Texas Brouhaha

[johnnyg08]

yeah, in MN, it could be a big time game, but it might be 42 degrees out and windy. biggest game of the year...but no crowd. How would the Tampa Bay Rays umpires feel about that pay scale last year? (I know, MLB, salary, blah, blah) Ump game fares based upon crowd size...I've never heard of anything as crazy as that.

[Kevin Finnerty]

The fact that the major league baseball clubs and the players themselves give virtually nothing back to the game at the lower levels is an abomination. Umpires and coaches alike are not compensated enough to allow them to continue doing it sometimes. Fields are in sub-standard condition, and equipment is often poor to non-existent.

I worked a game at a dilapidated high school field that hasn't seen an improvement in 15 years. Every inch of the place is a s---hole. It is home to a team that wins LA city championships.

On the left field wall are the retired numbers of Jon Garland and Garret Anderson. To date, those two ingrates have been awarded combined career salaries totaling $110 million. There are some instances where a ballplayer comes back and helps the sport, but the percentage is astoundingly low. Garland and Anderson essentially pull in between 100 and 1000 times what they actually earn, but they can't even let their pocket change spill onto the field where they played.

Baseball has squeezed too much out of us for too long. Bud Selig needed to go away before it got this out of whack. If there isn't an awakening, the outcome may be quite sad.

[canadaump6]

Originally Posted by Kevin Finnerty

The fact that the major league baseball clubs and the players themselves give virtually nothing back to the game at the lower levels is an abomination. Umpires and coaches alike are not compensated enough to allow them to continue doing it sometimes. Fields are in sub-standard condition, and equipment is often poor to non-existent.

I worked a game at a dilapidated high school field that hasn't seen an improvement in 15 years. Every inch of the place is a s---hole. It is home to a team that wins LA city championships

Then when a college field is remade with the money of a Major League ballplayer, we find out that he is a steroid-using cheater and scumbag.

[Kevin Finnerty]

Originally Posted by canadaump6

Then when a college field is remade with the money of a Major League ballplayer, we find out that he is a steroid-using cheater and scumbag.

Not every cheater is a scumbag, and not every MLB star is a cheater.

But major league millionaires give less back to charity and society around them than almost any millionaires in America.

[SanDiegoSteve]

Originally Posted by Kevin Finnerty

Not every cheater is a scumbag, and not every MLB star is a cheater.

True, but AScrod is both.

Originally Posted by Kevin Finnerty

But major league millionaires give less back to charity and society around them than almost any millionaires in America.

Also true.

[D-Man]

Originally Posted by SanDiegoSteve

True, but AScrod is both.

Also true.

An insult to a most delicious seafood.

D

[waltjp]

Originally Posted by D-Man

An insult to a most delicious seafood.

D

Not an ARod fan and not defending him -

Now, ask yourself. How many of your team's players are among the 100 names on the list with ARod's that were not leaked to the media?

[umpduck11]

Originally Posted by Kevin Finnerty

But major league millionaires give less back to charity and society around them than almost any millionaires in America.

I wonder where this information comes from. I'm not disagreeing with it, necessarily, I just don't know how accurate it is. Lots of people I know like to do their good deeds in the shadows, avoiding any pats on the back for doing what they felt was the right thing. Can we say that because we don't hear MLB players crowing about the charity they have helped, then that automatically proves they have done nothing ?

[tiger49]

Funny how people are saying that MLB clubs don't help at the lower level, yet 3 of the 4 biggest sponsors of amature baseball in Ontario have some connection to the MLB and the Toronto Blue Jays.

[MrUmpire]

Originally Posted by Kevin Finnerty

But major league millionaires give less back to charity and society around them than almost any millionaires in America.

As a group or individually?

Source please.

[Kevin Finnerty]

Originally Posted by MrUmpire

As a group or individually?

Source please.

A) Individually.

B) If you read what I wrote, I used the word "almost," which is the truth.

C) You work hard and make the sacrifices to get inside the game and get your own good sources. (I am not saying that I have ever been inside the game as an umpire.)

[MrUmpire]

Originally Posted by Kevin Finnerty

B) If you read what I wrote, I used the word "almost," which is the truth.

And this "truth" is based on what evidence? Do you or do you not have a source for this comment presented as a fact, or is it your opinion?

[Kevin Finnerty]

Originally Posted by MrUmpire

Source please.

The reason that you and I lock horns is because of the way you talk down to your lower-level umpire brothers just because you have some years on them or something. We're other umpires! Some of us love the game as much as humanly possible. So we don't need to be outclassed by you in some of that haughty stuff you write.

Well, you know what? When it comes to seeking and providing information on the game of baseball, I am at a higher level than you. I have had many more years of that than you and am decidedly more accomplished than you. So what do I do? Should I talk down to you from now on any time a subject ranges outside your area of mastery: umpiring?

[Kevin Finnerty]

Originally Posted by tiger49

Funny how people are saying that MLB clubs don't help at the lower level, yet 3 of the 4 biggest sponsors of amature baseball in Ontario have some connection to the MLB and the Toronto Blue Jays.

Good for Toronto. I commend them.

If you saw the half an effort that is made in the immense baseball hotbed that is Southern California, you would see why I would be apt to make that statement. I also see too many dilapidated fields with discs adorning the outfield fences bearing the names and retired numbers of multimillionaire stars.

Hey Gary Mathews! Five years, fifty mil? Go buy some sod and a backstop and a friggin' line marker for your old high school!

[MrUmpire]

Originally Posted by Kevin Finnerty

The reason that you and I lock horns is because of the way you talk down to your lower-level umpire brothers just because you have some years on them or something. We're other umpires! Some of us love the game as much as humanly possible. So we don't need to be outclassed by you in some of that haughty stuff you write.

You are welcome to your perception, as are we all.

I don't "lock horns" with you. I don't have that much emotion invested in you, sorry.

What I do is refuse to give anyone a free ride who spouts questionable material as "fact" when it is indeed most likely opinion. We have a constant turnover of newbies here who may not understand that just because some posters use language to appear knowedgeable, it doesn't necessarily follow that they are.

While I do point out instances where opinion is being expressed as fact, it only looks like I'm locking horns with you because you do it so often.

If searching for the truth appears haughty to you, so be it.

Well, you know what? When it comes to seeking and providing information on the game of baseball, I am at a higher level than you. I have had many more years of that than you and am decidedly more accomplished than you. So what do I do? Should I talk down to you from now on any time a subject ranges outside your area of mastery: umpiring?

As prez 40 would say, "There you go, again."

Since you have no knowlegde of my interests, history or abilities, you have no information to make a factual statement in this regard. You do, however, have every right to express your personal opinion and it will carry the weight it has earned.

So, then, bottom line, with no hautiness, just a request for honest data, do you or do you not have factual data to support your oft repeated claims that baseball players give less charitably then any other professional athlete? If so, please share it so you audience can measure it against what they might know.

Thanks.