for it. And we’re subjected to it. And we have no choice. And Peter Angelos KNOWS this and profits with a spigot off of loyalty we had for Brooks Robinson and Cal Ripken, who are no longer in the equation.
So, conversely, do you think ANY former baseball player who has taken tens of millions of dollars from the game gives a rat’s ass if MLB goes out of business at this point? Or if teams contract and go out of business? Or if there was ever another baseball game ever played again?
What’s Rafael Palmeiro’s stake in the Orioles? Or Albert Belle? Or David Segui? Or fill in your player of choice who took 100 lifetimes worth of money out of our community while the team has rotted?
That’s not an indictment on any of these men. It’s just the way it is. The employees – especially short-term people who aren’t vested in real, long-term success, only salary – only care about today. The owner of the business needs the entity to work for decades to come and that’s where the first incongruent road splits.
As an owner of my own business, I’ve now experienced the darker side of that equation. Several times. And it changes your perspective on the world for sure. I was a kid who grew up in a union household in Dundalk with a father who walked pickets lines at Bethlehem Steel and later walked my own on Calvert Street when the Baltimore-Washington Newspaper Guild went on strike against The Sun.
As a fan, I need Steve Bisciotti to win more than I need any player to win. If Steve Bisciotti wins, the league contiunues to grow and Baltimore continues to prosper.
If the players win, I get to hear the football equivalent of Andy MacPhail saying “we just don’t have the money to compete with the Yankees and Red Sox” or something similarly stupid like “I have to double your ticket prices,” which by the way the Ravens have NEVER done. Bisciotti has NEVER made me feel gauged in any way as a PSL holder. If anything, I’ve always felt VERY appreciated considering what Angelos and Bob Irsay and Abe Pollin have subjected our community to in my 42-year lifetime.
And the reason I’m really pissed today is that I really feel like the owners were truly trying to get this thing settled last week before World War III broke out.
But DeMaurice Smith – and when will be change his real first name to “De-Certify” Smith? – and his troops have now waged war on bosses who were giving them nearly 60% of the pie right off the top, which would be considered “generous”
