He signed for $110 million over 4 years.
Surely, he’s worth a lot more.
How much is that for each home run?
How much is that per fan
brought anew to the ballpark?
I have other questions, too.
How many meals would this
tidy sum buy for the needy?
How many schools could be built?
You will tell me it’s a fair market price,
and I will tell you that no one is worth
a $100 million – no entertainer, no politician,
no ballplayer in any professional sport.
Has our country become so warped
that we can actually say, “He’s worth every penny.
In fact, he should have gotten more.”?
It’s clear we have hitched our country’s values
to the crack of the bat, the arc of a fly ball
going deep, deep over the left field fence.
THE POETRY OF THE GAME