tomoc (12/10/82)
Well, Steinbrenner really did it this time. How can anyone actually defend paying someone $5.5 million dollars a year to play baseball, when his stats last year were - AVR .286, 19 HR, 93 RBI - and hasn`t batted over .300, hits 30 HR, drove in over 100 RBI in his carrer, and is nowhere near being considered a superstar??!! Yet that`s what Steve Kemp will be making for the Yankees for the next 5 years. Can you imagine getting $1.1 a year? I can`t - I`d love it though. The man is a good ballplayer yes, but no place near good enough to get that kind of money. Gosh, Dave Winfield will probably ask to renegotiate! Players like Reggie Jackson, Pete Rose, George Brett, Robin Yount, Keith Hernandez deserve double whatever Kemp makes. People like Carlton, Murphy, Buckner, Coooo-per - all are superior to Kemp and should get more than Kemp. That`s why salaries have gone through the roof. The slightly above average ball players are making way more than they deserve! And every one is to blame - players for asking for such crazy salaries, agents who urge the players to go for more & more (and probably know as much about baseball as my sister`s E.T. doll) and owner like Steinbrenner and Autry who pay such extravagant salaries. I used to be a Yankee fan. It was the Yanks & the Cubbies all my life. Then N.Y. started to go to big bucks. I`m proud to say I`ve given up on N.Y. and their tradition (I idolized Mantle), and have found the Milwaukee Brewers. I`m not giving up on the Cubs yet(no flames please) but if they sign Garvey for megabucks, I may be in the mood to shop around for a new N.L. team. WHERE HAVE YOU GONE JOE DIMAGGIO (Actually, Joltin` Joe had a contract problem or 2 in his day, but he WAS a superstar) As a final thought - if Kemp is getting $1.1 million / season, can you imagine what guys like Ruth, Gerigh, Matthewson, Young, and Cobb would be asking ?????????????? Tom O`Connor ixlpc!tomoc