As for those you mention, yes, I would basically equate independent league/single A players to those 98% of SAG members you mention, who dream of one day being a star.

Are you blaming Marvin Miller because the Tigers bats suddenly went cold, and Tigers pitchers couldn’t get outs?

Also, why shouldn’t entertainers like baseball players make the same amount of money as other entertainers?

As a fan, I am not amused at what I have to pay to get in to some ballparks. I have the option to vote with my feet, and just stay away. If I choose not to do that, then I shouldn’t be whining, either. If the prices are too high, then don’t go to the games, and don’t buy the merchandise (the licensing value in that stuff is even more shocking than the ticket prices, by the way). Otherwise, sit back and enjoy the show.

One other point. The only thing dumber than an owner writing a Tom Hicks sized check to A-Rod is an A-Rod declining to cash the check. None of us would turn down big money if it were offered to us, especially when our career could end tomorrow.

RIP, Mr. Miller. And thank you.

Also, Pete Rose and Joe Jackson bet on baseball, Marvin Miller never did. Pete Rose and Shoeless Joe Jackson were players, Marvin Miller wasn’t. In summary, there are at least two *major* differences preventing any comparison between Pete Rose/Joe Jackson and Marvin Miller.

My grandfather didn’t come from a middle class family that could put him through college. They didn’t pass out student loans back then like they do today. He was poor and about all he had going for him was his good throwing arm. He was fortunate to have the opportunity to play ball and he took it — but he didn’t just play 7 months a year. He played in leagues far from home and away from his family for a good part of the year. He also didn’t have relievers to fall back on. He threw the whole game — however long that was — and even filled in at other positions if the team needed it. Baseball was his big chance, and when it didn’t work out, he raised 10 kids on a barber’s salary. Maybe he wasn’t trapped in a burning factory or something, but for guys like him, playing ball was a chance to get out of poverty. Some of them couldn’t fall back on middle class careers if baseball didn’t work out. As with today, if they didn’t earn the big bucks in their playing years, they lived (and raised families) on much lower incomes later.

Couple of interesting points:
1. At $6,000, a player making the league minimum earned *less* than the average US income of $8,200

2. According to an inflation calculator I googled for and will just blindly assume is correct, that means the league minimum before Marvin Miller go it bumped up was the equivalent of $38,000 today.

Wow.

And where’s the correlation between Miller’s contributions and the 2012 TV ratings? Absurd.

But the social justice aspect of Milker’s work has always been overblown. Even in the reserve rule era, major league players were very well paid. But they were paid at levels comparable to doctors and lawyers rather than film stars.

These were young guys without education or skills working for 7 months a year playing ball, and earning middle class and upper middle class incomes. I am glad they achieved free agency, pensions, etc. — but this was never the story of southern sharecroppers or New York City garment workers.

Uh what? Baseball is more profitable and popular(in terms of total fans) than it has ever been at any point in its history.