MLB: Fans Must Stand Up And Be Heard

I am sick of hearing how it is the owner's fault or the rich greedy player's fault for the huge salaries. It is the fans fault. We need to step up and tell these guys who is paying them. We go to the games, buy the concessions, watch the games on TV, and buy the MLB products. What if we stop?

Of course, there is no guarantee of any change, but why not try? Let's all stop buying the products of MLB and of their advertisers. Stop drinking Budweiser or Miller Lite. Stop buying New York Yankees hats or A-Rod jersies. Stop watching the games on TV or listening to them on the radio. There are alot of other things to do on a nice spring or summer day. I'm sure you are all saying that this will never work. Maybe not, but it might open the owner's and player's eyes if it affects either of their bottom lines.

Then there is even a threat of a work stoppage after next year. This is a joke. The World Series was already taken away from us in 1994, and now the next season is in jeopardy? Ridiculous!! We do have options as fans.

I realize that I am being a little radical, but don't you think that a quarter of a billion dollars for an athlete is radical? I have heard interviews with Alex Rodriguez. He seems so serious about his abilities, and how he is worth the money. How can this be? Michael Jordan only made about four million until the final years of his career. Then I hear Mark McGuire talk about how he will retire if there is a work stoppage. He can't believe the money players are getting. But he is making about 10 million a year, which is still too much. He seems a little jealous.

I have to assume that most of you agree with me about the high salaries of baseball. What else can we do? Well, we can still go to the ballpark, but just don't buy a ticket and go in. I go to a couple of Chicago Cubs games a year. If I just walk around Wrigley Field and stay at the bars along with the 40,000 other fans that were going to go to the game, that will make a statement. I really am not crazy, just concerned.

Let's just say we keep the status quo and go to all the games and buy the stuff we used to buy, then what will happen. New stadiums can't be built every 10 years or so to get the fans in. Anyway, we pay for those stadiums too. Whether it be in state tax money or hotel tax money, the fans pay. If the owners keep getting the money from the networks for broadcasting rights, they can keep spending. All of the owners seem to believe that the fans will come out if they put a quality team on the field no matter how much the tickets or concessions cost. We need to tell them that this is not true.

Being a family man myself, I would like to take my family of four to a game without costing me two to three hundred dollars. These baseball players are not that entertaining. When you go to a movie, you know it is the finished product with few errors. But when you go to a baseball game, there is no guarantee of no errors by your home team.

I'm sure that this is too radical approach for most of you. But if we don't show the players and owners that we mean business, the salaries will keep going up. I really love the game of baseball and would like to continue going to games. However, if things don't change with the player's salary or my salary, I will not be able to keep going.

I believe there should be a salary cap with all of the major league teams. The owners should also cap the ticket prices. Only pay what you can afford, which is only good business. The owners are counting on the fans to make their payments. Let's tell them that they are wrong. We are going to stand up for ourselves. Boycott the games, concessions, and products of Major League Baseball for a while. Let them know the consumer controls what product will be successful. The fans need to be heard.