teams by yourself like I often did.

Don’t Whiff: I would be remiss if I didn’t mention “Wiffle ball” as part of our baseball youth. You either had the thin yellow plastic bat, thicker bat, or even both of them. Some communities, such as Catasauqua, still have Wiffle ball as part of their summer programs.

One treat was to get a solid, white plastic ball instead of the traditional Wiffle ball to play the game. And remember how we could imitate Willie Stargell’s windup swing, Bobby Tolan’s holding the ball high stance, or even Joe Morgan’s elbow-flapping to name a few. There also were the attempts to make the over-the-shoulder catches made famous by Willie Mays and Roberto Clemente.