I am writing this letter as a concerned lifelong baseball fan. Baseball is America’s pastime even though it has taken many blows throughout the years. It always seems to find a way to brush it off and step back in the box. In the early days it was the Great Depression and War World II. In 1994, a labor strike hit due to salary cap issues. Recently, the era of steroids have marked its stain on our precious game; once again damaging baseball’s credibility to its players and fans.
I understand your job is not the easiest, but I hope you realize what a special opportunity you have to be a part of the greatest game under the lights. There are many problems you have faced as the Commissioner. Everything from young Latin American ballplayers lying about their age to make them seem younger to prospective ball clubs, to the slow start and potential failure of the World Baseball Classic, and of course, steroids. However, I am not writing to you to talk about these problems. My concern lies within the pockets of every baseball player, fan, executive, and you, the Commissioner.
Money! According to Yogi Berra, “A nickel aint worth a dime anymore.” This was the good old days of baseball when players where not concerned entirely about what they were getting paid, they loved the game and played it with passion. Nowadays, players are making such ridiculous amounts of money that it makes real baseball fans wonder if those players can even spend that much money in one lifetime. I am sure the Babe would roll over in his grave if he knew what has happened to player’s salaries.
The fact is elite players of today are making too much money. They are not even showing up to spring training until they can have an extra million in guaranteed cash or a couple million added to each year of their contract. This is absurd. What message are these role models sending the youth of baseball when the see these men not join their team for training or not even playing the game because of money? I understand baseball is a big business worth a lot of money; however, at what cost is it worth to put a price on the greatest game this country has ever seen.
Let’s look at the numbers. Obviously, we can start with Alex Rodriquez who has signed the two largest contracts in baseball history. The Texas Rangers set the bar with A-Rod when they gave him a $252,000,000 contract from 2001-2010. He did not stay with Rangers, but was then given the largest deal in baseball history by the Yankees at $275,000,000 from 2008-2017. Granted he may not see every penny, but it is still astonishing to fans to see all these zeros given to one player. Arguably, he is the best player in the game, but there are still a many players that give him a run for his money. In return, they too want the big bucks.
Let’s now look at Manny Ramirez who will better help make my point. The plague of the Boston Red Sox is no giving headaches to the Los Angeles Dodgers. The man has not yet joined his club for spring training because he is having contractual disputes between his agent and the club. He has been offered a two year, $45 million dollar deal; however Manny is being Manny and wants more. He wants $25 million a year and will not settle for less. Although just today he agreed on that deal and is now a Dodger. One might blame this on his Agent Scott Boras, but you only have to look at the way Manny plays the game to realize he is all about the money. He might just be the best hitter in the game, but he does not hustle in the outfield and has even taken himself out of games. Fans hate this and are losing respect for him everyday he does not put on a uniform and play ball.
I would also like to make an argument for those players who are underpaid. I understand there are rules surrounding contracts for rookie players and players with limited Major League service, but Tim Lincecum for the San Francisco Giants was the most dominating pitcher in all of baseball last season and even won the NL Cy Young award. He is not eligible for the big bucks yet, so he had to settle with an insulting deal of $650,000 for one year. The playing field needs to be equal and Lincecum deserves a big contract.
Without a salary cap there is little anyone can do to stop these players from making the big bucks, but I am really writing to you because of your earnings. The players are not the only ones getting paid, you are too. According to Street and Smith’s Sports Business Journal, you made $18.35 million last year. That is a lot money Bud.
Should a commissioner be making this much dough? I am sure if you ask fans, writers, and even some players, they would say you are making too much.I cannot ask you to turn down such dollar figures, but I can ask you to use some of the money to make the game of baseball better. This starts with the youth. Maybe some of your money along with other high profile players should be allocated for new ball fields and leagues throughout the inner cities and poor areas of our country. Many major league players have been scouted since they were real young and had all the facilities they needed to make it to the bigs. Unless, an unfortunate child has phenomenal natural abilities, he is most likely not going to have to proper equipment or exposure to adequate coaching to be able enhance their skills have a shot at the pros.
