MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred and MLBPA Executive Director Tony Clark.
Do you feel mad or anxious about the upcoming baseball season? Have you recently taken out your emotions on a significant other because the MLB lockout continues to drag on? Are you old enough to remember the 1994 work stoppage that ended the season prematurely and without a World Series?
You’re not alone. Tens of millions of fans across five continents (maybe six, but definitely not seven, well maybe seven) feel the same way. While we don’t have all the answers, we know who to blame for this lockout. Or do we?
The owners started the lockout on December 2nd, 2021, and said that they had to do it to bring the Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA) to the table. Had. To. Do. It. Then they went 43 days without meeting with the players. Had to do it, and the 43 days between lockout and initial meeting after the lockout is highly questionable.
What prevented the owners from bringing the union to the table sooner? Arrogance, most likely. The same arrogance that Rob Manfred continues to ooze with each passing moment as yet another baseball season hangs in the balance.
MLB owners can end the lockout at any time. They started it, did nothing with it until the 9th hour, and now they are scrambling to close the gaps with the union to ensure the season starts at the 11th hour. Meeting each week, sometimes twice a week, to get closer, but at the same time playing the woe-is-me card. The owners aren’t victims, but they definitely think you’re an idiot and gullible. Are you gullible? Yes, you definitely are. Trust me.
Manfred, in a press conference earlier this month, said that he was confident that they wouldn’t lose any spring training games (a ploy to leverage fans against the players in the negotiations). The problem with this announcement is flawed. On the surface, this is a tit-for-tat game Manfred is playing because fans root for players and teams, not owners.
Putting fans against players is literally taking money out of the pockets of those that have appointed him the Commissioner of the league. Unless, of course, he truly believed what he was saying, in which case, he’s the one being naïve. Or, and hear me out, he doesn’t care.
Are the owners really to blame, though? Seriously, they want to protect their money. It’s their money, and the league has definitely, maybe, taken a hit financially due to the pandemic possibly. Who knows, the owners haven’t publicly released their 2021 financial numbers. Why haven’t they done that? Because no CBA requires them to do so.
Multi-millionaire babies, right? Not all of them, but they all make more money than you, playing a game, right? There are three different positions to take with the players. The greedy being greedier. There’s also “the players are due their portion of the pie that they’ve helped to create.” Finally, there’s “the I don’t care, my players are amazing, and I love them no matter what” crowd.
The greedy being greedier crowd is the loudest, most vocal portion of the social media warrior population. Some of my favorite, completely absurd quotes are, “I work at (insert occupation), and you don’t see me demanding more money.” Or wait, have you heard this one, “They already make so much money, why do they want more?” That last one kills me; like why isn’t that person saying the same thing about the owners? It’s everywhere, like a disease.
For one, you don’t work in a union (most likely), and if you do, the share amongst your fellow co-workers has been bargained and/or negotiated. Sometimes sacrifices (a strike) are made to get your fair share. Different than most unions, Major League Baseball Players are also independent contractors.
Secondly, no one becomes a Major League Baseball player out of luck, on a whim, or because your Aunt is hiring and you need a job. Players have to be really good to be in total demand for the positions that might be available and potentially push out someone who isn’t as good.
There’s also a small window of time that someone can do this line of work. Work that requires some of the most advanced physical and mental skills that humanity has to offer. But hey, maybe that is exactly who you are, so I’ve done some calculations for you.
According to my research, the best plumbers in the world make $100 per hour; that’s nearly $200k a year. The best teachers in the world are making $250k plus at fine Universities all around the world, and those that want to make more simply need to write a book, go on tour, do some motivational speaking, and then they make more. Taylor Mali, a teacher, turned comedian and motivational speaker, has a net-worth north of $1.5 million, for example.
The exceptional at their craft probably don’t come home, grab a beer, sit on the couch, and have an entertainment routine that involves Jeopardy, Wheel-Of-Fortune, then the local baseball game. The exceptional are constantly thinking about ways to get better. Like 24/7 constantly. Take your eye off the prize, and you become Shed Long, hoping to stick with the Orioles.
Finally, the players make enough. It’s not about making enough. If you were working at Subway, as a Sandwich Artist, at $12/hour ($7.25/hour in Alabama) and you found out that the owner of your Subway was profiting $500k just from your store alone. Wouldn’t you want more? Or are you the type that’s like, it’s basic labor? There is nothing skilled about making a three-meat, cheese, lettuce footlong on Honey Oat with salt-n-pepper. Pay me my $100 a day, and I’ll be on my way.
This is actually where the blame goes. I love baseball, and because I do, I enable baseball to do these things. I’m to blame. I easily spend well over a thousand dollars a year on baseball; some people spend a lot more. Going to games, buying swag, baseball magazine subscriptions, MLB TV and Radio packages, etc. Then there’s the time investment, watching games live in person or on TV, and when I can’t watch, I listen to them.
They say the first step of any addiction is moving beyond denial. Hi, I’m Joe, and I’m a baseball addict. This addiction to numbers, the nuance, the romance, and the chess match that is baseball, is kind of extreme. I’m an enabler. Because I and millions of fans like me spend more money and time than we should on baseball, we are enabling the owners and baseball players to do what they’re doing to us right now.
Both sides know that some fans will leave, but not the true diehards. They will be there when the lockout ends and ready to tap some veins and inject a little baseball back into our souls. They know and for that reason, they abuse us when it comes to CBA negotiations, lockouts, and strikes. Why? Because we’re going to come back frothing at the mouth for more baseball. Fans want more moments. More did you see what happened? More stories and more memories.
You know what, although we hate it, and we need someone to blame, and some of us pick the owner’s side, and some of us pick the player’s side. We’re the ones that get hurt, but we take it and when this lockout ends. We’ll be there.
Joe Swenson – Lifelong Baseball Fan.