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It's HAMMER TIME!
by: Shawn Griffin from SportsTerminal.com
Pg 1 of 1
 



Never has Donald Fehr been more ripe to be crushed. The evil bastard deserves nothing but scorn by baseball fans throughout the land due to his utter lack of respect for the fine American game of baseball. More than anybody else, this guy knows that the economic system in baseball, the way it is today, is driving a wedge between the elite "haves" (Yankees, Braves, Dodgers, Cubs, Red Sox, and Mets) and the "have-nots" (the rest of the league). Does he care? Of course not.

I remember the Royals always being a good team while I was growing up. I remember the Tigers winning a World Series and beating the snot out of the Yankees during the 1980s. I remember when players usually spent most of their careers with one team. 

Now? The Yankees buy anybody they want and anybody their opponent wants, too. They have six excellent starting pitchers -- so what do they do? They go out and get Jeff Weaver. Not simply because they need a starter, but they also wanted to prevent a competitor from getting him. How about Jason Giambi? As far as I'm concerned, the guy is not a competitor. The Oakland Athletics believed in the guy. He came up through their system and was a major part of the Oakland baseball revival. He was with the Athletics when they were beaten by the Yankees in the playoffs two straight seasons. So he stays with the Athletics and climbs the mountain and beats those damn Yankees -- that's the next chapter in the story, right? Not in screwed-up baseball land. He can't beat them, so he signs with them. Then they give a bum like Sterling Hitchcock 12 million dollars to sit in the bullpen. Most teams couldn't take a hit like that. The Yankees can. They can take many hits without feeling the pain. That's how screwed up this league is these days. 

So how do the players feel about it? Curt Schilling, who always seems to say what the fans want to hear, did it again the other day. He said to the Associated Press, "If something were to happen and there would be a work stoppage, in our careers the game would never be the same. I'm 35 years old. I want to play another five or six more years. I don't want to play for five or six more years on front of 7,000 people." To you, Curt, I say, SAVE IT. Tell that to your REAL boss, Donald Fehr. Don't patronize us fans. 

Let's take a quick look at the two major issues:

1. The owners have proposed that teams increase the percentage of locally generated revenue they share from 20 percent to 50 percent. The players union proposed increasing it to 22.5 percent. 

2. To slow the increase of players' salaries, the owners proposed a 50 percent luxury tax on the portions of the payrolls above $98 million dollars. The players' union won't even acknowledge this proposal. 

For those who think there won't be a strike, get out from under the covers. For once, it seems that the owners are united. They better be. 

On to how we can crush Donald Fehr. 

To the owners, I say implement the changes immediately. Tell the current players who want to stay and play under these new rules they are welcomed with open arms. Bring up your top prospects. Reduce ticket prices. Reduce the prices of a hot dog and a beer at the ballpark. Tell the fans you are doing this for the good of the game now AND for the future of this great American pastime. This would take guts. This would take a lot of nerve. But in drastic times, drastic measures must be taken. 

Do this and watch how fast the current players cross the "picket line." After spending a few weeks without a fat paycheck, they will come running back. 

Donald Fehr? Ban him from any Major League Baseball games and functions in the future. Don't even let the guy step foot in a stadium. Make all ushers at every major league stadium carry a picture of him around so that he can't sneak in the park. Let him rot like the dead roadside vermin he is. He will be remembered as a dark part of the past. 

The future? Bright indeed. Our game is saved from evil! 

That's my plan to save baseball.


See more of Shawn at SportsTerminal.com, and e-mail him at shawng@sportsterminal.com



Other Columns By Shawn Griffin

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