I still imagine that baseball players, in particular, work less than the average joe for much more money. I am not talking about just the marquee players, but the journeymen as well. The minimum salary for a baseball player today is $507,500 a year. If they did work a traditional 40 hr/wk job, that is a cool $244/Hr!
I don't hold that against anyone who can make it happen. If you have the skills to play at the MLB level and want to do it, then go for what you can. And, if you can get something like $40 million a year, good for you.
I do believe that nobody goes into professional sports without a clue as to the microscope they are under as well. Maybe back in the day when players played for love of the game, yes. Now you are definitely in the spotlight constantly and they all know that going in, but they are also paid appropriately for that exposure. They have to expect that pressure, as it is part of the job.
I am not in the camp that expects players to do anything for the fans, but am one that believes that smart players who appreciate what the fans bring to the equation should want to interact with them as much as reasonably possible. That is just good business.
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Originally Posted by MooseDog
A friend of mine worked for one of the card companies where he would go to the clubhouses and get players to sign the cards that would eventually be inserted in the card packs. and I got to be his "assistant" for a couple of days. It is kind of interesting in that we generally only see the players for the 3-5 hours of BP/Infield/Game...but the truth is some guys are at the park at 3pm for night games. It seemed to me the majority of the time is spent in various training - extra batting practice (both the A's and Giants have indoor cages), strength and conditioning stuff, and of course the training staff tending to various injuries and such.
Some just relax, listing privately to music, play cards with teammates, and yeah, I even saw a few answering fan mail.
Most players are paid every two weeks all year, just like the rest of us. However they have to do their job with thousands of people watching and rating their performance.
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