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What do you think about it?
Personaly, I'd say let any of those overpriced / overpayed players spend ONE DAY at my job.
I'm sure they'd be ecstatic to go back to baseball even at $150K / year....
I'd say let the fans go on strike. Noone buy tickets. Noone go to the games.
Go to your local minor league games!
$150 will get you 4 tix to a A or AA team, 4 hot dogs, 4 sodas, 2 nachos and 4 t-shirts!!!!!
I haven't heard much about it recently but it use to be back in the day, you played because you really really really wanted to, not for the money. A lot of guys are out there now for the money and sure they'll say they love the game, but I'd bet in a heartbeat they'd give it up if they only made 35k a year.
I personally would absolutely love to play. Matter of fact I'm going to try out next year if I can swing it. I've always had my heart in baseball since I was a kid. Loved playing, loved watching. Players now seem to be lacking that. There's just no desire to play, just to play (all-star game -- if you run out of pitchers, you ask who wants to pitch)
I say fire them all. Bring up the minor league guys at a more realistic pay. If the fired pro's really love the game and want to come back, make 'em sign on for a set price - NO NEGOTIATIONS. Also, put a price cap on the teams. Getting kind of sick about hearing about only 3 or 4 good teams. Heck, maybe I would start caring again.
I haven't been interested in Major League ball in many years. The players have for the most part become nothing more than self-interested businessmen. "For the love of the game?" BAH!
Nowadays, I'm more interested in what goes on at our local Little League park. Now those kids play "for the love of the game". It's sad they have very few heroes in baseball to look up to.
Nolan Ryan.Quote:
Originally posted by ChipCreep
Nowadays, I'm more interested in what goes on at our local Little League park. Now those kids play "for the love of the game". It's sad they have very few heroes in baseball to look up to.
Ted Williams.
Cal Ripken Jr (although I heard he's not a nice person)
Mickey Mantle (OK, so he was an alcoholic)
Babe Ruth
Carl Yazstremski (sp?)
Roger Maris
Hank Aaron
Carlton Fisk
Hmm, what do they all have in common? Oh, yeah, none play today. Are any of the "classic players" left?
I can't think of any.......
**
(Although I do have to admit, getting his butt kicekd by Nolan Ryan made Robin Ventura mature quite a bit... :D )
Baseball seems to have an incredible knack at destroying itself. Really, has any other sport in history cut itself down as consistently and often as baseball?
Cause and effect, sometimes it's hard to tell the difference...
Could it be that since the owners treat them like cattle, sometimes just flat out selling a player for money, that the players decided there was no reason to be loyal to those blokes anymore? If you're treated as property, eventually you'll start acting like property.
I think Mark McGwire was the closest thing to a throwback player we had til he retired. He carried a lot of respect for the game of baseball with him, and wouldn't do anything to taint baseball's image. I think Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling are the closest thing right now.
I'm sure there are still plenty of good, decent fellows still in the majors leagues, but you never here stories about them cuz that doesn't sell papers.
The whole problem is greed. Look what's become of the Olympics.
Personally, I could care less if they never played another baseball game. As long as hockey survives, I'll be happy. There's just something about seeing a guy take a slapshot to the mouth and lose half his teeth, then come back 15 minutes later and play his heart out.
I've always heard he's one of the best. Didn't he almost win that ESPN 'Mr. Nice Guy' of baseball award? ...I think Joe Carter won that, but anyway.Quote:
Originally posted by Draggar
Cal Ripken Jr (although I heard he's not a nice person)
Well, except for use steroids.Quote:
Originally posted by imaeditedbysowulo
I think Mark McGwire was the closest thing to a throwback player we had til he retired. He carried a lot of respect for the game of baseball with him, and wouldn't do anything to taint baseball's image.
That's a good point actually. Just a reminder that we live in a capitalist society, and it's driven by the pursuit of wealth.Quote:
The whole problem is greed. Look what's become of the Olympics.
Clearly this whole issue isn't the fault of the players, nor is it 100% the fault of the owners.
...greed is what makes the world go 'round. When was the last time you turned down a pay raise? :pQuote:
Originally posted by imaeditedbysowulo
The whole problem is greed
Ugh, what about the olympics? Other than the cities getting corrupt with the panel, and the fact that when it is on, I see 800 million sob stories about some wombat farmer from Peru for every event where something happens.
