August 7, 2007 - a Day that Will Live in Infamy

I was a child of the sixties and seventies...barely catching the tail end of what I now consider the beginning of the end of real baseball (when the "reserve system" ended and free agency began - around the years '75 - '76).

It used to be that you knew who the hell was going to be on your team from year to year whether it was driven by team loyalty or the reserve system...for us kids (and adults alike), you actually a home team to root for from one year to the next. And the teams didn't change much from year to year. Sure you had attrition due to years/ages/and trades, but you didn't have teams wholesaling nearly the entire team from one year to the next. It was "my" team...and I loved it and the players who were part of it.

I grew up as a Cincinnati Reds fan...mainly because my father grew up as a Reds fan. Although we lived "out west", we could catch the games on some good nights after dark on the car's AM radio. Occasionally, The NBC game of the week (usually 12 PM noon on Saturdays) would carry a Reds game...especially during the era of Sparky Anderson's Big Red Machine. Although I am digressing from the real point of this story, the sub-point is that, my dad was and I was a (blindly) loyal fan of Major League Baseball and the Cincinnati Reds and the team remained largely similar for years (including the years before the Big Red Machine - when they were not quite so successful). During all the years before and leading up to the mid seventies, small market teams actually stood a chance on a yearly basis of making a run for the pennant. Sure, there were periods of the New York dynasties, etc. but the big difference with those teams back then and the current crop of large market teams (like the Yankees...who I used to at least respect growing-up, but now loathe) is that players back in my Dad's and his father's time period played as a team - to win as a team, whereas now the players play as individuals - to win as individuals in a team sport. Sometimes this strategy works and sometimes it doesn't...it just depends on how deep the team's pockets are and thus, how deep the team's individual talent is. Give me any of the 1949 to 1962 teams from the Yankees over ANY of the Yankees teams from the last 30 years...including the 1998 team...anytime, anywhere! It actually meant something to everyone on the team to win back then...and to the city it was a source of pride...not just late season income.

A huge mistake was made earlier this year when MLB's owners and players (union) signed another collective bargaining agreement and averted the possibility of a salary cap and possible player's strikes. Until a salary cap is instituted, most of the smaller market teams will just be considered lower major league level farm teams for the large market clubs. Ironically(greedily), the teams that show the most player continuity from year to year are the large market teams with the large salaries. There have been plenty of arguments over the past ten or so years that baseball does not need a salary cap because the system works. What a load of BS. The ONLY group that it benefits, are the (mid to upper level) players...and the players agents and lawyers...and the players union lawyers. Nobody else...least of which are the (medium and small market) fans followed closely by the (medium and small market) cities. Get a clue...get rid of Selig (what he is still doing around, I can't fathom)...and owners, grow some cojones and stand up to the current crop of player Prim Donas...and their representatives (which are probably more greedy than the players). Until that time...anyway, I digress - again.

The last 25 to 30 years, MLB has been rocked by a couple of very hurtful strikes (especially to the Brewer's and Expo's), changes to the game (balls, pitchers mounds, expansion) and of course a slue of player's scandals...many involving drugs of all sorts (including hardcore stuff) - but especially those of the steroid ilk. I (largely) blame the free agent system for driving this pursuit for excellence, longevity and associated monetary rewards in the form of a syringe, pill, patch or what have you, and the drug du jour. With very few exceptions (sorry guys), most MLB players are not playing for the love of the game anymore...at least by the time they get into their middle years. It's all about the business of baseball...which comes down to individual statistics, longevity (esp. for pitchers), and money earned. None of the real money or awards have anything whatsoever to do with winning or staying with the same team...it's all about the individual and what their agent can negotiate in the form of a guaranteed contract. Ludicrous. And I'm sorry, but I don't fall into the group that says that I'll pay whatever "you" want me too...because you pay your players so much money and that I'm really paying for the entertainment value...to watch those who can do things that no body else can. Not true...in fact even I can do what they can do, they just do it better. But, I'd much rather watch a competitive game or series of games between closely matched teams or those made up of players who are playing because they love it, than a bunch of artificial, hopped up super-players. How in the world any father (or mother) would encourage their kids to look up to ANY major league ballplayer right now is beyond me. What is there to look up to? The fact that "he" made 14 million dollars this year and is looking to extend his contract for another 3 years? WTF?

Anyway, this all leads to the "shot heard around nowhere" last night. I am flinching right now because I am even mentioning Barry Bonds and his 756th home run. Everyone - IT MEANS NOTHING to most REAL baseball fans, and less than nothing to those of us who have been beaten down by all the other more recent baseball atrocities (some previously mentioned). The only thing that I am thankful for is the fact that it is finally over and a week from now, the talk surrounding it will also be over...except for the guy who ended up with the ball after the frenzied skirmish for it ended. Whoever he was, he essentially won the a lottery...although I suspect it won't have nearly as much value as some other home run balls hit over the years (that makes me happy). It makes me both sad and happy that there will always be a stigma surrounding this accomplishment...it will NEVER be a legitimate record. I wonder what Bonds' old trainer, sitting in jail for deciding not to testify to the Grand Jury over Barry Bonds, is thinking right now ( or will his Swiss bank account be receiving a bonus today?).

It's distressing that it has come this far and that for someone who loves the actual game of baseball...coaches it and even plays in the over 40 leagues...can distrust, dislike (on the verge of hate), and be disgusted with how the major leagues manage themselves as well as their players. Major League Baseball, you have a lot to atone for and you had better get with it. Look at the other professional sports leagues for guidance...and do something. Please!

PS By the way...when was it written that a baseball player (or any other sports figure) had to make so (x amount) much money before he retired...and that he only had a precious few years to do this in. Do they not have a working life after baseball? What about the rest of us who do have to continue to work past 35 or 40? Is that supposed to be some other perk...as if playing a GAME and getting paid for it isn't enough in the first place. I have a feeling a picture of a MLB player resides next to one of the definitions for "baby."