- Oct 20, 2013
- 55,714
- 17,688
- 2,250
Yesterday, I quit doing something that I have been doing for 60 years. I ceased to be a major league baseball fan. I started out as a kid rooting for the New York Yankees in the 1950s. After I moved to California in the late 70s, I became an Oakland As fan, and in the late 90s, I became a Tampa Bay Rays fan. But yesterday the private owners of the Rays caused me to drop the game of baseball from my life entirely, when they cut loose the Rays star pitcher, David Price, and his big salary, to Detroit, and pretended it was a trade. They got really nothing in return. In fact the 2 active players they got are more likely to hurt the Rays than help them.
The bottom line of this is that these guys (owners) are wrecking the game of baseball, that we fans have known and love and followed all our lives. And why ? Simple. Because to them, it isn't a game of baseball. It's a stock market. It's a profit and loss statement. A balance sheet, etc. These guys couldn't care less what happens to the team. They are looking at this from a MONEY perspective, period.
Older fans like myself remember the days back when it wasn't anything like this. There was no free agency for the players. Some of the greatest players ever to perform on a field (Ted Williams, Stan Musial, Mickey Mantle, etc.) played for one team only for 20 years. Teams were not revolving doors, where each year, fans wonder who their teams' players are.
In the case of the Rays, they are in a significant year. On June 10th, the team was 18 games under .500. Now they are right up in contention once again , and have the best record in baseball since June. Things are going great, and the fans are excited. And what happens ? Mr. Moneybags steps in and starts dismantling the foundations of the team (just to save money).
OK. He is a capitalist trying to make a profit. But the baseball team is much more than just his PROPERTY. It is a cultural entity in the area. The Rays are an institution in the Tampa bay area, and I'm sure it's the same with other teams in other places. What New York baseball fan my age will ever forget when the Giants and Dodgers left New York and went to the west coast ?.....leaving millions of fans heartbroken.
It is time to get baseball out of the hands of the moneychangers, and into the hands of the FANS, who care about baseball and its welfare. For the Rays (similar scenario for other teams), I suggest that they be bought by the 3 counties of Pinellas, Hillsborough, and Manatee, and that the Rays play 1/3 of their home games in each of those counties. It is critical to get baseball out of the hands of these dollar sharks, who probably don't know a curve ball, from a balk, from a sacrifice fly, ans are wrecking the game of professional baseball.
The bottom line of this is that these guys (owners) are wrecking the game of baseball, that we fans have known and love and followed all our lives. And why ? Simple. Because to them, it isn't a game of baseball. It's a stock market. It's a profit and loss statement. A balance sheet, etc. These guys couldn't care less what happens to the team. They are looking at this from a MONEY perspective, period.
Older fans like myself remember the days back when it wasn't anything like this. There was no free agency for the players. Some of the greatest players ever to perform on a field (Ted Williams, Stan Musial, Mickey Mantle, etc.) played for one team only for 20 years. Teams were not revolving doors, where each year, fans wonder who their teams' players are.
In the case of the Rays, they are in a significant year. On June 10th, the team was 18 games under .500. Now they are right up in contention once again , and have the best record in baseball since June. Things are going great, and the fans are excited. And what happens ? Mr. Moneybags steps in and starts dismantling the foundations of the team (just to save money).
OK. He is a capitalist trying to make a profit. But the baseball team is much more than just his PROPERTY. It is a cultural entity in the area. The Rays are an institution in the Tampa bay area, and I'm sure it's the same with other teams in other places. What New York baseball fan my age will ever forget when the Giants and Dodgers left New York and went to the west coast ?.....leaving millions of fans heartbroken.
It is time to get baseball out of the hands of the moneychangers, and into the hands of the FANS, who care about baseball and its welfare. For the Rays (similar scenario for other teams), I suggest that they be bought by the 3 counties of Pinellas, Hillsborough, and Manatee, and that the Rays play 1/3 of their home games in each of those counties. It is critical to get baseball out of the hands of these dollar sharks, who probably don't know a curve ball, from a balk, from a sacrifice fly, ans are wrecking the game of professional baseball.
Also, pro sports has physical requirements. Most baseball players aren't tall enough for basketball, or husky enough for football. (and could you just see then trying to ice skate ?) LOL.
