Sunday, April 30, 2006 | By: Unknown

When your team sucks, do you call in sick more often?

I didn't have anything better to do this morning prior to the start of the Nascar race at that haven of redneck mania...Talladega, Alabama..I perused the Baseball standings.

Big Mistake..it just depressed the shit out of me.

I found that the NL West is abysmal as are the AL East and West. The teams leading these divisions have a winning percentage of: .583,except the AL West, which is worse at a miserable .500.

Only winning half their games..the team at the top of their division? What does that say about the rest of that division??

Glad you asked..of the 4 teams in the AL West, two are at an even .500. The other two are: Oakland at .478 and Seattle with a pathetic .400 winning percentage. Wouldn't you hate to go to work every day knowing the odds of a decent outcome were that low? Would you call in sick more often? The Kansas City Royal's players do..and their team has the lowest winning percentage with a lovely .238 (5 wins 16 nasty losses). Four of the eleven positions for this team have multiple players on the DL. The pen is in shambles with four guys sitting around eating sunflower seeds and getting paid for it. I have never thought it was a good idea to pay a guy his full salary if he is hurt..let the schmuck get Afflack like the rest of us. Sometimes of course, a player isn't really hurt, he is just batting in the low .150's and needs to go find his swing, or pull his head out of his ass. They tell us he tweaked something and toss him on the 15-day DL hoping he can get his shit together. For pitchers, if they can't get it over the plate, or the opposite, they serve up a big fatty with every pitch..they get to visit the DL also.

To me, this mentality rewards the screw-ups. It gives players a hundred chances to figure it out, to play up to the standards of that 10 million dollar contract they signed in the off season after finally having a decent year the prior season.

If baseball has become a business, then treat them like employees...not CEO's. Treating them like CEO's is why it costs too damn much to go to a game anymore. If you want season tickets you need to take out a second on the house.

The players union sure knows how to negotiate a contract..why didn't the teamsters use those guys when they negotiated the grocery store workers strikes in recent years? The grocery workers lost so much ground..it was sad.

In all honesty, a ball player is a limited commodity. Grocery store workers are a dime a dozen.

Its just too bad baseball is pricing itself out of the realm of grocery store workers taking their families to a game. Ah..the old days..

8 people gave us their .02 cents:

Omnipotent Poobah said...

They're not the only sport doing that. Basketball and football are even worse. The only games I go to anymore are hocky games. They are still a relative bargain because by other pro sports standards, the players are low-paid.

Unknown said...

Thats very true,the big three sports all cater to the players and pass it on to us. Hockey is the last sport that is affordable,but if they get a decent tv package, and the revenue starts coming in, the players will get concessions instead of just a piece of the action.

Anonymous said...

The average fan is being driven away by the corporate dollar, and unfortunately, it's going to continue to be that way.

Anonymous said...

Last time I bought a basbeball ticket (NYM-SF), the ticket cost 50 FUCKING DOLLARS. Ouch! My trip inside of Fenway Park cost the same. Not to mention the beer at SBC Park, $7 bucks for a flimsy plastic glass.

Anonymous said...

"If baseball is a biz then treat them like employees not CEOs" - GREAT LINE DUSTY! I couldn't agree with you more. But...I still pony up the dough to get into Fenway every chance I get.

Unknown said...

I spend the cash too Dave..but I am a semi-retired person w/no kids..I can afford it.Families are reaching the tipping point where they can't. Its disgusting to me.I loved going to games w/my dad as a kid, even if it was the damn dodgers:P

Kids now..won't get do to that on a regular basis.

Anonymous said...

It was so bad in Toronto ten years ago, that I was at one game where a double base hit was applauded like a grand slam.

I thought the light screen was going to say "Aim lower," to cheer us up.

The Misanthrope said...

I haven't gone to a game in two years because of the new owner of the Dodgers. However, Daughter is bugging me to go, so I will take her to at least one game.

I try to only pay attention to the game and not all the crap surrounding it otherwise it ruins it for me. Unfortunately I can't ignore the price of tickets and food at the games.