Posted By:
warshawlawBut this year the prices did. Not the tickets (they're still the best deal among the major sports), the rest of it. Fox has jacked up the prices of the parking and concessions so much that Dodger Stadium is painful to attend, so I dropped my firm tickets this year. I felt like I'm handing out 20's at the turnstiles. Especially after going to a D'Backs game last year--slightly lower prices and MUCH better concessions. Still, my daughter (bless her) asked me the other day when we were going to the baseball game again, so I'll be back.
Don't kid yourselves, the players of the past did not strike only because they did not have a solid and effective union or an effective National Labor Relations Act. Players tried for decades to kill the reserve clause; they failed only because of an asinine ruling by the Supreme Court that ruled baseball was not a business hence was exempt from antitrust laws. The rapacious bastards (aka owners) have always been the same; only the balance of power has shifted. Don't think for a moment that Cobb, Ruth, etc. would not have moved freely between cities for more money or stopped work to address workplace crap at the ballpark. The "whiny millionaires" are the same animal as the whiny bus drivers who struck the LA Unified School District a few months ago over salary and workplace issues. We resent it because the numbers are a heck of a lot bigger, but only because the money in the industry is a heck of a lot bigger. Like it or not, these guys generate a billion dollars + every year.
I also want to point out that Selig & Co. are the ones to blame. They are the bosses. If they don't or can't pay the big bucks, don't pay it, or fix the damned tv rights so that everyone pools their $$. It seems to work for the NFL and every other major sport. But don't blame the employees for the system that the employers have created.