Baseball Hates You

By Jeff Severns Guntzel
Published on June 11, 2009
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In his latest column for The Progressive, sportswriter Dave Zirin jabs his populist pen at the “Houses of Steinbrenner and Wilpon” and their new stadiums (for the Yankees and Mets, respectively) that cost nearly two billion dollars in taxpayer money. Being careful to laud the work of the architects, construction workers, and designers, he gets right to the work of shaming the forces of greed behind America’s beloved pastime (which is becoming something of a pastime in its own right):

The stadiums are cathedrals. But these are churches that desperately entice the money changers, and want to toss the rest of us out of the temple. After underwriting these ballpark Vaticans, the people have been positively priced out…This is merely the latest example that shows that while the relationship between fans and the great sport of baseball may be sacred, it is also abusive.

Many teams have relinquished the myth that baseball is somehow “recession proof” and have tried to adjust…but the Yankees and Mets didn’t get the memo, spiking prices to unconscionable heights. This led to a recent story on ESPN of a boss who had to decide whether to keep his newly priced season tickets or lay off two workers. He chose to keep the workers and lose the tickets. The boss was lauded like a hero. But it does make you wonder how many folks in the park have taken the other option.

Source: The Progressive

Image by AMagill. Licensed under Creative Commons.

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