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I remember when.....

Unfortunately, today, sports attract an entirely different crowd as to players and fans. Years ago players played the game for the love of the sport and had other jobs on the off season. Today the players have no other jobs as they aren't qualified o do anything else.

"The great trouble with baseball today is that most of the players are in the game for the money and that's it, not for the love of it, the excitement of it, the thrill of it." - Ty Cobb, 1925
 

LizzieMaine

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But that wasn't 'baseball' money. His fortune was the result of shrewd investing.

True. He made a fortune speculating in Coca-Cola stock in the early twenties, but he got his initial bankroll to do it from the Detroit Tigers.

I think the difference between then and now is not the cupidity of the players -- you had dozens of players jumping from the established leagues to the Federal League in 1914-15 for the chance to make scads more money, gamblers corrupted the game thruout the teens for the sake of easy, dirty dollars, and the Vasquez brothers lured plenty of established big-leaguers to the Mexican League in 1946, again for the sake of money. The players of the Era were mostly poor, dumb country boys who could be lured into just about anything for the sake of a buck.

And that's what I think the real difference was -- most of the players then were painfully ordinary working-class men who happened to be lucky enough to have a particular natural skill that got them out of the factories and the mines and the fields, and they seemed to have more of a sense of appreciation for the chance they were getting. There was little of the sense of personal entitlement that you see in modern athletes, who are coddled and massaged and flattered thruout their childhoods and school careers. I don't begrudge them the money they make -- if the owners and TV networks are making billions off their skills, the players are entitled to all the millions they can get. But they ought to be humble enough to realize that all that separates most of them from a life of clock-punching is an ability that could leave them at any time, and they ought to conduct themselves and their lives accordingly.

And they ought to have some awareness of and appreciation for the men who made their millions possible. I don't just mean Marvin Miller and Andy Messersmith and Peter Seitz. I mean players like Dixie Walker, Marty Marion, Bob Feller, and Robin Roberts, who were among the early activists who laid the groundwork for the modern players' union, and Carl Furillo and Curt Flood, who actually *sued* organized baseball at the cost of their own careers because they felt they needed to stand up for a principle. Would any of these big, bloated babies today be willing to do that?
 
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green papaya

One Too Many
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California, usa
I remember when boys didnt play with dolls "dollies" [action figures] back when a men were men and it was not considered OK to behave like a little boy when your an adult or grown man and still collecting child's toys, especially dolls

toys were for little kids & babies, these days it seems the people buying them are full grown nerdy men stuck in childhood

men back in the old days were not obesssed with children's toys like today, they would have called you a big baby or a sissy back then
 
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I remember when boys didnt play with dolls "dollies" [action figures] back when a men were men and it was not considered OK to behave like a little boy when your an adult or grown man and still collecting child's toys, especially dolls

toys were for little kids & babies, these days it seems the people buying them are full grown nerdy men stuck in childhood

men back in the old days were not obesssed with children's toys like today, they would have called you a big baby or a sissy back then

:rofl: Good points.
 
And that's what I think the real difference was -- most of the players then were painfully ordinary working-class men who happened to be lucky enough to have a particular natural skill that got them out of the factories and the mines and the fields, and they seemed to have more of a sense of appreciation for the chance they were getting. There was little of the sense of personal entitlement that you see in modern athletes, who are coddled and massaged and flattered thruout their childhoods and school careers. I don't begrudge them the money they make -- if the owners and TV networks are making billions off their skills, the players are entitled to all the millions they can get. But they ought to be humble enough to realize that all that separates most of them from a life of clock-punching is an ability that could leave them at any time, and they ought to conduct themselves and their lives accordingly.

Another one of the things I was getting at.
 

Harp

I'll Lock Up
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8,508
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Of course, I don't sit in the outfield bleachers when the Cubs are hosting the Cardinals. It's gutsy enough just riding the red line L after that game.

After the Cubs beat the Cards, hop the Red Line down to the Rush Street district to Le Colonial for excellent Ca Nuong.:)
 

Tomasso

Incurably Addicted
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men back in the old days were not obesssed with children's toys like today, they would have called you a big baby or a sissy back then
My Uncle George (b.1925) had a lifelong fascination with trains and was a fervent collector of model trains. In the basement of his home you would find an elaborate train setup along with his large collection on display. When he hosted family gatherings at his home most all the men would end up in the basement playing with the trains. And these men were all tough Irishmen from the Southside of Chicago who no one in their right mind would ever call a 'big baby' or a 'sissy'.

It brings a smile to my face to imagine Uncle George's response to a man who made fun of his 'toy' collection. :)


image.jpg
 
Messages
10,933
Location
My mother's basement
True. He made a fortune speculating in Coca-Cola stock in the early twenties, but he got his initial bankroll to do it from the Detroit Tigers.

I think the difference between then and now is not the cupidity of the players -- you had dozens of players jumping from the established leagues to the Federal League in 1914-15 for the chance to make scads more money, gamblers corrupted the game thruout the teens for the sake of easy, dirty dollars, and the Vasquez brothers lured plenty of established big-leaguers to the Mexican League in 1946, again for the sake of money. The players of the Era were mostly poor, dumb country boys who could be lured into just about anything for the sake of a buck.

And that's what I think the real difference was -- most of the players then were painfully ordinary working-class men who happened to be lucky enough to have a particular natural skill that got them out of the factories and the mines and the fields, and they seemed to have more of a sense of appreciation for the chance they were getting. There was little of the sense of personal entitlement that you see in modern athletes, who are coddled and massaged and flattered thruout their childhoods and school careers. I don't begrudge them the money they make -- if the owners and TV networks are making billions off their skills, the players are entitled to all the millions they can get. But they ought to be humble enough to realize that all that separates most of them from a life of clock-punching is an ability that could leave them at any time, and they ought to conduct themselves and their lives accordingly.

And they ought to have some awareness of and appreciation for the men who made their millions possible. I don't just mean Marvin Miller and Andy Messersmith and Peter Seitz. I mean players like Dixie Walker, Marty Marion, Bob Feller, and Robin Roberts, who were among the early activists who laid the groundwork for the modern players' union, and Carl Furillo and Curt Flood, who actually *sued* organized baseball at the cost of their own careers because they felt they needed to stand up for a principle. Would any of these big, bloated babies today be willing to do that?

But what about A-Rod?
 

Stearmen

I'll Lock Up
Messages
7,202
I remember when boys didnt play with dolls "dollies" [action figures] back when a men were men and it was not considered OK to behave like a little boy when your an adult or grown man and still collecting child's toys, especially dolls

toys were for little kids & babies, these days it seems the people buying them are full grown nerdy men stuck in childhood

men back in the old days were not obesssed with children's toys like today, they would have called you a big baby or a sissy back then

We have an old saying in the Harley world. "If you have to ask, you probably wouldn't understand the answer!"
 

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