With George Steinbrenners death today, the Yankees organization and fans lost their patriarch.
The rest of baseball lost an owner who inflated player salaries, consistently spent over the salary cap and was more like Pee Wee Hermans neighbor Francis than a baseball legend.
You remember Francis right?
He was Pee Wee Hermans wealthy, spoiled-brat neighbor who was constantly trying to buy Pee Wee Hermans bike. He thought he was entitled to that bike.
Steinbrenner thought he was entitled to the best players in baseball, despite MLBs salary cap. The salary cap exists to stop teams from hoarding all the best talent.
But Steinbrenner defied it (and paid a luxury tax as a penalty). He didn’t care about the integrity of the game. He only cared about his team winning.
And while that is great for fans of the Yankees, it was devastating to Major League Baseball.
To have THAT many elite free agents sign with one team is not good for baseball.
I could give you a ton of examples of how the Yankees hoarded free agents all the way back to the 1970s, but I wont bore you with a history lesson here.
In closing, let me tell you that George Steinbrenner is solely responsible for the outrageous salaries players make today. He is the reason ticket prices are so high and concession prices are outrageous.
So the next time you complain that you cant afford to take your family of four to a baseball game, think of George Steinbrenner.
George Steinbrenner ruined baseball.
Ps. To all you a-holes who are going to tell me that the Red Sox spend a lot of money, just remember that the Red Sox have a ton of money yet don’t spend OVER the salary cap. They operate with integrity for the game.
Just goes to show that God is a Red Sox fan. Couldn't have come at a better time!
ReplyDeletePs. To all you a-holes who are going to tell me that the Red Sox spend a lot of money, just remember that the Red Sox have a ton of money yet don’t spend OVER the salary cap. They operate with integrity for the game.
ReplyDeleteTip,
They do pay over the " salary cap "
They just choose to keep the money in their greedy pockets
There actually is NO salary cap in baseball and probably never will be.
ReplyDeleteGreat article. I can't even stand to watch the game anymore because I know if the Yankees don't have the best team one year they will buy the best team the next year. Thank God Cliff Lee went to Texas. Baseball use to be about farming future talents in the minors but since the Yankees were never able to pull that off they just ruined the game by buying players off. Maybe baseball will recover from Steinbrenner in a decade.
ReplyDeleteTo anonymous a-hole #3, there is a "soft salary cap" which is technically called a luxury tax. Anyone who goes over the salary cap is taxed. But we are talking semantics now.
ReplyDeleteAnd for 2010 it is approximately 170 million.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salary_cap#Luxury_tax_in_Major_League_Baseball
To anonymous a-hole # 2 who said "They do pay over the salary cap they just choose to keep the money in their greedy pockets"
ReplyDeleteThe Red Sox are under the cap in 2010. The cap is 170 million, they spent 162 million.
http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/salaries/teams
you are an idiot George Steinbrenner did more for the game of baseball than anyone else. You can hate him because he spent too much money but dont act like if he owned the red sox any of you would say this crap. Just a typical whiny Boston fan rant
ReplyDelete