9/7/22

The Mack Report - Minor League Union, Munetaka Murakami, Andrés Giménez, NL DIGS, Circumstances Following 1919 Scandal


 
9-6-22 - Evan Drellich @EvanDrellich 

BREAKING: More than 50 percent of minor leaguers have signed cards backing a union, MLBPA officials say. The Players Association has formally asked MLB for voluntary recognition, sending a letter to the commissioner’s office this morning: 

https://t.co/E80Lek54yd  

Mack - I can’t get into this site because it has a firewall. 

Immediate question - I covered the Savannah Sand Gnats for six years when they played in the A-”Sally League” as the Mets affiliate. 

First, I am curious if the union plans on sending reps to each team to talk to the players. 

Second, I am curious if the owners of these teams would let these reps into the clubhouse to address the team.

And third, the majority of minor league teams are not owned by the parent team they are affiliated with. Case in point… the Sand Gnats never made a cent in Savannah. Both poor team participation and local attendance. Are these local owners that are losing bucks or barely breaking even supposed to foot this bill or will the parent teams they are affiliated with step up and pay for the increase? 

 

9-6-22 - Jim Allen @JballAllen 

Munetaka Murakami has now tied the record for home runs in a season by a Japanese player with 52, previously recorded by Hall of Famers Katsuya Nomura and Hiromitsu Ochiai. 

 

9-5-22 - Sarah Langs @SlangsOnSports 

Did you know that Andrés Giménez leads ALL MLB HITTERS in batting average vs breaking + offspeed pitches (min 200 PA ending on those)? 

 

Pitcher DIGS (@DigsPitcher) 

NL DIGS+ | 2010-2021 | Min 15 GS 

1. deGrom 2021 = 170

2. Kershaw 2015 = 166

3. Kershaw 206 = 164

4. Kershaw 2014 = 164

5. Arrieta 2015 = 157

6. deGrom 2018 = 152

7. Burnes 2021 = 151

T-8. Scherzer 2018 = 148

Harvey 2013 = 148

Halladay 2011 = 148

Scherzer 2017 = 148 

 

Circumstances Following 1919 Scandal 

While Commissioner Albert Benjamin Chandler's nickname was "Happy," he was far from it. 

With a paranoid sense of entitlement, commissioners of the league would suspend any player just for being seen with a gambler in an attempt to rid the league of its gambling influences completely. 

Commissioner Happy Chandler suspended Brooklyn Dodgers manager Leo Durocher for the 1947 season for being seen with the wrong people. 

After retiring, Hall of Famers Mickey Mantle and Willie Mays greeted customers at gambling casinos and were then banned from the league as well. 

Their bans were lifted when Commissioner Peter Ueberroth realized they weren't making millions of dollars when they played baseball.

4 comments:

Paul Articulates said...

Expanding the players' union to minor leaguers is a complex issue. It makes a great deal of sense to include them from the perspective that players move back and forth between the majors and minors right now, so without minors included their MLBPA membership is on-off-on-off. Also, it is a well-documented problem that minor league players are generally not compensated well. If they were lucky, a big signing bonus was involved, otherwise their salary barely covers food and rent.

From the other perspective, as Mack points out in his article, the burden of providing better pay and benefits to minor leaguers should not fall on unaffiliated team owners, as they are struggling to make a profit in many regions.

We the fans want this to be fair, but whenever big money is involved, the outcome is not always just. Let's hope there is a solution that benefits the game.

Mack Ade said...

To work, this would have to fall 100% on parent teams

Tom Brennan said...

Gimenez is feasting on weak AL Central pitching the way Lindor did.

Remember1969 said...

My opinion is that a lot of minor league cost should fall on the parent club. They should provide housing for all minor league players and staff.