Chicago ? Baseball owners approved their new labor contract quickly and overwhelmingly, voting 29-1 Thursday to ratify the deal negotiators struck last week to avert a strike.

The New York Yankees, the team that stands to lose the most, voted against the agreement, which ensures labor peace until December 2006. Approval by the executive board of the union is considered certain.

“I’m not going to suggest to you today that there are not clubs with very different views, but at some point you have to come together,” commissioner Bud Selig said after the two-hour meeting.

“I told you last Friday I was a Yogi Berra theorist ‘It ain’t over until it’s over.’ It’s over.”

Baseball’s turmoil might not be.

The Yankees are considering a lawsuit, and owners must resolve the uncertain status of the Montreal Expos, who could try to move to Washington or another city by next season.