When the heck is Barry Bonds doing a signing?

[Bigdaddy]

Originally Posted by maniac_73

Willie came up in an era where he was the greatest player on the field and served his country but yet heard every slur in the book and was still treated as a second class citizen by a lot of people at the time. That doesn't leave you.

How did Mr. Aaron respond? Or Mr. Robinson?

[maniac_73]

Originally Posted by Bigdaddy

How did Mr. Aaron respond? Or Mr. Robinson?

Everyone deals with things differently.

[packs]

Racism aside (if it can be put aside) I always hear that Mays had a serious beef with money. But if you look at his earnings it doesn't seem to match up with his perception that he was short changed in some way.

The most amount of money made per year according to Baseball Reference was $165,000 in 1973. The median household income in 1973 is listed as $12,157. In essence, Mays made more than 10 times the average family at a time when purchasing power was overwhelmingly in his favor. I'm not sure he has room to complain.

[tazdmb]

Originally Posted by packs

Racism aside (if it can be put aside) I always hear that Mays had a serious beef with money. But if you look at his earnings it doesn't seem to match up with his perception that he was short changed in some way.

The most amount of money made per year according to Baseball Reference was $165,000 in 1973. The median household income in 1973 is listed as $12,157. In essence, Mays made more than 10 times the average family at a time when purchasing power was overwhelmingly in his favor. I'm not sure he has room to complain.

HOWEVER, the median income today is around $31k, so the top stars are making nearly 1000 times that average.

[packs]

Yes, but the purchasing power of a dollar today vs 1973 doesn't compare. Nor does the price of just about everything else. The purchasing power of a six-figure income in 1973 was huge.

[carlsonjok]

Originally Posted by packs

Yes, but the purchasing power of a dollar today vs 1973 doesn't compare. Nor does the price of just about everything else. The purchasing power of a six-figure income in 1973 was huge.

I don’t find this particularly compelling.

Look at it this way: in 1973, CPI was 44.4 and in 2020 it was 258.8. That is a factor of 5.82 which translates Mays 1973 salary to $976,000 today. Not bad money for a schlub like me. But hardly worthy of a generational talent like Willie Mays.

For comparison, I looked at the salaries of today’s SF Giants. The closest to $976K is Jarlin Garcia, a league average middle reliever.

[packs]

Originally Posted by carlsonjok

I don’t find this particularly compelling.

Look at it this way: in 1973, CPI was 44.4 and in 2020 it was 258.8. That is a factor of 5.82 which translates Mays 1973 salary to $976,000 today. Not bad money for a schlub like me. But hardly worthy of a generational talent like Willie Mays.

For comparison, I looked at the salaries of today’s SF Giants. The closest to $976K is Jarlin Garcia, a league average middle reliever.

Have you considered what nearly a million dollars in purchasing power could have bought you in 1973? It's not apples to apples.

Average cost of a brand new house in 1973 was $32,500. Average cost of a brand new house in 2021 is $400,000. That $32,500 that bought you a brand new house in 1973 is worth less than 200K in 2021, or only enough for half a new house.

How much did a new car cost in 1973? Just over $4,000. Average cost of a new car in 2021 is about $40,000.

That $4,000 in 1973 would be worth $24,000 today, or half a new car.

Federal minimum wage in 1973 was $1.60. Federal minimum wage in 2021 is still only $7.25. You actually had more purchasing power then than you do now on Federal minimum wage.

Everyone could always use more money but his salary put him far ahead of every normal person around him.

[egri]

Originally Posted by packs

Racism aside (if it can be put aside) I always hear that Mays had a serious beef with money. But if you look at his earnings it doesn't seem to match up with his perception that he was short changed in some way.

The most amount of money made per year according to Baseball Reference was $165,000 in 1973. The median household income in 1973 is listed as $12,157. In essence, Mays made more than 10 times the average family at a time when purchasing power was overwhelmingly in his favor. I'm not sure he has room to complain.

On top of being very well compensated during his career, Mays could have easily made six figures with each appearance at an autograph signing. His last show (that I'm aware of) was in 2010/2011, where cards were $300 apiece. Then figure higher prices for rookie cards, balls, flats up to 8"x10", flats over 8"x10", premium items, plus fees for inscriptions and personalizations, and he would've done very well spending an afternoon writing his name. If he'd done that two or three times a year, well, that's about as close as someone in the private sector will ever come to printing money.