National Post (f/k/a The Financial Post) (Canada)
April 21, 2009
April 21, 2009
Dear Editor,
The salary of the 30 teams in major league baseball is an astounding $2,655,395,194. The New York Yankees head the list with a payroll of just over $201-million and sport the highest-paid player in the league -- third baseman Alex Rodriguez will earn $33-million this year.
As there are only 8,760 hours in a year, Mr. Rodriguez will earn $3,767.12 for every hour of the day. He will earn about $11-million this year just for sleeping. Mr. Rodriguez earns more than 55 neurosurgeons, who have to study for about 14 years for their comparatively meagre pay and he never even attended college or university, joining the Major League right out of high school.
The minimum wage in Major League Baseball is $400,000 per year; its lowest-paid players earn an astounding $2,469 per game. With these exorbitant salaries, and steep ticket prices, the league has distanced itself from the average working person in North America.
Consider: Mr. Rodriguez earns more in two nights of sleeping than the average American earns in an entire year.
Perhaps Noam Chomsky was right when he stated: "Sports occupies the populations, and keeps them from trying to get involved with things that matter. In fact, I presume that's part of the reason why spectator sports are supported to the degree they are by the dominant institutions."
It's time the people started to devote their time and energy to things that do matter in these extraordinary times, like our health care institutions and education.
Charles Owen
Welland, Ont.
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2 comments:
Adam, that must have raised your barometric pressure.
Another whacko checks in ....
Baseball is more important than anything.
Who doesn't know that?
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