How about this? Maybe you can use some millions to help lower ticket prices, parking, and concession stand prices so that more people can afford to make it out to the ballpark. The fans bring in big bucks for baseball, so maybe baseball can return the favor and give back to fans.
You are the Commissioner of the greatest game ever played. With steroids aside, its now up to you help bring baseball back to the fans. Please try and stop players form bellyaching about their contracts and simply, just play ball. Make this game fun again for everyone including the fans, players, and yourself. I am sure you have lost some sleep over what baseball has gone through during your time as Commissioner, but it really cannot be that hard to rest your eyes on that 18.35 million dollar pillow.
Sincerely,
Colin Greenbauer, Baseball Fan
If you read over your letter you will find a few grammatical errors. There is nothing big, just a few typos. You put forth a good argument about the players earning too much money, but you should offer some alternate methods. Do you want all the money that would be saved by cutting salaries to go into making things at the ballpark cheaper? How would you want them to regulate salaries? They could enact a salary cap, or just have a maximum salary for a single player. The same amount of money will be going into the league (maybe a bit less if ticket, concessions, etc prices are cut), but with lower salaries the money has to go somewhere. Those are just some of the thoughts I had when reading this letter. Add a few more sentences about that and I would say it is a well written paper.
ReplyDeleteColin I really enjoyed your article. I believe you picked a topic where many other Americans hold your sentiments. Over the years alot of sports fans have commented on how Baseball players are a bunch of overpayed whiners. Strikes in the past have held true to this. You have many good dollars statistics to back up your argument. Some of which I found astonishing!
ReplyDeleteHowever, I get the feeling that you dumbed down your own writing in sections so that you would appeal more to the average reader. These sections were not consistant with your vocabulary and grammatical usage throughout the rest of your writing. I believe if you removed sections like "That's alot of money bud!" (This section is demeaning toward your intended audience, and slightly degrades your authority over your writing). Also "make it to the bigs" should be deleted.
Also, you seem to contradict yourself when you say that "Lincecum deserves a big contract". This statement contradicts the point you are trying to make throughout the rest of your letter.
I am anxious to read your final draft to see what you have changed. I think you have real potential as a writer.
Its a well written letter that effectivly states the problem and a potential solution. One suggestion i would have is to possibly formalize the tone a bit, as you are writing to the commissioner of the entire leauge. Things like saying "manny is being manny and wants more" fits the more casual language and style use in blogs, but may not be taken seriously in an open letter.
ReplyDeleteAlso, by citing the both the example of overpaid well known players and the comparativly low salary of a rookie, you may confuse the reader. Are you arguing for a pay cap or just more even dispersement of money among players of varying skill and noteriety?
All in all, good job.
To start off, I think the concept of the open letter is a good one. With all the steroid controversy surrounding baseball, that would have been an easy route to take with your open letter, but you chose a different topic. The majority of your errors lie in the wording of the letter. You provide some good statistics, and have a strong argument, but occasionally the way its worded makes the letter tough to read. In the first paragraph, you wrote “Baseball is America’s pastime even though it has taken many blows throughout the years. It always seems to find a way to brush it off and step back in the box.” These sentences sound weird when read. I might change it to something like, “Baseball is America’s favorite pastime. Even though it has taken many blows throughout the years, it always seems to find a way to brush it off and step back in the box.” It flows a little better that way. The Yogi Berra quote is nice, and fits well. The images you’ve used seem to fit the topic. In the end, I would just re-read the letter, in your head and out loud, to make sure everything sounds right. Another perfect example is a sentence like this, “Unless, an unfortunate child has phenomenal natural abilities, he is most likely not going to have to proper equipment or exposure to adequate coaching to be able enhance their skills have a shot at the pros”. First, it runs on too long. Second, the wording doesn’t make sense. Third, there is an unnecessary comma after “Unless”. Something like “Unless one of these unfortunate children has phenomenal natural abilities, his chances of getting the proper equipment or exposure necessary to make it to the pros are slim.” After you read over everything and correct stuff like that, I think your letter will be in interesting read.
ReplyDelete