Baseball Rant

Money is destroying baseball.

Here's the deal: A century ago, the starting pitcher threw every pitch in 88% of games played. Managers left the starter on the mound, win or lose. It was his game. But by the early 1920s, about 50% were complete games. Only 22% by 1979.

Last year, only one in every 35 starts resulted in a complete game. That's 2.8%

What's going on? There is now a widely held belief in baseball that making a pitcher throw more than 100 pitches per game will wear out his arm significantly faster than if he only throws a few innings per game. With clubs investing millions of dollars in their starting pitchers, teams can't "afford" to lose pitchers to injury or early retirement. (Even though the pitchers probably won't stay with the team for long anyway. Since, we all know there is more money out there for free agents. I mean, I know I'd be dying to find a better deal too because, I just don't know how I could possibly live on $3 million a year. Plus, few players show any loyalty to their clubs anymore. And they certainly aren't thinking about their fans or the city they play for.)

The business of baseball has become disgusting. Wouldn't it be nice for an owner of a ball club to invest in up-and-coming players and quality coaches that would be the foundation of the organization? The guys who want to be good ball players, not the ones who are just out there to get rich. If an owner were to do this, it wouldn't be just a team anymore. No. It would be a franchise. An institution. It would be classic baseball.

I could continue this tirade and explain the fallout from this evolution that makes baseball largely unbearable for me, but I'll save it in case I get REALLY desperate for blog material.