Baseball Salaries

Baseball Salaries

When people think of high salaries they turn to the world of professional

sports, because that is where athletes are paid outrageous amounts to do the

things they love. Although some would argue that the athletes deserve these

wages, I fell that not all professional sports are paid adequately. For an

example of this statement take into consideration the time and effort that most

pro athletes spend at perfecting there acquired talent. They are fine tuned

instruments, who work hard to do their jobs on the field, on the court, or on

the course. They do this because they love the game. Golfers don't get paid as

much as other Pro-sports, but do their job just as well. Athletes are paid way

to much, but golfers are not. Now take into consideration how much professional

baseball players make a season. "The average earned income in major league

baseball is over $800,000 a season"(Fizel, 83), and some of these players just

ride the pine all year. How is it fair that a man that can hit a ball four

hundred feet to send a baseball out of the park make $30 million a season. Barry

Bonds is truly a great athlete, but to be paid that much he should be able to

hit home runs with his eyes closed. I know that these baseball stars bring in a

lot of very good paying customers, and they like to watch the games. Then

though, I could eat for a week on what they are charging to get into Wrigley

Field with good seats for one game. If you will step back with me in time for a

moment you will understand why I am so concerned about this issue about over

paid athletes. In the forties each player was paid fairly but not extravagantly.

"When I joined the Cardinals ball club in 1943 we were paid fifteen dollars

for each game".(Harig) Back then the players had other jobs to help them make

ends meat. They just played the game on the side and on the weekends for extra

cash. Other sports have the same problems, take professional basketball. Michael

Jordan is the greatest man to ever walk across the hard wood floors of

professional basketball, but to be paid $63 million in one season is almost

sickening. Jordan has so much power when it comes to the NBA, that he is able to

drop out of the National Basketball League and start playing baseball. Then when

he was tired of baseball, the Bulls begged and pleaded for him to come back to

their team. That just doesn't seem right and fair to me, especially to other

players in the NBA. He may be the greatest basketball player ever, but in my

books he doesn't have a lot of character and integrity. "Jordan made sixty

three million last year and the closest man to him was Patrick Ewig; who made

twenty million,"(Partinie) which is a little better character wise. It is true

that these men bring on big crowds and lots of money to the owners, just like

baseball players, but again have to much control. They probably aren't paid

near as much as the owners could afford to either, the owner can go home with a

fat pocket too. Pro's are just taking advantage of there talent, at least in

some cases. God gave them their talent and some of them are being very greedy

and not using it for what it was meant to be used for; the pure love of the

game. Football players aren't any better but are a little different when it

comes to why they are paid so much. They have a lot more at steak when they go

out on to the field to crunch heads. They have to consider the possibility of

getting injured. They are paid to be big, mean, fast, and ruthless out on the

grass against men just as big and ruthless as themselves. Football players are

rewarded money if their talent is exceptional, for touchdowns, yardage, sacks,

stops, interceptions, and many more. If they don't perform they don't get as

much cash. If they do live up to what they are expected to, they get over loaded

with money. Emmit Smith, and other runningbacks are paid more than any lineman,

because they are the ones that put on the show, and are what the spectators came

to the game to watch. They also make all the points and make all the good plays

that keep viewers interested. Now I do know that the linemen are a huge part of

how a good half-back performs, with blocks and stuff, but when there is raw

talent in a man you notice it like in Emmit or Barry Sanders. It is also true

for the quarterbacks; they are paid more because they are the conductors out on

the field. They conduct the orchestra out on the field. John Elway is a great

example. He has the strongest, fastest, and most accurate arm in pro-football,

which he has proven. That is the main reason he is one the highest paid

professional football players