I am very much into Major League Baseball and for those of you who care less I guess you can skip this post. There is so much about the sport to be admired I won't even begin to list things. But today there is bad news. Yes today the "Evil Empire" or as they are more commonly known, The New York Yankees, have regained 1st place in their division. The real surprise is that it took so long. The Yankees are the "best team money can buy" as evidenced by the payrolls listed below. I have listed only the payrolls of the top 5 compared and the bottom 5. To me the real disgusting aspect is that, with several teams toward the bottom, their whole payroll does not even make up the different between the the Yankees and their closest competitor, The Mets.
So the Yankees are in 1st place? Of course they are: They have purchased 1st place.
Baseball is, in my opinion, the greatest sport the United States has produced. But unfortunately, it's not the the best run. I believe it should have a "salary cap" like Pro Football. With a salary cap team the richest teams cannot get too far ahead of the poorest teams. It makes for a more competitive enviroment. And it is plainly more fair. In interest of full disclosure I should admit that I am a rabid Red Sox fan and the Sox are one of the richer teams. But hey, they're the not as bad as the Yankees! And of course Red Sox fans are over sensitive when it comes to the subject of the Yankees. They are under our skin like some festering pox. How bad is it? Well let this one example serve as my point. A couple years back I attended a Football game between the New England Patriots and the Buffalo Bills. About midway through the game a cheer began. It grew louder and unmistakable. The fans were calling out in loud voice..."Yankees suck. Yankees suck".
Yeah, I guess we have issues.
2009 payroll Top 5
Yankees
$201,449,189
Mets
$149,373,987
Cubs
$134,809,000
Red Sox
$121,745,999
Tigers
$115,085,145
2009 payroll Bottom 5
Athletics
$62,310,000
Nationals
$60,328,000
Pirates
$48,693,000
Padres
$43,734,200
Marlins
$36,834,000
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5 comments:
Despite the fact that I don't watch baseball, I am still, in fact, a Red Sox Fan.
Love,
The Witch
Hey Mike,
Nice catchy title! Well written post, as usual.
Personally, as another rabid Sawx fan, I can sympathize with your points. Fortunately, as I write this, the Sawx are back to being two games up. They are a better organization than the Yankees, with a far-better farm system. This is a huge advantage. Just look at the Dice-K situation for example- which team could lose an 18 game winner and not even break a sweat? Does anyone really miss Dice-K? I don't think so. The depth the current team has is breathtaking, and it will carry them through in the end.
In Theo we trust!
Jerry
The Bitching Baker and I were out to dinner the other day discussing the poor service we were receiving and the fact that we were being totally ignored by all the other servers. She commented that Amber Pub staff always pooled tips when she worked there. This ensured customers received attention from everyone, and the pub was certainly known for great service.
In a similar fashion, I think the pro teams should pool ALL revenue.. and then it would be much more apparent which organization is best. Of course, then you would be beaten by the Indians more often...not that you really have to worry about pooling ever happening.
P.S. Does the moderator here ever respond to comments? Just wondering.
For the record: Monday Mike as a general rule chooses not to leave comments on peoples comments. Not because of lack of appreciation though as I really enjoy getting feedback. No, the reason I do not like to respond directly to comments is that I feel this tends to take the conversation away from the original post. This can be confusing. It also can potentially create a situtaion where people are commenting on comments rather than the original post, which is not what I want.
Plus I just like the simplicity of "speaking my piece" and then stepping back and giving someone else a chance.
They are not evil,just rich!
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