Man, how 'bout those A's. Nineteen in a row in baseball is absurd. Ridiculous. And everytime they win, somewhere Jason Giambi's gotta be thinking "hmmmmm….."

Speaking of baseball….

Now that the strike is over, I get to ruminate about one of the things that was talked about a lot, something that drove me crazy whenever I heard it. The whole thing drove me crazy, actually, but there was one particular thing which was repeated over and over again that I find completely whacked. That's the whole notion that players make too much money. And not only that they make too much money, but people resent the players for it and it's one of the big problems facing the sport.

Hooey, I say. This is America, after all. And no, I don't mean "this is America" as in it's capitalism and pure capitalism is all wonderful and the thing makes us the bestest country in the world, but more like this is America, a country that believes in value of nothing except that it's all about the Benjamins. A country that is increasingly more and more driven by the belief that if it makes you rich, it's okay.

We're talking about a country that considers Scooby Doo a big sequel-ensuring success despite it's obvious vapidity, worthlessness and sign of the decay of Western Civilization. A country in which people willingly go on some remote desert island for a couple of months, go through all sorts of humiliating tasks all done in front of cameras and hyper-critical viewing public, out of some hope of getting a million dollar prize and parlaying it into some sort of fame/fortune thing. This is a country that has a show which shows off the garish and completely tasteless houses of 20-year fifteen-minute and counting pop stars. And this is a country in which nary a protest is held if some CEO makes $30 mil a year in salary and stock options while the company looses money and several thousand people are laid off.

Yeah, some players are greedy. Some of them have bitched about not making enough or left teams where they were beloved to go to teams that played them shit-loads of money, but again, this is America. Nobody gets upset that Tom Cruise made Mission Impossible: II when he could have been making good movies. Or that someone decided to make Mission Impossible: II Keep in mind too, that somebody is paying them that money and it's there choice too. It's not like Alex Rodriguez blackmailed Tom Hicks into signing him to a $25 million dollar a year contract (although with all the bitching Hicks has been doing about player salaries, you'd think he did), Hicks willingly gave Rodriguez the money. Despite the fact it was way over what anyone else was willing to bid. And yeah, Rodriguez left a great situation in Seattle for riches in Texas, but he did what most people would do- take the money. And he's gonna be doomed for years and years worth or mediocre and bad teams because of it.

Somehow baseball players are the only one's in the country who are held to a higher standard than anyone else in the country. They're the one's who are told to sacrifice millions here or there to stay in certain places. They're the one's who are told that just because they're making $6 million, they should be happy with what they got and shouldn't complain about not making more. There the one's who are told they should be happy doing just what the do. Yet nobody tells Tom Hanks that. Or the Stones whenever they go on their umpteenth tour, charge $100 bucks per ticket allthewhile getting some stupid corporation to sponsor it.


In other words, it's great for everyone else to do whatever possible to make as much money as possible, but not ballplayers. All those values that we wish to have in a society, yet pay lip service to in our rush to make as much fucking money as possible, are being used to judge ballplayers. When Pearl Jam stopped making videos and doing interviews, everyone thought they were nuts. And people dissed Radiohead because they followed up a big, hyped up album with an obscure, arty album and didn't do any interviews. Or they criticize Gwyneth because she refuses to do "Armageddon II" and does small, independent art flicks instead.

I guess it's all because of the whole "it's just a game" part of sports and the general mythology of baseball. There was a documentary on HBO about baseball called "When It Was A Game," about baseball before the big money came. The title says it all- that was a game back- although the only difference between then and now was that the players never got rich. It's as if everyone believed that all the ballplayers way back when didn't care about money, they just waned to play baseball. Which is true, but I'm pretty sure that if all those players would have been allowed to, they would have all acted like ballplayers do today, holding out for more money and bitching about what they're making. Most big-time players back then (Ted Williams, Joe D., Mickey Mantle, the Babe) all did hold out for more money, it's just that the system was rigged against them from making much more than they did. And it's not like players don't like playing now and are only doing it for the money. I'm sure most of them love what they're doing and are quite happy with their lot in life, it's just that, well, because of the amount of money they make, everyone just assumes they're not playing because of anything but the money. I'm all into the Church of Baseball too, but I'm under no illusions that the players back then would have been as greedy as the players today but couldn't under their system.

And yet you see all these yahoo's at games holding up signs saying "will play for beer" or saying stuff on talk radio bemoaning that "it's only a game" as if it's only a game and should be treated as such. Like the players should just be happy to play for free and be okay with not making a lot of money just because they get to make a career out of something they enjoy. You know, there is a philosophy a bit like that. It's called being a Slacker. And most people kind of look down upon it. Hey, I'd gladly play Major League Baseball, too, but I can't. No way, no how. I didn't even make it to the top league of my Little League. And if I did, and if I turned out to be good, I'd probably be okay with, say, taking only 6 or 7 million to play with the Giants or the Yankees or something like that. But I'm a Slacker. I'm the guy who thinks it's kind of cool that Radiohead doesn't suck up to MTV or that that John Cuscak (with the exception of Con-Air) refuses to do big budget, Hollywood flicks. I'm pretty damn sure, though, that given the chance, all those fat, beer-bellied guys holding up the signs, the guys calling in talk radio complaining about player salaries, would turn into greedy mofo's too if they if they were in their shoes.

And you know what too? The players deserve it. I know it's kind of nuts to say what with all the money they're making and yes, I know in a just society teachers would make that kind of money and blah, blah, blah, but in this society, with it's rules and values, they deserve it. Almost every male has at some time in his life played baseball. I played Little League. Most of us weren't very good. The guys who are playing now, however, they're. Out of the millions of people who have played baseball at some time, these guys, the hundreds or so in the Major Leagues, are the best of the best. After all, it's not the easiest thing in the world to do, hit a 100 MPH fastball. And it's not like they didn't work hard to get there, or have to pay their dues to get their. Most of them schlepped around in the minor leagues, making little money and travelling all the time. Most of them worked their asses off in practice, work out constantly during the off-season, and do whatever it takes to keep them at the top of their game. Tony Gwynn used to videotape every at bat he had and studied them over and over to see what how he could improve. Barry Bonds works out like a maniac during and between the seasons and has his own personal masseuse, nutritionist and personal trainer to stay as good as he his at his age. Yeah, it's not like they're working 12 hours a day just to put food on the table for them and their family, but they're working pretty hard to make sure they're as good as they should be.

What I'm trying to say here is that if Barry Bonds is gonna get paid all the money he's making, and even being a bit of a jerk at the same time, I don't care. I don't care because everyday he goes and does what he can to be the best ballplayer he can be. And by dong that, he makes the team better and that, in turn, makes a lot of people happy. So what if he is a greedy SOB, so is everyone else in this messed-up country.

Besides, if we're gonna complain about people making too much money, let's start with all the CEO's. Cause we all know that when the Revolution comes, it's gonna be them lined up against the wall, not the ballplayers.