FanPost

Saving America's Pastime

First of all, let me say that I LOVE baseball and all that goes along with it. Beer and hot dogs at the game, fathers and sons bonding over a team, and rooting for your favorite team in game 7 of the World Series. Being from South Georgia, I grew being able to watch two channels that showed baseball on a regular basis, WGN and TBS. So, needless to say, I knew all about the Cubs and Braves of the late 80's and early 90's. When I began watching baseball, the stars I knew were Dale Murphy, Ryne Sandberg, and Andre Dawson. Then, when the 90's hit, stars such as Greg Maddux, Dave Justice, Terry Pendleton, Tom Glavine, and John Smoltz emerged. This is when I realized that baseball was more than a game, it was a business. Dale Murphy was traded to the Phillies, and Greg Maddux moved down south to Atlanta. Still, baseball seemed pure and honest.

After the strike of 1994, baseball slowly began earning back the trust of fans, but some of us loyal fans never held a grudge and were excited to see big leaguers back in action. Then came the summer of 98' when Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa took all of America on a joyous ride like never before. As they battled back and forth, looking for the infamous 62nd home run, baseball appeared to be as strong as ever. Most fans, myself included, turned a blind eye to the size and stature of our big league heroes. Everyone knew that something was amiss, I mean, Brady Anderson hit 50 homers in 1996, only topping 20 or more homers once before 96'(21 in 1992,) and once after 96'(24 in 1999.) Me, being a young baseball fan, could not understand how a player like Anderson could accomplish such a feat. When it finally came out that players were using steroids, I was confused as to why anyone could possibly do much damage to their body for a game played and loved by little children. As I said, I was a teenager then and all I cared about was watching my heroes play the game. I did not realize that these superhuman men were putting this poison in their body for one main reason. MONEY!!!

When Curt Flood battled to become a free agent in 1969, all he wanted was the chance to play for a team of his choosing. Had he realized how free agency would alter the game, maybe he would have done things differently. After the 92' season, when Greg Maddux and Barry Bonds hit the free agent market, no one could have known the paths, or results these two players would take and put up in the future, but this was an off season for the ages. As we all know, Greg Maddux took his talents to Atlanta, while Barry Bonds went out west to San Francisco. What you may not know is that the Braves actually offered Bonds a better contract than the Giants and were about to sign him when Maddux decided to come to Atlanta. The Braves were in a conundrum. Sign Bonds or Maddux. Well, 21 years and many steroid allegations later, I think the Braves made the right decision.

I know I am rambling along and need to get to the point. That point is, money, and all that goes along with it, has wounded baseball. When Ryne Sandberg signed his contract extension in 92'(4 years/28.4million,) the baseball world was turned on it's axis. A baseball player making an average salary of 7.1 million per season was unheard of. After Sandberg's contract, owners and general managers went crazy. I'm not saying anything bad about Sandberg, I mean who would turn that down? All I'm saying is that baseball players, no matter how great, deserve that kind of money. When you have cops, emt's, and teachers making 30,000 a year in contrast, it makes hard working Americans feel almost dirty.

There is one thing I can give Sandberg credit for, much more than any of today's hot shot players. After starting the 94' season slowly, Sandberg walked away from his millions.Why you ask? In his book Second to Home, Sandberg said, "The reason I retired is simple: I lost the desire that got me ready to play on an everyday basis for so many years. Without it, I didn't think I could perform at the same level I had in the past, and I didn't want to play at a level less than what was expected of me by my teammates, coaches, ownership, and most of all, myself." It's hard to believe that someone could walk away from that much money because he thought he was hurting his team. Maybe players like Dan Uggla should take a page out of Sandberg's book.

Lastly, when the New York Stankies spend hundreds of millions of dollars on players, and the Minnesota Twins and Florida Marlins spend a quarter of that, it's not hard to realize why the Yanks are always contending and the Twins and Marlins are fighting to stay near .500. The NBA and NFL have salary caps that are strictly enforced and they seem to be doing fine. Could you imagine the Twins and Pirates having the same salary as the Yankees, RedSox, Angels and Dodgers? Wow, maybe then the Yankee "fans" would get a taste of what it feels like to struggle. That being said, the Yankees and their 209+million salary for 2014 seem to be struggling while the Pirates(77+million) and the A's(74+million) seem to be on the rise. Guess money doesn't buy everything. Teams like the Pirates, A's, and yes, the Braves, seem to have something the Yankees and Dodgers don't have. Men who play for the love of the game, battle side by side for each other, not for the money. Good luck baseball, and Go Braves!!!!!!

This FanPost does not express the views or opinions of Battery Power.