9-6-02, Footnotes
Baseball: Fleecing
the Fans
By Stuart James
IPS Features
August 30th culminated in an agreement between players
and owners avoiding a baseball strike. Despite the accord, baseball fans should
be outraged that players threatened to strike. Fans should be outraged that
owners allowed the threat of a strike to occur. The threat is an embarrassment
to the sport and a disservice to the fans. A strike shows each of us what
baseball has become--a game of money. Players and owners are fleecing the fans.
As the years have gone by, players and owners have
forgotten that baseball is the people’s sport. They have forgotten that
baseball should be accessible to all, not just a privileged few. However, with
increasing salaries, and higher cost of the sport, it is difficult for the
average American to afford the cost of “spending an afternoon” at the
ballpark. Players and owners know that the expense is making the sport beyond
the reach of the "common" American. Despite this knowledge, the
players threatened to walk out on the sport, leaving the fans holding the bag.
Players want more money and owners want bigger profits.
Both are forgetting who pays for the sport, the fans. As they demand more, the
fans pay more. Baseball salaries are a prime example of how we, the fans, pay
for baseball.
Baseball salaries far outpaced the 42,148.00 median
income for US households in 2001. In considering the conduct of the players and
owners, the fans should look at what baseball players make. Take the Atlanta
Braves for example:
Greg
Maddux
$13,100,000
Chipper
Jones
$11,333,333
Andrew
Jones
$10,000,000
Gary
Sheffield
$9,916,667
Tom
Glavine
$8,623,700
John
Smoltz
$7,666,667
Javy
Lopez
$6,000,000
B.J.
Surhoff
$4,500,000
Albie
Lopez
$4,000,000
Kevin
Millwood
$3,900,000
Vinny
Castilla
$3,000,000
Mike
Remlinger
$2,000,000
Kerry
Ligtenberg
$1,700,000
Henry
Blanco
$1,512,500
Dave
Martinez
$1,500,000
Julio
Franco
$600,000
Keith
Lockhart
$600,000
Chris
Hammond
$450,000
Rafael
Furcal
$405,000
Darren
Holmes
$325,000
Wes
Helms
$250,000
Jason
Marquis
$230,000
Mark
De Rosa
$222,500
Damian
Moss
$215,000
Marcus
Giles
$210,000
George
Lombard
$210,000
Cory
Aldridge
$200,000
Nick
Green
$200,000
Derrick
Lewis
$200,000
Horacio
Ramirez
$200,000
Tim
Spooneybarger $200,000
Considering the outrageous salaries that many players
make, there is no justification for a baseball strike. The owners and players
must be reminded where the power of baseball lies.
The power of baseball is with the fans. It is time for
fans to tell owners and players—enough is enough. The fans must proclaim that
they will not tolerate another threat of a strike. The fans must tell owners and
players that they are an embarrassment to the sport—whining like children
threatening to walk out on America’s past time.
To put players and owners “in their place” fans
should take a holiday from baseball -- they should strike. Fans can remind
owners and players that their livelihood depends on them.
Fans can teach owners and players a lesson by not
attending a baseball game for one month. Stay away, do not buy tickets, and do
not buy hot dogs, beer, cokes, and souvenirs. Show the players and owners what
makes baseball great. Remind them who pays for the profits they make.
Imagine for a moment the players showing up to an empty
stadium, with a banner across the field saying:
“The fans are on strike.”
Stuart F. James
-30-