| Years and years ago, baseball in the United States was not about the money. It was about the love of the game. Players played the game because they loved it, not because they could make millions of dollars during the course of a season. Tickets to a ballgame were relatively cheap, and people went to see their favorite players.
In this day and age, the game is all about money. The players union has voted to strike again, which will mean a stoppage of play again. I wish I could make millions of dollars a year playing baseball. Here's an example of what a star player makes during the year:
A player making 3,000,000.00 per year / 162 games = 18518.52 per game
18518 per game / 3 hours per game (average length) = 6172.84 per hour
I don't know about you, but that's roughly 312 times what I'm making per hour, and I work 350+ days a year, for at least 8 hours a day. I'm not bitter about that, but I am bitter that they feel they aren't making enough money. If you have seen the movie The Replacements, there is a scene where one of the regular players is asked why they need more money. His response was, "Insurance for the Ferrari isn't cheap". It was a funny line, but it may apply here. What do players do with all of that money?
My remedy is simple. Players should be paid based on their performance during the season. In golf, the golfers are paid in the order that they place, which means they have to earn their money. Granted, the players that sit the bench or are backups wouldn't get as much money, but perhaps it would drive them to push themselves to become better, thus improving the game as a whole.
Until that time, I will not be watching Major League Baseball. I'll stick to the Little League World Series. At least those kids play with their hearts. | 
