Money Money Everywhere & Not a Cent to Spare

by Christine Insinga

   Fannie Freddie- AIG- Citigroup and ALMOST the Big 3 -- $700,000 billion here--- maybe $14 billion there. Our nation's debt now tops $10,000,000,000,000- that's TEN TRILLION DOLLARS. Hard working middle class families are having a hard time putting food on the table and the holidays aren't shaping up to be that hearty this year. Employers slashed more that 530,000 jobs last month- the most in 3 decades!!   Seems everyone is out of money these days....well almost everyone.

    My idea- why don't we borrow it from baseball? Yes, baseball. According to the Associated Press the NY Yankees spent a gut wrenching $218.3 on their 2007 payroll- not to mention $243 million on their starting pitchers... and that's just during this off season!!  How about pitching in where it counts, kids?  The Boston Red Sox spent just over $155 Million- on last years payroll, even the LA Angels spent $111 Million.   A-Rod earns more than $28 million smackaroos a year!  Well that's what he MAKES- I'm not sure anyone can EARN that. Incidently his salary is more than the ENTIRE Florida Marlin payroll! And - seriously- what did CC Sabathia do to cut a $161 Million deal??

   If that wasn't enough- the Yankees and Mets recently asked the city for $450 million MORE in public bonds to finance their brand spanking new- state of the art stadiums. Let's not forget- the city's Economic Development Corp says the teams were already granted $1.5 billion for their respective projects!

    Don't get wrong I am a TREMENDOUS baseball fan- Yankees in particular- though it's not the same since Tino left. I love the sport- I do. I just think there is something horribly wrong that it costs moms and dads an arm, leg and lung to spend a day at the ball park with their kids.  So many people who have worked hard for so many years are getting laid off- just like that.

    Everyone deserves a little breather.  Everyone deserves a little fun.  I'm just saying- what a shame it would be if Americans had to start passing on America's favorite pasttime because the only ones who could afford to watch them are members of the MLB themselves. That would be a sad, sad day.

 How many days until pitchers and catchers report??

Comments

[John]

I probably won't make any friends by saying this, but I've often thought there's something wrong with professional sports and team fanatics.

Don't take that the wrong way. I understand that, regardless of the field and regardless of one's interests, it's always fascinating and usually entertaining to watch a master at work. I also understand supporting your friends and neighbors when they're on a team, for obvious reasons.

But (to pick on the example you brought up) the Yankees are...a brand name, and little more. Their mastery changes from year to year, because the team changes. And the players are infrequently locals, because they hire the best they can afford.

What did the top-paid players do to earn their money? They convinced somebody with the money that they were worth it. The management now needs to convince you, so that you'll pony up the cash for tickets, so that we can start the cycle again next year.

Of course, that cycle is going to start draining money out, I'll bet. When there are fewer people who can afford tickets and merchandise around (or more people start looking at local teams--maybe support your local high school sports before big business?), the prices will have to drop if the business is going to survive, and that's going to impact/normalize player salaries.

Unless they get a bailout, too. I mean, between the geniuses in Congress, the Treasury, and the Fed, something like eight trillion dollars of taxpayer money has been promised. What's another few billions so that the Yankees don't actually need anybody watching...?