When I was growing up, my heroes - like those of my friends - were athletes. Ozzie Smith, Tommy Herr, Willie McGee, Jim McMahon. In my years as a teacher I see many other young boys do the same. Any given day at school will find bunches of Carolina jerseys walking through the front door. As my boys get older they are beginning to notice this and consequently changing their own preferences to match that of the established norm.
This past Christmas Muluken received an Albert Pujols Cardinal jersey and a Marcus Lattimore Carolina jersey. Ty got both a brand new David Freese Cardinal t-shirt and a hand-me-down Chris Carpenter jersey. They are beginning, it seems, to make athletes their heroes.
I imagine this is pretty typical. Many kids over the past century have grown up worshiping Babe Ruth, Mickey Mantle, Dr. J, Michael Jordan, Joe Montana, or Wayne Gretsky. With time most of them outgrow this.
At least in part.
A few months ago St. Louis lost it's best baseball player - Albert Pujols. After helping the club to win it's eleventh baseball championship in franchise history he bolted for Los Angeles where the Angels were willing to pay him $240 million dollars over the next ten years. Though he was deeply rooted in the St. Louis community he felt "disrespected" by the Cardinals and their paltry offer of about $200 million over those same ten years.
The Cardinals are not cheap but they are certainly not among the biggest spenders in Major League Baseball. While the Yankees top the majors in payroll ($210 million per season) the Cardinals generally rank somewhere between 9th-12th (in the ballpark of $100 million per season). To construct a 25-man roster this would average out to about $4 million per player. Of course some make more and some make less.
Over his eleven seasons with the Cardinals Albert Pujols was considered a hero to all, not to mention the face of the city. This was due in part to his willingness at the time to accept a "hometown discount" to help the Cardinals secure other players and field a competitive team. What does a hometown discount mean? Surviving on $12 million a year rather than $15 million? Or $20 million?
Albert Pujols was a stand-up guy for sacrificing a bit of his own gaudy riches to help other obscenely rich ballplayers make a few extra bucks as well. For this he was seen as a true team player.
But what about the team members who extend beyond the clubhouse? The ones who collect the tickets, clean the bathrooms, sell the merchandise, and pick up the trash? The ones making $7.25 an hour (if not working on commission).
How much of a hero would Albert Pujols have been had he decided that instead of squeezing out an extra $2 million dollars a year for himself or other privileged ball players he would help provide a livable wage for the stadium workers that make it possible to host 30,000 guests each night?
Estimating there are a thousand of these minimum wage workers he could secure them an extra $4 an hour for 5.5 hours per night over the span of 81 home games for just under $2 million dollars. That would mean an extra $1,782 for each of those thousand workers over the course of a single baseball season, or $274 per month.
Better yet, if instead of taking his contract for $24 million per season over the next ten years he could have told the Angels he would play for just $8 million a season and used the remaining money to fund the livable wage for stadium workers over the next EIGHTY years (and longer when considering the investment opportunities of that money).
Assuming owners don't treat these new wages as an opportunity to save a buck down the line, continuing to raise the pay rate in relation to inflation, what would Albert Pujols' legacy be? What would we remember most - his homeruns or his dedication to improving the lives of those that support his right to make millions of dollars hitting a baseball?
In the next year or two some new elite player will agree to a hometown discount and, like Albert, become a hero - the new face of St. Louis. His jerseys will fly off the racks, thousands will chant his name, and countless children will learn that this is what it means to be successful. To have done something truly good. Truly heroic.
Perhaps we need new heroes.
This is spot on. You should send this to the St. Louis Post Dispatch. Seriously. Well written and truthful and fair and reasonable. So much of what is seen as important by our society is unreal. Entertainment and sports have a place so far beyond reality that it is ridiculous. Steve Spurrier got a RAISE of $475,000.00 per season. That brings his salary up to $3,300,000.00 per year. This when funding is being cut for higher education, tuition is skyrocketing, loans are getting harder to get and debt among college students is skyrocketing.
ReplyDeleteBut he did have a good season.
Very occasionally I copy and repost someone's blog or article that is exceptional and says what I would like to - only better. I would copy and repost this but you would probably be the only one to read it.