Of course then again, I love the Olympics, and have lost all faith in most professional sports.
That's the part that bugs me, the Americans actually purchased the Olympics. I guess I was a little naive before it hapened, I really never thought that something like that would ever go down. Now that I look pack, it was clearly inevitable, even college sports are profit driven, and run like a business.Quote:
Originally posted by Cleetus
Ugh, what about the olympics? Other than the cities getting corrupt with the panel
The olympics are big, big money. I really don't have a problem with cities activily doing everything they can to get them. I don't really have a problem with baseball owners either. They are running a business. If I am a baseball player, I am going to try to get more money.
The problem is when they forget their clients...The viewing public. Going on strike instead of play offs is just a slap in the face of the fans. I know it is a good bargaining chip, but when you do this to the fans, you are going to lose a lot of business and a lot of credibility.
It's not just us that purchase the Olympics, it's everyone. The Olympics are just like everything else in the world, for sale to the highest bidder.
I've never turned down a raise, but then I've never been offered an insane amount of money to do something that I enjoy. I have walked away from a job that payed extremely well due to ethical reasons. Some might call me stupid, but I'm the one that has to live with myself.
I'd like to believe that if someone offered me a million dollars to do techwork I'd politely accept the position for whatever the going rate was. I only need enough money to live off, I don't need to hoard enough money that my kids' kids' kids' would never have to work in their life.
McGwire used creatine, which was/is readily available at any GNC, but I don't believe he ever used anabolic steroids. I think he's too classy to do something that would be considered 'cheating the game'. Look at the guy, he retired because he didn't feel like he was performing at an acceptable level. Most other people would have continued taking that fat paycheck regardless of how they performed.
To me, that's respectable.
I get a little annoyed when it crosses into illegal bribery, I find that decidedly against the spirit of the Olympics, but that's the word we live in.Quote:
Originally posted by Cleetus
The olympics are big, big money. I really don't have a problem with cities activily doing everything they can to get them.
Yeah, the MLB always seems so occupied with labor issues, it never has a chance to market itself.Quote:
The problem is when they forget their clients...The viewing public. Going on strike instead of play offs is just a slap in the face of the fans. I know it is a good bargaining chip, but when you do this to the fans, you are going to lose a lot of business and a lot of credibility.
The NBA does the best job of marketing itself in all of pro sports.
The NHL is finally steamrolling with big popularity in the states, and nearly all the teams are profitable I think.
The NFL has a great revenue sharing system in place.
MLB's advantage is that it's the American pasttime, so it should always have a niche carved out for itself. The way they constantly abuse themselves and their own image, it makes you wonder...
I think it was a bigger slap in the face calling the all-star game a tie because the players might get tired. :mad: :mad: :mad:Quote:
Originally posted by Cleetus
The problem is when they forget their clients...The viewing public. Going on strike instead of play offs is just a slap in the face of the fans. I know it is a good bargaining chip, but when you do this to the fans, you are going to lose a lot of business and a lot of credibility.
Yeah you're probably right. I guess the Americans are the only ones to get caught.Quote:
Originally posted by imaeditedbysowulo
It's not just us that purchase the Olympics, it's everyone. The Olympics are just like everything else in the world, for sale to the highest bidder.
Yeah, I'm going to go out on a limb and say that he did take roids at one point in his life. Considering the skinny little guy he used to be compared to the tank he was when he hit 70 home runs...Quote:
McGwire used creatine, which was/is readily available at any GNC, but I don't believe he ever used anabolic steroids. I think he's too classy to do something that would be considered 'cheating the game'.
Yeah I agree with that, and I'll always be one of his biggest fans. He was an all-class guy.Quote:
Look at the guy, he retired because he didn't feel like he was performing at an acceptable level. Most other people would have continued taking that fat paycheck regardless of how they performed.
To me, that's respectable.
I think of it this way, if the players did not make all the money, where would all that money go???
In the pocket of the big wigs! Not to say that those big wigs don't get paid mucho money, but to give them more and the players less would not be right.
Of course they could just charge less for admission and hats, ect. But we all know that will not happen!
