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September 19, 2003



by Larry Mahnken

I got an email from my Dad yesterday:
You probably already know this but I thought I'd remind you. Tomorrow (9/19) is OBP Jesus' birthday.
Actually, Dad, Rickey Henderson was born on December 25th (which is pretty damn cool, anyway), but I see what you mean. Happy Birthday, Nick Johnson (OBP Jesus, Jr.).

Now, I suppose I should have learned by now to never underestimate the greed of MLB ownership. Time and time again they've taken the action that has the potential to earn them the most money the fastest, rather than do what's right, or even what's smart and will make them more money down the road. Their collective "bargaining" strategy in 1994 was, literally, to not bargain at all--to BREAK THE LAW--in hopes of reaching an impasse so they could unilaterally implement everything they wanted, in hopes that the NLRB would go along with them--and they almost did. They attempted to do the same thing last year, and, at least partly because of the current administration, the players caved rather than risk losing it all. And there's also their attempts to hold communities hostage for free ballparks, collusion, and the rape of the Expos. And we can go on and on. MLB owners are really very greedy people.

But yesterday really disgusts me more than all of that. School was closed, businesses were closed--the GOVERNMENT left town. The Governor of Maryland himself urged people to stay indoors. But, of course, it was fine to have a ballgame. Why? Because nearly 30,000 people bought tickets, and if five innings were played, the Orioles would not have to refund that money.

And so, the few thousand fans that showed up got to see part of a game, the Yankees' travel plans were delayed and today's game in Tampa Bay was endangered, and they wasted a start by Mike Mussina. And now the Yankees have to play a doubleheader in the last series of the season, which doesn't help them any going into the postseason. I suppose that if it's a meaningless game, Torre will play scrubs, but the greed of MLB and Peter Angelos, putting fans, employees and players in danger so they could make a few hundred thousand dollars is, to me, infuriating. Yeah, it's a business, but most businessmen are smart enough to know that there's some things more important than pure profit, and getting the hell out of the way of a hurricane is right on top of the list.