When I was a high school junior in 1958,
Still filled with the fantasy of making a fortune
(which in those days was twenty grand a year),
I had a parallel fantasy of playing in the Majors.
It was a double-dream really: making lots of
Dough while playing a pleasant game on several
Fields that looked so grand and smelled so fresh.
Twenty thousand a year was the outward flash
Of cash that would set me up for life in a time
When a house cost twelve thousand. I never
Noticed how many Major Leaguers had to work
In the off-season to make ends meet because
Most of them weren’t stars . . . and even stars
Such as Ralph Kiner couldn’t get a raise after a
Terrific year because – – – as the Pirates’ GM
Pointed out, Pittsburg was a last place team – – –
Even with Kiner’s league-leading homer total.
The other day, the Mets signed a journeyman hurler
With a mediocre record to two years, at 17 million a
Year. My highest annual salary after teaching 58 years
Was about $84,000 . . . and I could teach better than
Most of today’s millionaire players can hit or throw
A baseball. But no one ever paid for a ticket to watch
Me perform and there were no TV rights to cover my
Classes and no company ever paid me to do an ad for
Its product. Certainly, there is no free agency in the
Education field (Where were you when I needed you,
Curt Flood?), and no scouts ever sat unobtrusively
In the back row in one of those cute wooden or later
Plastic chairs in what Bob Uecker would call “the
Great seats!”
It got me thinking about the journey that annual MLB
Contracts have taken – – – from Levi Meyerle’s $1,500
To the poly-multiple contract amounts received by the
Upper echelon of today’s young stars, from Ohtani to
Soto. Remember when Koufax and Drysdale sat out
Together for 132 days in 1966 until Dodger management
Agreed to the outrageously inflated salaries of $125,000
And $110,000 respectively, before free agency times?
Mickey Mantle peaked at one hundred thousand a year, and
Willie Mays, at $165,000. Hell, Babe Ruth jumped for joy
At reaching $80,000 nine years after Ty Cobb became the
Highest paid pro at $25,000. You can talk about inflation
But I’d rather compare the top baseball yearly salary to that
Of a great pedagogue to demonstrate how valued is our
National pastime (and why most boys dream of hitting the
Winning homer, not of changing lives by instructing the curious).
Okay. My venting is over. When the dust around home plate
Has settled, I still prefer to drive a lesson home rather than a
Run. Still, I’d have looked very sharp wearing a uniform – – –
At any price.