Baron’s Corner
Labor negotiations aren’t my favorite subject, especially the current greedball.
Decided to read as little as possible about the finger-pointing and write only Phillies and baseball history. That said, had to get some things off my chest.
Having collected Phillies w-2 forms for over 50 years I rubbed elbows with hundreds of players. Alphabetically from Abbott (Kyle) to Zuber (Jon). Multiple Hall of Famers and many more fringe players.
I reported to the Phillies best owners, Ruly Carpenter, Bill Giles and David Montgomery. We experienced highs and lows including work stoppages, something like 9. Three strikes resulted in lost games. Some clubs decided to downsize their front offices during those three shutdowns. The Phillies never laid off one employee.
In the PR universe you walk a fine line between ownership, players and media. Yes, I now have gray hair. But, hey, I have hair.
The players are the product. Always has been that way and should always remain so. They are gifted athletes, entertaining millions with the elite earning millions.
Regardless of their pay stub, they lived or are living a dream. They perform on baseball’s highest stage, the major leagues. Millions of fans had similar dreams. But we couldn’t play. So, we became fans. In my childhood, it meant Robin Roberts, Richie Ashburn, Del Ennis.
Owners are wealthy billionaires, many of whom made their fortune elsewhere. Only 30 such franchises in existence. Responsibilities are great. Rewards and risk come with the territory. As do significant costs. It takes millions of dollars to develop a young player into a major leaguer. Usually a four-to-five-year process. NBA and NFL owners draft finished products out of colleges. 0 development costs. On the other side of a shiny coin, revenues are huge, record highs despite Covid-19.
Today’s mess is a failure of both ownership and the player’s union. “This story is tedious,” a friend told me. The media will try to classify winners and losers. Fans are the lone losers.
Baseball once was the national pastime. The NFL and NBA have forged ahead.
Baseball once was a simple game, understood by all. Now it is a complex analytical business, a business that has narrowing appeal. There are more foul balls than balls in play more often than not.
Baseball has been through a lot of storms….the Black Sox scandal, wars, dead ball era, color barrier, franchise relocations, player strikes, collusion, lockouts, expansions, an earthquake World Series, a canceled World Series, replacement players, PEDs, tanking, rule changes, juiced baseballs and the pandemic. What will be the current damage? We’ll find out.
My enthusiasm for the game has been badly bruised. Somehow, I don’t believe I’m the Lone Ranger in this regard.
Both sides say they want to play. Well, damn it. Then just do it!
