I often sit and wonder what kinds of great things my generation will do. We are all still just kids! It blows my mind that the people born in the same era as me will one day be inventing new technologies, saving lives and who knows what else. We have LeBron, who, at the ripe age of 24, could be the possible M.J. of our era. Mark Zuckerberg and his invention (or plunder, considering the $65 million settlement), Facebook, has grossed him a net worth close to a billion dollars also by the age of 24. This list and the people on it will only grow and expand as the years go on.
But will it all be for naught? Someone once said that we won’t be known for anything in comparison to the “greatest” generation. Instead, we will be the lost generation. Or the hip generation, at best. Because all we care about is being cool in one form or another just like the TV tells us.
We live in a world supersaturated with media garbage. We have television programs that tell us what the “Real World” is supposed to be like. And here’s the eerie thing: They’re working. Why do so many beautiful girls obsess about their weight? Eggs will kill you. Eggs are good for you. Why do so many people obsess with modern day idols, the celebrities? (Have you ever thought about why you care?) Why do we think it is normal to think of people as physical representations of only one characteristic? He’s either a redneck, a hippie, an indie kid, an emo kid or a punk. In this postmodern world can we even look up to anyone? He’s probably just emulating someone or something they’ve seen in some medium of media.
I was told last week that I had a “warm/fuzzy/peachy idea of what the yesteryears” were like. And maybe that’s all this is. But today most people I know would rather have a “night” with the most beautiful girl in the world than hit over .300 against American or National League pitching. Ask any grandfather why Mantle was so well known, and he can list tons of legitimate reasons. Ask anyone from my generation why Kid Rock is so famous and they can offer no legitimate, non-circular explanation. And given that this is probably one of the biggest weekends in college baseball, this needs to be said.
After a presentation on tendons in my Biophsyical Properties of Materials class on Wednesday morning, my professor, a fellow student and I got into a brief discussion about baseball that induced this article. I was wearing my Yankees shirt, and of course, the usual big-spender-and-cap argument arose. And of course by big-spenders, we mean the Yankees, not the Red Sox or the Tigers (who had the second-highest payroll last season and a last-place finish in the AL Central).
Can we clear something up right now? The Yankees have not spent nearly half a billion dollars on three players. They have committed that amount over the next eight years. That’s a huge difference. I laugh at how everyone, including the media, is acting as if the Yankees just wrote a check for $423 million, when in reality it was $64 million for this year for Teixeira, Sabathia and Burnett. Their payroll will be less than it was last year. In fact, last year the Yankees almost did the same thing when they resigned A-Rod, Mo and Posada; however, there wasn’t the same uproar because they were keeping their own and not signing other teams’ players. I think everyone, especially the media and idiotic small market owners, needs to get a grip here. A salary cap is not the answer; the real answer was provided by Charley Finley over 30 years ago. Let everyone be free agents every year, and then you would have a truly open, free market where supply would more equal demand; as a result, salaries would come down in a truly democratic free enterprise system.
Dr. Warnock’s beloved English Premier League doesn’t have a salary cap. And I don’t think he would be in favor of one. He is English though, if you didn’t know. This could help explain a lot of things. Maybe he is in on the conspiracy to make America’s favourite, as he would spell it, pastime socialist. He probably was there in 1984 during game five of the NBA Finals at the Boston Garden sabotaging the air conditioning and causing the Lakers to lose.
All joking aside, you always hear capologists saying that a cap is needed for the “well-being” of baseball. They say teams can pre-purchase post-season bids through free agent signing and mid-season salary dumps. They say it’s a shame that $12 tickets 15 years ago are now $50 tickets.
So capologist, the Yankees are greedy because they pay their employees so highly? Nice logic. The greedy owners are those that pocket all the profits, accept revenue sharing and put a lousy product on the field. If anything, MLB needs a minimum salary! If a team cannot afford a major league roster, it should be relegated to a minor league. Capologist, a question for you: How much did your car cost 15 years ago? Your rent or house? Prices increase and always will. I don’t support high priced tickets, but I don’t HAVE to go to a game.
I do think athletes are overpaid, but who do you propose should determine each athletes’ worth. You? Who determines your salary? Do you? There’s a ton of money in baseball revenue – it either goes to the players or the owners, so pick your poison. Why do you think the country’s chief capitalists are promoting socialism? The owners have an ulterior motive in calling for a salary cap.
Since the start of this decade, there have been nine World Series. Eight different teams have won those nine series. Since 2000, 10 of 14 AL teams and 13 of 16 NL teams have reached the postseason at least once. Since 1995, 26 of 30 MLB teams have reached the postseason at least once. How much more balanced and competitive can it be?
The fact of the matter is this world has and always will be about the little guy versus the big guy. That’s what makes the stories of the Rays or Rockies or Brewers so “beautiful” (out of lack of a more manly word). What is happiness without sadness? If history has shown us anything, the big guys will sometimes turn into small ones, and yeah, big guys will oftentimes win against the little guys. But that’s life. I understand that at the depths of most socialists’ hearts lies a good intention to make things balanced and fair, but please, don’t do this to baseball. It is fair. It won’t work.
America has always represented democracy and capitalism (albeit of whether or not we really do practice said things). Capping baseball will literally do just that – kill it. So go ahead, “balance” the playing field some more, and while we’re at it, let’s just give out guaranteed wins and “participation” ribbons. And I’ll leave you with that. I’m off to the Death Star to eat dinner with Darth Girardi.
Julio Cespedes is a junior majoring in biological engineering. He can be contacted at [email protected].