It would if noone went to major league games and we all spent our hard earned money on minor league games...Quote:
Originally posted by Thunderwind
I think of it this way, if the players did not make all the money, where would all that money go???
In the pocket of the big wigs! Not to say that those big wigs don't get paid mucho money, but to give them more and the players less would not be right.
Of course they could just charge less for admission and hats, ect. But we all know that will not happen!
But we all know that would not happen! :D
Tom Hicks pays $250 MILLION DOLLARS for a ten-year contract with Alex Rodriguez.
Tom Hicks whines about being broke just a year later.
The owners, when thay want a winning team bad enough, whip out their pocketbooks and basically tell all players that the sky is the limit. The Dinner Bell is ringing...
And there are no poor team owners, these guys are doing just fine... Not to mention that some teams are owned by multi-billion-dollar corporations....
Agents screw the owners to get as much as they can for the players, so their take goes up in turn.
It's not just the fault of the players.
Now, stand back while I burst the bubble here: This is rampant Capitalism. Baseball is a business. And Baseball is a reflection of America.
Quote:
Originally posted by Stanley_Kubrick
The owners, when thay want a winning team bad enough, whip out their pocketbooks and basically tell all players that the sky is the limit. The Dinner Bell is ringing...
(SARCASM)
What??? Noone does that!!!!!! (/SARCASM)
**COUGHCOUGH2000METSCOUGHCOUGH**
Ex'cuse me. I have a nasty cold... ;)
I can:Quote:
Originally posted by Draggar
Hmm, what do they all have in common? Oh, yeah, none play today. Are any of the "classic players" left?
I can't think of any.......
Roger Clemens (6 time Cy Young award winner)
Sammy Sosa (only player ever to hit 60 HR 3 times)
Barry Bonds (500 HR 500 steals)
Derek Jeter (just a winner)
Greg Maddux(only player ever to win 4 cy young awards in a row)
I'm 44 and have been a baseball participant and fan most of my life. Go http://baltimore.orioles.mlb.com/ima...l_logo_top.gif . I've been an O's fan since 1963 and been through the many great years (alas most of them many years ago) and the lean years (all to often here lately). I became a D'backs fan in '98. Baseball lost me in 1994, but regained me in 1998 and hooked me last year with the run of the Diamondbacks. Living in Tucson my son and I saw 25 games last year at BOB, and at least 10 Tucson Sidewinders (AAA) games. Now they are ready to pee all of it away and I think they will. Baseball has no focus. Their management leadership is a joke (can you say Bud Light) and the union leadership is not much better. The All-Star game ends in a kissing your sister and they have called for a strike in mid-September-1994 again :mad: . I mean come on folks MLB has it's collective heads in the sand. They have filed an injunction against the baseball umpires er...you just broke the old union and now your vexing the new more League friendly union...geez give me a break!!! I think the best thing that could ever happen to MLB is let it lose it's Anti-Trust exemption, then maybe some sanity would reign.
Yep, and left the Red Sox and went to the Blue Jays just so he could get a World Series ring. Didn't get it with the Blue Jays so he went to the Yankees.Quote:
Originally posted by Stanley_Kubrick
I can:
Roger Clemens (6 time Cy Young award winner)
Those two are just a pair, I'll give you those...Quote:
Sammy Sosa (only player ever to hit 60 HR 3 times)
Barry Bonds (500 HR 500 steals)
Don't know him too well...Quote:
Derek Jeter (just a winner)
Isn't there another Braves pitcher who is really good.. I want to say Andy Bennis, but I don't think its him....Quote:
Greg Maddux(only player ever to win 4 cy young awards in a row)
The MLB posterboys for what roids can do for you. I still find it strange to see Bonds not weigh 180 pounds, and stealing bases.Quote:
Originally posted by Stanley_Kubrick
Sammy Sosa (only player ever to hit 60 HR 3 times)
Barry Bonds (500 HR 500 steals)
Look at Jose Canseco in his prime. 40/40 club.Quote:
Originally posted by kingtbone
The MLB posterboys for what roids can do for you. I still find it strange to see Bonds not weigh 180 pounds, and stealing bases.
Anyone remember that?? ;)