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From one who remembers paying $2.75 for a box seat.
I wonder what Mickey Mantle's $100K in 1957 would be in 2019 dollars. Betcha a lot less than what some of the guys make today. And Mantle's salary was exceptional. Only a few back then making 6 figures as I recall.
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Originally Posted by duster1979
Mantle's salary adjusted for inflation would be roughly $885,000 today.
And your $2.75 box seat would be less than $25 today if inflation was all that was at play.
$885K. Isn't that what a utility player gets?
And a box seat would be $25? That'd be a veritable bargain today.
What's the value of a "star" compared to a mediocre player?
Look at it this way: For easy arithmetic, let's call a season 150 games and 500 ABs-- that way each hit puts .002 on the BA.
So, a Ty Cobb caliber Hall-of-Famer gets 180 hits a year for a .360 BA and 100 RBIs.
A mediocre .260/50 RBI guy gets 130 hits a season-- that's 50 fewer hits and 50 fewer RBI over 150 games.
That equates to only two extra hits and two extra RBI a week for the star.
BFD.
Yogi Berra won 3 MVP awards in the 50s. He worked as a salesman at Sears selling tools in the off-season to make ends meet.
The owners are in it to make a profit, and the players should get all they can. You can't blame them. But why are fans stupid enough to pay the high prices?
Yogi Berra won 3 MVP awards in the 50s. He worked as a salesman at Sears selling tools in the off-season to make ends meet.
Think about this: In 1930 Babe Ruth, who was the highest-paid player in baseball by a wide margin, made headlines because his salary was $5,000 higher than the President's.
In 2019 the major-league minimum will be $155,000 higher than the Presidential salary.
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The owners are in it to make a profit, and the players should get all they can. You can't blame them. But why are fans stupid enough to pay the high prices?
I've always felt that the players should get the lion's share of revenues after expenses so I can't really say I have a problem with today's salaries as long as it's coming off the top. But I also don't think it would hurt a thing if they'd all take a little smaller cut so Joe Average could take his kids to a game a couple of times a year without taking out a mortgage.
I remember when Andre Dawson went to spring training in 1987 and handed the Cubs a blank contract because he felt that he needed day games and natural turf to extend his career. I wonder how the MLBPA would react to that today
Think about this: In 1930 Babe Ruth, who was the highest-paid player in baseball by a wide margin, made headlines because his salary was $5,000 higher than the President's.
Well, as the Babe himself explained--"I had a better year in '29 than Hoover."
We may add Ryan Zimmerman to the group of players who do not seem to understand what is going on in the game.
Quote:
His former teammate Bryce Harper and Manny Machado are considered the jewels of the free-agent market, yet with position players reporting to most camps early this week, neither has signed.
"I don't think I'm surprised. It happened last year," Zimmerman said. "We were told it was going to be different this year because those two guys are out there, along with some other pretty good players, and nothing has changed. I don't think anyone's surprised."
....
"I don't think it takes a genius to see that something's going on," Zimmerman said. "I don't know what it is, but there's too many good players out there that aren't on teams. This is an entertainment business. For me, the fans should be able to see the best players in the world play. It doesn't matter what team they are on."
I don't know if it was humility or obliviousness to what he was saying in that last paragraph above, but if it doesn't take a genius to figure it out....and Zimmerman follows that with "I don't know what it is"..well, we know Zim is not a genius.
His comment that "we were told it was going to be different this year" is telling about the state of the MLBPA leadership. It means that when free agent signings took a dip in 2017, the union explained that it was because the really hot commodities would not be on the market until 2018. Is Zimmerman saying that he isn't surprised that they got that wrong?
Zimmerman should understand what is going on, he is Exhibit A for the consequences of long term contracts.
Back when Zimmerman was 24, he had three full seasons behind him having averaged 3.4 WAR per season. He had become arbitration elligible and the Nationals decided to follow what was then thought to be good economics and sign this young talent to a long term deal which would vanquish arbitration hearings and free agency departure. Zimmerman was inked for eleven years. The first two seasons of the deal were terrific, Zim put up 7.3 WAR and then 6.2 WAR. In the next eight years however, Zimmerman averaged only 1.5 WAR per season. The deal expires after the coming season.
Not only were the Nats paying premium wages for near replacement level performance, they also were stuck in a position of not being able to fix their thirdbase problem because they were paying Zim too much to bring in some other star for thirdbase.
Is Zimmerman this blind that he is unable to detect that it has been contracts such as his which have put the owners off of offering these sorts of deals so readily any longer?
Last edited by Grandstander; 02-17-2019 at 03:56 PM..
When you are at the ballpark paying $4.50 for twenty five cents worth of soda, when they nail you for 15 or 20 bucks to park your car in the stadium lot, when you pay 30 dollars for a three dollar t-shirt which has had a team logo printed on it, you are financing these enormous salaries for the players. .
False.
Look at teams with hockey stick payrolls. They did not lower prices as payrolls fell.
Prices are based on max price market will bear. Corps season ticket suites drive up prices for Joe 6 Pack, by making clubs less worried about filling all the seats.
So do most people in the upper echelons of the entertainment business. Top-drawer film actors and rock stars make as much or more than major sports figures much of the time. I have no problem with top-draw sports figures wanting to be paid in accordance with such folks in other branches of the entertainment business. Especially given the amount the owners rake in.
BINGO. Taylor Swift already has a net worth > the Stanton contract in total
So many people who would seem to like baseball, but hate baseball players.
As mentioned upstream, when you pay your yearly MLB.com subscription, pay your cable bill, buy your jersey, your game tickets, your parking, your hot dog, beer and peanuts, what's left, after paying the average joes in the concession stands and factories (and their less average bosses), that money goes to either
-the millionaire players
-the billionaire owners
Baseball set a record for revenue in 2018. 10.3 BILLION dollars.
Why people would prefer more of that money go to the owners, I can't understand.
I'd like for the owners to use a little of that money to lower the price of hot dogs.
Look at teams with hockey stick payrolls. They did not lower prices as payrolls fell.
Prices are based on max price market will bear. Corps season ticket suites drive up prices for Joe 6 Pack, by making clubs less worried about filling all the seats.
So your argument is that there is no relationship between the cost of business and the prices charged?
So your argument is that there is no relationship between the cost of business and the prices charged?
Not for entertainment. It is demand based pricing.
Nor any product with a true quality differential. I have managed corps where I and others led them to charge giant margins, when we had a superior product.
many teams are a hockey stick with payroll, yet they never drop list prices. Mets went up as payroll went down during Madoff settlement era.
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