Suggested Soundtrack: “Carini,” Phish, October 16, 2021
For the first time in nearly nine months: hello.
There’s a lot to catch up on but before we return to our irregular programming, a brief lament on the state of baseball.
Way smarter people than me who write about this stuff for a living -- Rosenthal, Passan, Stark, etc -- are doing fantastic work that will more than suffice for your baseball lockout content needs.
But, reader, I have THOUGHTS.
First, I won't tell you who to blame but definitely blame the owners. If an MLB team owner says they are not profitable, that is a lie. They make plenty of Scrooge McDuck money. Plus, they stand to make even more money through future TV deals and the expanded playoffs that are likely going to be a part of the new CBA.
Revenues are up, the CBT (the competitive balance tax aka the luxury tax) is barely creeping upward and salaries are flat. (Here’s a great story that breaks it all down, complete with GRAPHS!)
Oh, and about the CBT…
Second, reject the "billionaires vs millionaires" framing. This is a management vs workers labor dispute and that framing is misguided at best, gross propaganda at worst. Owners, with the backing of the league, are using unfair labor tactics to manipulate contracts and suppress the pay of their workers, plain and simple. If your first thought here is, “No, the billionaires are the real victims here,” then I don’t think this is the newsletter for you, comrade.
Oh, and then there’s the issue of low wages Minor League baseball players face but that’s a different mess the owners have created.
(Soapbox aside: The fact that your average American, especially, say, teachers and grocery store clerks, are grossly underpaid and what many in power consider a "living wage" is criminal are injustices we need to fight, too!)
Third, never forget the historical context of MLB labor disputes. The history of the MLB Players Association - from a historically weak collective to, at its peak, arguably the most powerful union in America - is fascinating, all the more so because of what’s happened more recently. Some argue that the MLBPA has grown weaker by its own actions, no longer the behemoth it once was, emboldening the owners to the point they’re willing to disrupt regular season games for the first time since the 1994-95 players strike.
John Helyar's book The Lords of the Realm is a monumental work -- both literally and physically -- that traces MLB’s history of anti-worker labor practices, the formation and rise of the MLBPA, and how the union was able to fight back against the owners after decades of dominance. It is also absolutely worth your time. (The only downside of the book is that Helyar wrote it before the historic 1994 strike; a "new" afterword amended to the paperback edition was written during the early days of the strike.)
Fourth, the players are more actively controlling the narrative. In previous work stoppages, it was easier for the owners and the league to leverage the press to make labor disruptions seem like the acts of greedy players. But this is the first MLB work stoppage in the age of social media and players have a direct megaphone to a fanbase that’s savvier and better informed now than in 1994 (thanks, in large part, to that aforementioned excellent reporting).
And the players are harnessing those tools to speak out.
Some examples:
For more, check out Brittany Ghiroli’s great story at The Athletic.
Finally, there is still baseball to be played. Be it college or Minor League or independent league or college summer wood bat league, there will be baseball to watch and follow this season. Even this lockout will end; there’s too much money at stake for the owners and the league.
I’m going to get out there to watch some baseball and you should, too. It’s still fun and it still brings us joy. And whatever happens, don’t let the owners take that joy of this dumb sport we love so much away from us.
Just because they hate baseball doesn’t mean you have to.
insightful and to the point as usual, my friend. welcome back.
This newsletter is definitely for me, comrade.