Red Sox stare down MLB
Early this afternoon, Major League Baseball blinked.
The Boston Red Sox had threatened not to play in today's exhibition game against Toronto and further, not to board the plane for Japan for their games against Oakland if MLB did not honor what the Red Sox said was a commitment to pay coaches the same $40,000 that was promised to the players for the Japan trip. The coaches will be getting their money. Here's the story.
The players learned only within the last couple of days that the coaches -- who make far less than the players -- would not be getting the cash. Players, such as pitcher Curt Schilling, and manager Terry Francona said that the agreement all along was that the coaches would get the same compensation as the players. That had been the case on previous overseas trips for other teams. The Boston players voted this morning to boycott the exhibition game and refuse to board the plane unless the situation was resolved. It finally was sometime after noon.
Comments
Let's face it, they all decided they didn't want to go to Japan, they realized how exhausted they would all be after it and came up with an excuse that makes them look like they are trying to do something noble...please.
They could care less about the salaries of the staff, Manny, Big Papi and Co. could shell out the money no problem.
Pro athletes sicken me more each day. They never have to grow up and get paid hansomly to play a GAME for a living...
Posted by: Bobby | March 19, 2008 4:06 PM
Aside from covering their travel expenses and paying a per diem, why are any of them even being compensated beyond their already exorbitant salaries? MLB should simply tell them that they're going, like-it-or-not. If they refuse, fine the s#$% out of them. As an international outreach activity to broaden MLB's influence worldwide--which, by the way, is done solely to increase MLB revenue streams and from which the Players' Association and its membership will ultimately share--some, shockingly, might actually consider it an honor to be selected to represent MLB and the game. If the true issue is to pay the coaches, then merely redistribute the allocated money set aside for the players.
Growing up, I recall the O's, after winning the World Series, traveling to play an exhibition series against either a select Japanese All-Star team and/or its league champion. Back then, I don't recall anything ever said in the way of how much of an inconvenience the trip was or griping about the amount of compensation being paid to them. And, if they were paid for such trips, I think some justification may be found in the fact that said trip was clearly taken outside of the season, that is, during either Spring Training or the regular season.
Posted by: Terp'nTexas | March 19, 2008 8:15 PM
The stipend is not a new thing. The original trip to Japan in 2004 (which was canceled because of the war in Iraq) called for both the coaches and the players to receive a stipend.
Posted by: Captain Jack | March 20, 2008 11:34 AM
This just might end up being the ultimate in team-building exercises, and could spark the Red Sox to another World Series title. I'm not ready to bet on that just yet, but surely that clubhouse is more together than ever, and that can only be good.
Second, this is just another example of how pathetic top management in our big-time sports can be. MLB earned record income last year, something like $6 billion, and here they are conveniently "forgetting" that they agreed to shell out a few thousand bucks for coaches and support staff for this trip (off which MLB no doubt will make millions more). They would have gotten away with it, except they got busted by a bunch of "spoiled" and "overpaid" ballplayers. Hilarious! ------------------------------ Joe, I think you summed up MLB management's myopia pretty well. -- Bill O.
Posted by: Joe Dalhart | March 20, 2008 1:17 PM