This documentary encompasses the very reason why I do not watch professional sports. This is one of the best baseball documentary's I've ever seen. Thanks for not letting this great story go by the wayside.
It's sickening how much money the players/ball clubs make. Solution? Fans quit paying 100$ to watch a damn baseball game!
Baseball is just an example of the free market system, supply and demand. If there wasn't a customer to pay $100 to watch a game, the ticket wouldn't cost $100. Players and owners make so much because baseball makes that much. You know how much the networks pay to broadcast MLB games? How much local stations pay to broadcast games? How much they make from merchandising? As Carl Sagan said, billions and billions. And why shouldn't the players get their fair share? After all, they're the product, they're what the customer wants to see. People don't pay $100 to watch the manager, the umpires or the owners or to have a meal of wildly overpriced food and drinks, but to watch the players play. Nobody is forcing you to go or to watch MLB. You want to watch reasonably priced baseball games? Go to high school or college games. Go to minor league games, hell, there are still town ball and over 35 leagues you can pretty much watch for free, but if you want to see the best play, be prepared to pay for the privilege. Just because you're bitter about not being able to hit the breaking ball doesn't mean the rest of us should stop watching.
shareHey folks,
Baran_Erik is absolutely correct about baseball being part of the free market system driven by supply and demand, and as long as the taxpayers do not have to pay to subsidize a ballpark or a franchise, I am all for the free market system. The big bucks in professional sports is no different than the big bucks paid movie stars, rock stars, or any of the other entertainment industry folks who are really paid by the folks buying the tickets.
I tend to agree with Sea99doo, however, about the amount of bucks we as consumers are willing to lavish on these folks for our entertainment. If the customers would not spend the dime, the stars would not be getting the enormous bucks they are paid. Exactly what makes a third baseman more valuable to society than the guy who breaks his back loading our garbage every day? Why is a singer or an actor more valuable than a school teacher, or a nurse? Only because we as a society place more value on their services and are willing to pay the fare.
Can I appreciate a ballplayer who hits .400 over an entire season? You bet I can. I loved playing baseball, but I was one of those folks Baran_Erik noted who was not “...able to hit the breaking ball...” when I played. Actually I also could not hit the fast ball or any other pitch very well, but I still think baseball is a great game.
I do not live my life without entertainment, but I choose to not spend my bucks on high end entertainment such as professional sports, concerts, and the like. I can enjoy watching high school sports for a whole lot less, and I can always find a community theater show nearby that I can thoroughly enjoy without traveling to Broadway. I do not go to film theaters either. Most of the films I like I can rent from a Redbox for a pittance. Unlike most folks I guess, I am perfectly happy filling my entertainment interests with a lot less expensive sources. “But you are settling for second class!” you may say. Well, I actually got more enjoyment watching my granddaughter hit her last home run while playing college ball than seeing a guy in the bigs hit one - especially if the guy is a steroid enhanced Goliath.
Now I know I am not going to change our culture where we practically worship all of our different stars, but I am not going to spend my buck there either. I do believe in the free enterprise system, and part of that system is the customer having the choice of where he will spend his bucks.
Best wishes,
Dave Wile