Reason one is that the system works for the players and the owners.
For the fans, and the integrity of the game? Yeah, well, good luck with that. We live in an age where integrity doesn't matter. Profit matters. Profit IS integrity.
Tim Williams wrote a nice piece on the world series being the dream scenario for MLB, a feast, a cornucopia where all the best players are matching up against one another in a bi-coastal world series between the two most successful teams of all time.
Problem is that Ben Cherington is cooking a can of beans and convincing himself that ... boy, these beans are great. It was a funny and sad and true look at baseball.
Thing is, Bob Nutting is making money. So the system works for him. For the fans? Forget it. Baseball is a rotting corpse. I have retreated into minor league baseball because it's real.
The Mudville Nine is never going to strike out the Mighty Casey.
The players are in a position where they cannot step out of line. They've worked too hard to get where they are and their union is strong and has a say. But I'd say, if some of the players like a Brian Reynolds or a Cutch or somebody like that along with similar players from other teams stood up and had a press conference before a series with the Yankees or the Dodgers and just asked the fans in the outfield bleachers to throw money on the field so they could pay their deferred salaries more easily.... That would turn some heads... Or if a city like Pittsburgh hosted such a game and successfully boycotted it. Maybe someone would notice.
The problem here is the fans don't have a voice. If nobody came to the Pirates - Dodgers game, Nutting still makes money. Right? So I return to my lead sentence. Salary cap and floor with NEVER happen.
___________________________
"That's the ol' pepper, boy! That's the ol' pitchin! That's puttin' it over the plate!"
I'm so sick of reading the fantastical whinings of people like Tim Williams who clearly prefer to use the game as an analogy for societal grievances than the entertainment it is meant to be.
Just watch the fuckin games, man. Baseball is great.
The self-flagellation of baseball by media and fans is something I just do not understand. No other sport does this to itself. Stop running down your own product at every goddamn turn. It’s not perfect, but it’s still fantastic.
Yeah, the reality is probably closer to the fact that the "poor" owners are still making money, so they're happy. And then you have the Cohen's of the world who have so much money to burn, that it's just a vanity project, so he'll spend whatever it might take to possibly win a WS.
I think the deferrals have to stop, or more practically have a limit.....say 5 years. This just has the feel of the 2008 mortgage crisis.....it felt good for a lot of people for awhile.....and then it collapsed. What the Dodgers are doing is not tenable for the sake of some measure of parity in the game and MLB needs to address it. But you are right, who will take this inequity out-of-balance issue on? Might have to be the fans.....disconnect mlb.tv and have empty stadiums.
Great job guys on this weeks podcast! It was an enjoyable listen over coffee here this morning. Wasn't expecting all the Hockey talk, but it related well to the overall Salary Cap discussion. The cap discussion might be a good future article.
Too much hockey talk. Not what I am here for. Otherwise excellent Pirates coverage.
Here's a neat idea.
Before the Dodgers come to town, have a food drive and actually donate the boxes to the Dodgers when they arrive.
Gettin' sort of POed here.
_________________________
"Ehhh... I think I'll perplex him with my slowball."
-Wabbit
Salary cap and floor will NEVER happen.
Reason one is that the system works for the players and the owners.
For the fans, and the integrity of the game? Yeah, well, good luck with that. We live in an age where integrity doesn't matter. Profit matters. Profit IS integrity.
Tim Williams wrote a nice piece on the world series being the dream scenario for MLB, a feast, a cornucopia where all the best players are matching up against one another in a bi-coastal world series between the two most successful teams of all time.
Problem is that Ben Cherington is cooking a can of beans and convincing himself that ... boy, these beans are great. It was a funny and sad and true look at baseball.
Thing is, Bob Nutting is making money. So the system works for him. For the fans? Forget it. Baseball is a rotting corpse. I have retreated into minor league baseball because it's real.
The Mudville Nine is never going to strike out the Mighty Casey.
The players are in a position where they cannot step out of line. They've worked too hard to get where they are and their union is strong and has a say. But I'd say, if some of the players like a Brian Reynolds or a Cutch or somebody like that along with similar players from other teams stood up and had a press conference before a series with the Yankees or the Dodgers and just asked the fans in the outfield bleachers to throw money on the field so they could pay their deferred salaries more easily.... That would turn some heads... Or if a city like Pittsburgh hosted such a game and successfully boycotted it. Maybe someone would notice.
The problem here is the fans don't have a voice. If nobody came to the Pirates - Dodgers game, Nutting still makes money. Right? So I return to my lead sentence. Salary cap and floor with NEVER happen.
___________________________
"That's the ol' pepper, boy! That's the ol' pitchin! That's puttin' it over the plate!"
-Wabbit
Baseball is a rotting corpse? Jesus.
I'm so sick of reading the fantastical whinings of people like Tim Williams who clearly prefer to use the game as an analogy for societal grievances than the entertainment it is meant to be.
Just watch the fuckin games, man. Baseball is great.
Baseball may not be a rotting corpse but the pirates organization and it's owner is.
I've got no doubt that's exactly what drives many Pirate fans to hysterics.
The self-flagellation of baseball by media and fans is something I just do not understand. No other sport does this to itself. Stop running down your own product at every goddamn turn. It’s not perfect, but it’s still fantastic.
exactly!
Yeah, the reality is probably closer to the fact that the "poor" owners are still making money, so they're happy. And then you have the Cohen's of the world who have so much money to burn, that it's just a vanity project, so he'll spend whatever it might take to possibly win a WS.
I think the deferrals have to stop, or more practically have a limit.....say 5 years. This just has the feel of the 2008 mortgage crisis.....it felt good for a lot of people for awhile.....and then it collapsed. What the Dodgers are doing is not tenable for the sake of some measure of parity in the game and MLB needs to address it. But you are right, who will take this inequity out-of-balance issue on? Might have to be the fans.....disconnect mlb.tv and have empty stadiums.
Great job guys on this weeks podcast! It was an enjoyable listen over coffee here this morning. Wasn't expecting all the Hockey talk, but it related well to the overall Salary Cap discussion. The cap discussion might be a good future article.
Bringing back my old Bucs'N'Pucks roots lol