Oh, No. Not Again
Last week it was President Bush (see post of February 22). Today I'm agreeing with George Steinbrenner. May God help us all.
But His Yankeeness is right about the World Baseball Classic: It is, as he so pithily put it in USA Today this week, "bull----."
I have never understood why owners of pro sports teams -- especially basketball and now baseball -- meekly allow their most valuable assets to play for national teams in events like the Olympics and the new World Baseball Classic. So let's see if I have this right: Steinbrenner pays Derek Jeter about $19 million per year. Jeter decides to play baseball not for the Yankees, but for "his country" in a pretend tournament made up of pretend teams (as noted a few days ago, dozens of American players are playing for the national teams of foreign countries) to prove absolutely nothing. But then Jeter gets hurt playing for the Red, White, and Blue, and guess what -- Steinbrenner is signing very real checks paying Jeter not to play for the Yankees.
It could happen, if not to Jeter then to another player. It is particularly nuts for Major League teams to let their pitchers play in the WBC. Usually in the first week in March pitchers are throwing barely an inning in Grapefruit League split-squad games. Next week, they will be "playing for their country," which cannot be good news for their very isolationist rotator cuffs (although there will be pitch counts -- I told you it was a pretend tournament).
The same thing happens with NBA players in the Olympics. Normally tough and smart business people give away their most valuable assets while maintaining 100 percent of the risk of loss of or injury to that asset. It simply makes no sense, which is why the reason it happens must have something to do with patriotism, or at least the economics-driven peer pressure that passes for patriotism in baseball and basketball circles these days. And don't forget, kids, your officially licensed Italy Authentic Customized 2006 World Baseball Classic Home Jersey is available here.
But His Yankeeness is right about the World Baseball Classic: It is, as he so pithily put it in USA Today this week, "bull----."
I have never understood why owners of pro sports teams -- especially basketball and now baseball -- meekly allow their most valuable assets to play for national teams in events like the Olympics and the new World Baseball Classic. So let's see if I have this right: Steinbrenner pays Derek Jeter about $19 million per year. Jeter decides to play baseball not for the Yankees, but for "his country" in a pretend tournament made up of pretend teams (as noted a few days ago, dozens of American players are playing for the national teams of foreign countries) to prove absolutely nothing. But then Jeter gets hurt playing for the Red, White, and Blue, and guess what -- Steinbrenner is signing very real checks paying Jeter not to play for the Yankees.
It could happen, if not to Jeter then to another player. It is particularly nuts for Major League teams to let their pitchers play in the WBC. Usually in the first week in March pitchers are throwing barely an inning in Grapefruit League split-squad games. Next week, they will be "playing for their country," which cannot be good news for their very isolationist rotator cuffs (although there will be pitch counts -- I told you it was a pretend tournament).
The same thing happens with NBA players in the Olympics. Normally tough and smart business people give away their most valuable assets while maintaining 100 percent of the risk of loss of or injury to that asset. It simply makes no sense, which is why the reason it happens must have something to do with patriotism, or at least the economics-driven peer pressure that passes for patriotism in baseball and basketball circles these days. And don't forget, kids, your officially licensed Italy Authentic Customized 2006 World Baseball Classic Home Jersey is available here.
posted by FCB at 8:58 PM
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