I think Mickey Mantle won the Triple Crown in 1956, The following year he hit .365 ( 12 points higher ) but his HRs and RBIs went down. When he went in to negotiate his contract at the end of that season they gave him a $5000 pay CUT.
Whoa! Never knew that. Can't imagine the great Mick taking a pay cut. A great career, most of which was on a bum knee.
in modern baseball, he'd get the key to the city, his own harem that included the Mayor's wife and more money than he could possibly piss away in 3 lifetimes. The shoe is certainly on the other foot these days.
Yep. I heard him interviewed on local sports radio a long time ago when he shared that nugget. He said back then they had no agent and would just meet with the ownership one on one annually. It was a "take it or leave it" negotiation. He asked the host if he had ever heard of someone hitting .365 with 34 HRs and taking a 5% pay cut.
Corey Kluber to Texas for Emmanuel Clase and Delino Deshields Jr. Really sad to see him go but not a bad trade for the Tribe considering what we were talking about. Trying to stay competitive with younger (read cheaper) players until they get too expensive (and good) and then trade them for more prospects. Clase probably a good fit with the new three batter rule as he can get rightys and leftys out.
Madison Bumgarner to the Dbacks for 5 years. Thank God! I was so afraid that he would have ended up here! I don't like booing Dodgers, but I booed Marichal and I would have booed that punk. In AZ he'll be in town often for our abuse and we can treat him the way he deserves...
In actuality he had a front row table at the Copa which ain't all that bad. He, Billy Martin. hank Bauer and Whitey Ford helped shorten each others careers.
I read a bio about The Mick's career and life titled, "The Last Boy". It talks about their carousing and how it helped to impact his career.
Summer of ‘49 written by David Halberstam is a sensational book about the pennant race that year between the Yankees and Red Sox. One eye-opening part of the book concerned how miserly the Yankees were with their star players. Agree with Sid that the militant nature of the players union during the Miller era was the result of the long history of abuse that the players received from the owners. But that dynamic is now long gone and unless the union and ownership try to make sure that the financial arrangements they make allow for small market teams to compete with big market teams, fan interest in baseball will continue to decline.
Similar to the pendulum swing of labor unions in general, which about killed the auto industry. There is no denying that companies placed no value on human life and health prior to the formation of labor unions (both industry and pro sports). The good that labor unions did for the quality of life that all of us working slacks enjoy is undeniable, inarguable. However, in both cases (industry and sports) the correction (arguably) went way too far in support of the labor for a time. There will be another correction at some point, possibly due to fan reaction (or economy) and it is just as likely to over-correct the other way again.
Dodgers pitcher, Hyun-Jin Ryu, has been signed by the Blue Jays. I think JO'Co was OK with the Dodgers not bringing him back.
I think that Dodger fans are are inching toward the ledge need to remember that they have a minor league system that is the envy of MLB which is overflowing with talent that needs to be brought up. The one place they do need help is the bullpen and they should be able to do that without dropping 240M on someone.
Ryu is a good pitcher, but he's 33 and he wanted a four year contract. The Dodgers offered a two year contract, which is what he's really worth. Look for the Dodgers to bring up Josiah Gray or Goose Gonsolin.
The Yankees will send Ryu home in a body bag. Just like they did last season. Revenge for the O'Connor clan!
Relative to our recent conversation about free agent signings, I saw this on Twitter. It's the 50th anniversary of Curt Flood's letter.