Today was supposed to be an off-day. The Yanks would be nearing their first roster cuts of spring. Jasson Dominiguez, maybe Anthony Volpe. By now, Aaron Hicks would be hurt, with Boonie concerned about the wart on Giancarlo's thumb...
So... yesterday, Yankee President Randy Levine - the cultural mash-up of Rudy Giuliani and Donald Trump - went on the Michael Kay Radio Show to lament the lockout. Such bravery. A veritable Zylenskyy! On the possibility of a lost 2022 season, the Crimson Cryer said:
"That's a mind-boggling, horrid, horrid thought. Shame on all of us if that ever gets to that. Shame on all of us."
By "all of us," I doubt he was referring to the owners. He meant everybody, because that's what the owners do. They don't want to be blamed for killing baseball. They're merely fighting for free enterprise - for their inalienable right to profit from the game. It's a fundamental system: The players play, and the owners own.
Okay, yeah, I'm a fool - but I always thought the owner of an MLB franchise should function as a figurehead, sort of like the English royal family. As one of the city's richest people, he/she should lead cheers, hobnob with celebrities, promote charities and comfort all those on whom the fates were never so kind. Gene Autry was a great owner. As much as we yelled at him, so was George Steinbrenner.
In their hearts, the owners would be just like us - diehard fans, in whom we see the best and worst of ourselves. They'd whine about two things - that players make too much money and nobody has enough pitching, pitching, pitching! And if they didn't like their jobs, they could sell the team - always at a profit (though that might change after this.)
WTF happened? When did MLB owners become so obsessed with making money off their teams - with shaking down the cities they were supposed to love, and squeezing the fan bases they were supposed to protect?
They say a broken clock is right twice a day. That could explain Randy Levine, I suppose. But no, I'm not buying it. Shame on all of us? No, sir. Shame on you.
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7 comments:
El Duque: Per yesterday's post, it would be very efficient and effective if you copy/pasted today's excellent post and sent it directly to publicrelations@mlb.com.
I'm not kidding.
Randy Levine is an embarrassment. He is one of those who has mismanaged The Yankees.
El Duque,
You ask when this happened?
When George died, for one thing.
Proof of the change was when stadiums built "moats" between the unwashed masses and the rich elites.
Luxury boxes became the singularly most important thing with a tip of the fedora to all of the deviations of "season ticket packages."
Pox on all their houses.
At least with the diminution of salary by the day, it will be easier for Scherzer, Stanton and Harper to boycott Russian caviar and have to settle for a lesser sturgeon.
"When did MLB owners become so obsessed with making money off their teams..."
They've ALWAYS been like this. Some, like Angelos in Baltimore, or Moreno in Anaheim, are quietly raking in the money under the radar. The owners of the Pirates are gutting that proud franchise as well.
Historically, the owners of baseball teams have been pretty clear about their love for money: Wrigley, O'Malley, Finley, etc., the list is endless. So this current crop of carpetbaggers are no different than any of their "founding fathers." Or how about the Red Sux owner Harry Frazee who blessed Yankees fans and cursed all of Boston at the same time in order to indulge his own passions?
We should not be shocked or angry about the long history of rapacious "gentlemen" who own baseball teams.
I'm sure our historian on this site (I'm looking at you Horace) can speak more clearly to this than I.
The more things change, the more they remain the same.
Now, there's a bonus to not caring about baseball: I never have to listen to the Michael Kay show.
The benefits are just piling up.
Actually was kind of fun listening to Legrecca’s incredulous reactions to Levine. He just kept asking question Levine would dodge and sound more animated with every one, then blasted the owners as soon as Ladouche was off
At the very top of the Yankees Bloated Front Office.
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