Tom Holtzleiter wrote:
<snip>
> There's a million and a half people wo would love to
> play baseball, and would do it for a lot less. MLB is
> a mess. If they aren't happy with the good deal
> they already have with their million dollar salaries
> and a Dome, Replace Them.
This was tried a while back - remember all the
replacement players? There was a lot of Northern League
caliber ball being played in major league ballparks
before the owners figured out that it wasn't working.
The fault is mostly not with the players. They aren't the ones offering insane
amounts of money to
players who cannot singlehandedly power a team into
contention. Players have demonstrated time and again
their willingness to play for less money in order to
stay with a team they like (Puckett is hardly unique
in this regard) or that they feel has a shot at the
post-season. Players tend to return healthy chunk of
their millions to the community through charities and
personal contributions, many of which don't get much
attention from the sportswriters who are all too ready
to rip the ballplayers as greedy, lazy people. It's also
worth noting that for every player who suits up for
one (1) day in the majors, there are nine more kids
who never make it out of the minors, where the pay
reaches the lordly heights of $2000/month plus meal
money - but only during the season. I have a lot more
sympathy for the players as a class than I do for the
owners, whose brains and business acumen apparently
dribble right out of their ears when they leave their
day jobs and turn their attention to baseball.
If anyone can stop the owners from contracting the
Expos and Twins, it is the very players you despise,
Tom. Nobody else except the U.S. Senate (whose actions
were directly responsible for getting the Royals and
Mariners into baseball after the A's left KC and the
Pilots left Seattle) has beaten the owners as long and
as consistently as the players. You'd better hope they
stick to their guns this time.
As far as a new stadium goes, I'd rather see that
$10 million spent on affordable housing too. Not that
I have a lot of faith in the city being able to spend
it any more wisely on housing than on infrastructure,
mind you.
Kevin Trainor
6-10, East Phillips
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