BASEBALL...THE NEW WIIFM SPORT

I am sitting here shaking my head at the ridiculous greed I see around me through the eyes of ugly baseball players amidst COVID-19.  I am sure you have had your fill of Tampa Bay pitcher Blake Snell, but his quote back in early May just won't go away.

"For me to take a pay cut is not happening, because the risk is through the roof... it's a shorter season, less pay… I gotta get my money," said Snell. Max Scherzer was also vocal this week on Twitter, saying. "no reason to engage with MLB in any further compensation reductions." 

On Friday, the CEO of my company could barely choke back tears as he described the process a front-line healthcare worker goes through following a shift at the hospital in order to keep his family safe.  He changes and hoses off in the backyard in order to avoid any sort of contact between himself and his family following a day's work. This is an additional process ontop of his extended hours trying to keep his patients alive. Yet, here we are waiting for the go-ahead to "play ball" and maybe some respite for this healthcare worker and his family, watching their favorite baseball team. Instead, today's players are worried about getting their full pay for playing likely half of a regular season.  It is really very simple, no prorated pay, no baseball in 2020. I don't know any way else to say it.

Source: CURTIS COMPTON/ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION VIA AP

"This is the sport that wants us all to believe it is still our national pastime. But right now, it is letting the nation down, unable even in this time of crisis to keep its ugliest squabbles private, a new load of dirty laundry leaked to the public daily. Players on one side, owners on the other, a deep divide in between about how, or even if, baseball will return to the field," wrote The Boston Globe on Saturday.

Source: Twitter

The coronavirus has caused many to lose their jobs, receive pay cuts, and alter their ways of working. Blue-collar as well as white-collar workers across the country are experiencing the worst case of unemployment ever. And baseball players want what's "owed" to them. How can owners pay full price when no fans can attend games until maybe this fall and baseball revenues are plummeting or nonexistent?

Every part of today's economy is taking a hit. From restaurants to small businesses and Fortune 500 companies to universities. What makes baseball players think they are exempt?

As stated eloquently in The Globe, "There are pathways to compromise — the work being done by the NHL and its convoluted playoff plan, by the NBA and its plans that put an emphasis on player safety, by the NFL and its unbridled optimism as it targets a full fall return, all of it fosters hope our beloved sports distraction may again return. Baseball, as usual, didn’t get the memo, continuing instead to stumble over itself with the same graceless selfishness that has come to define the sport since, oh, around 1994." That's of course when the strike happened and the rest of the season was canceled including the World Series.

I am the biggest baseball fan I know.  I love the game, not just the Yankees.  This all makes me extremely sad. Why can't the players shift their mindset to one that wants to make a greater impact? Country Music Artists Thomas Rhett and Friends sum this sentiment up in their newly released single "Be A Light."

"In a world full of hate, be a light

When you do somebody wrong, make it right

Don't hide in the dark, you were born to shine

In a world full of hate, be a light

Here is the perfect opportunity for baseball to be a light and provide some joy during these unprecedented times, once again proving it is America's pastime.  Instead, baseball players represented by their agents and union are acting with one mindset: WIIFM- What's In It For Me?!

Between the greed, the cheating, and exorbitant ticket prices, baseball is as far from an affordable day at the beach on a nice summer afternoon than it is close to a multi-million dollar mansion on a secluded overlook.

Source: Orange County Register

Overall, there is just a lack of empathy which in this day and age coupled with critical thinking, is the number one skill needed to combat today's challenges and make a better tomorrow.  I hope that this is a wake-up call to players and owners alike.  Safety is number 1. Precision and best practice are two and three. Salary is way down the bottom.

Bring back baseball and make a greater impact.  Bring joy, not greed.  Bring back the sport, the thrills, the competition, and a little bit of normalcy to our lives.  Summer without baseball is just unacceptable when there is an alternative.

--Suzie Pinstripe
BYB Managing Editor
Twitter: @suzieprof