Rubbing Your Eyes in Fantasy Land

Those of you, dear readers, who are not used to the kind of mendacity practiced in the heartland of America must think the headlines of the past several days border on the absurd. If the governor of Illinois indeed is found guilty as charged, not only of seeking a payoff in exchange for an appointment to fill Barack Obama's vacated seat in the U.S. Senate, he could be convicted not only of a felony, but also of unmitigated chutzpah.

Having spent several years as a reporter during the years of the Daley machine in Chicago of the 1960s and 1970s, the news of corruption from downstate Illinois comes as no great shock to me. Governor Rod R. Blagojevich just happens to be the latest creep in a long line of them to occupy the governor's mansion in the last few decades.

However, it's not the world of politics that is enough to turn anyone's stomach so much these days as are the occupants in the world of sports, i.e. principally baseball. Don't get me wrong. I love our national sport. I have loved it from the Depression-era days when I grew up in the Bronx and adored the Yankees, probably because they were the only winners in an era of hard times. Yet, to pick up the morning newspaper and read about the $161 million dollar deal the Yankees signed with a pitcher who has never even won 20 games in a single season exceeds the bizarre, especially when the nation is enduring one of its worst economic crisis in decades.

I don't know CC Sabathia or his blood-sucking agent. But they and all the other high-priced players and the teams that sign lucrative contracts in the months before spring training ought to feel a sense of embarrassment for their insensitivity at a time when tens of thousands of Americans have lost their jobs and their homes. Compare their plight to the good fortune of those who only can run, hit and field a ball. Guess who truly is out of touch with reality? It may only occur to the players and their owners when the baseball season opens next spring and the box seats, parking lots and hot dog stands are half-empty. But then again, who knows? Baseball fans are uncommonly forgiving. They can drown their sorrows, regrets and anger once the umpire barks, "Play Ball!."

Comments

[MilwaukeeDan]

Mr. Fromson, living as close to the Illinois border as I do, I was a hardcore Cubs and Bears fan back when these atheles use to work in the offseason to support their families. Modern athletes only care about their contracts, they could care less where they play. There are a few exeptions, but I won't waste my time to turn on the TV or go to a game just for them. Money has ruined sports in this country.

[Samalabear]

I'm glad somebody finally wrote about this. I have to admit I stopped following baseball when the salaries started to get insane. It is ridiculous. I have a feeling, like the other poster below that this is not going to last. These bubble salaries are going to burst.

[courtb]

I love baseball and especially the Yankees, but I am ashamed of my team and these athletes. Yes, professional sports are a fickle thing and all it takes is one injury to destroy a career, but $161 million to pitch a couple games a week, when some families are working two to three jobs to make ends meet is absolutely insulting to the American people.

[pundit27]

Nice sentiments, but no grounding in reality. CC's salary is a totally reasonable gamble, fully transparent for all fans and competing teams to see. Obviously, the Yanks believe it pencils out just fine, and, barring an injury, will likely reward the team with millions more than CC is costing. Isn't that American capitalism at its best -- businesses take risks in an appropriately regulated environment, and often they win. If appearances are so important, as Fromson suggests, perhaps we should be sending more camera crews to Greenwich, Park Avenue and Kings Point to seek out the Ponzi schemers, otherwise known now as overleveraged executives of companies too big to fail for the sake of our economy. Now that is truly despicable, where men and women of limited talents game the system to accrue wealth that makes CC's 20something million a year look like a Cracker Jacks prize by comparison.

[Cranbot]

These salaries will fast become unsustainable as no one can afford the ticket prices. For many years the average person is not the one who attends the games, the seats have been corporate buys for rewards, contest, etc. Now that the corporations have been cutting back and NHL tickets are going for $8 in some venues just to fill seats there will be a rapid unwinding.

Yes, even during the depression people scrounged up 10 cents to go see a movie, but they didn't have the alternatives for entertainment we have today. When all is said and done you have to keep a roof over your head and feed your family first. Somehow a day at the ballpark to watch these overpriced prima donnas doesn't cut it.

The tipping point came when the big league players could play for 10 years and if they were smart about their money never have to work again. In the old days, the athletes worked in the off season and then moved up to getting a TV or other career after their playing days were over. The gravy days may soon be over.

[TheVicar]

What makes you think ticket prices drive sports teams? It's the lucrative TV rights which generate the money. All those ads for beer and cars around the edges of the stadium get broadcast to idiot sports fans, and in the intervals they get to see... advertisements for beer and cars.

Salaries will fall when people stop watching the games on TV, so advertising revenues fall.