The myth of the overpaid ballplayer
Tom Cruise hasn't made a film that I've enjoyed since "Magnolia" in 1999. Yet when I go to the movie theater and suffer through one of the handsomely-compensated actor's glossy, empty features, I don't boo the screen. True, Cruise wouldn't be there to hear me even if I did, but if I watched him perform on larger price scale on the stage or encountered him at one of my weekly Scientology gatherings, I would still remain respectfully silent. Nobody I know would do something like this.No entertainers in America take on the resentment for their financial success like Major League Baseball players. Even in football and basketball, where booing and jeering is commonplace within hostile environs, the negative vibes rarely seem to be tied to the performers' salaries. Furthermore, the sports media does not obsess itself to any comparable degree with what gridders or cagers are earning for their sweat and effort. What is it then that makes baseball so different?
It probably has to do with the fact that baseball's club owners are always pleading poverty, and that's where my exaggerated eye roll (you'll have to take my word for it) comes in. Forbes Magazine's annual estimate of the financial worth of each of the 30 Major League Baseball franchises was unveiled today. Not surprisingly, the New York Yankees were judged to have the highest club value: $1.6 billion, followed by the Boston Red Sox at $870 million. In last place, the Pittsburgh Pirates (that favorite Cardinals' NL Central Division doormat) at $289 million. (Disclosure: MLB clubs always dispute Forbes' findings, but which of the two sources do you trust?)
Even more instructive is the percentage increases of the franchise values over just one year: 7% for the Yankees, 4% for the Red Sox, top increases of 15% for the Florida Marlins and 14% for the Minnesota Twins-- two clubs with new taxpayer-funded stadiums opening or under construction. Meanwhile, a report from Opening Day on Monday found that players' salaries, as a whole, had increased a modest 1% in during the same year.
The "overpaid ballplayer" has become an American character storied in print and broadcast (though not yet in song), thanks to a fraternity of sport journalists predisposed to adopting management's view on... well, hell, everything. Courtesy of a gentleman named Matt Yglesias, this is a chart indexing workers' compensation as a share of national GDP (Gross National Product) for the entire U.S. Between 1960 and 2006, the national figure hovers consistently around 56 to 59%. As you can see in Yglesias' report, NBA players are paid at roughly 57%. Now let's look at baseball. They're at only 52 percent, as of the 2008 season. In '08, the same year of comparison, NHL players were at 56.7%, the NBA at 57%, and the NFL at 59%-- all on track with or exceeding the national business average. Only baseball, in this sphere of industry, falls under.
Major League Baseball, it turns out, does have a problem with player salaries. They're too low. Be mindful of this in a year when baseball owners are again pleading poverty and are attempting to implement a salary cap during collective bargaining.
posted by CM @ 7:34 PM
2 Comments:
I think you hear it more in baseball because you get a lot more high-paid flops in baseball than you do in other sports. Also, because you hear a lot of complaints from "small-market" teams about their inability to compete, it also draws attention to player salaries. So, when a player sucks, you probably know that not only does he suck, but he sucks while earning $18M a year. Knowing that money could have been put to better use adds to fans' angst.
I think there's something inherent in baseball that makes people think they could conceivably play it easier than other sports, and that's why they take it more personally when a player fails. People understand when they're booing basketball players that, regardless, a 7'0 basketball player could still clean the clock of Joe Fan in a one-on-one game. And that the physical abuse taken by football players on a weekly basis is something the average fan wouldn't want to endure, nor could they outrun or outjump Randy Moss.
But baseball players skills are not so specific and they also fail more. Even the greatest hitters of all time hit safely less than 40% of the time. As a fan, I KNOW I can't outplay any NBAer in one-on-one and wouldn't want to get hit by any NFL linebacker, but I could possibly strikeout twice, draw a walk, and maybe hit a weak groundball on my fourth trip to the plate, which is not an uncommon day for a baseball player.
They say the hardest thing to do in sports is hit a baseball, but it's not true. If you're an average 5'10 guy, hitting a baseball is much easier than dunking a basketball.
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