Cal.E.'s Korner

d.: Hey, Cal.E., I heard something on the radio that is of great interest to me.

C.: how about to me?

d.: Well…maybe, maybe not. However, either some of the guys on sports talk radio are either reading this blog, or some other people, maybe many other people, feel the same way I do about my least favorite person on the face of the earth.

C.: let me guess, the current baseball commissioner?

d.: That’s right, Rob (he is NOT a) Man,Fred. I was listening to my favorite radio show while I was coming back from my workout at the gym, and one of the host deemed to current baseball commissioner the WORST commissioner of all time in any professional sport. Needless to say, I stuck with that broadcast.

C.: ( I’m going to take a nap, now, because d.c. is about to get on an epic rant, and I won’t be able to get a word in edgewise, anyway)>

d.: Yes, the host went on to point out that the team that beat the Astros  in 2018 in the American League Championship Series used much more sophisticated technology than trash cans, and that the manager of that Red Sox team, who went on to win the World Series that year, was one of the key cogs in the Astros’ sign stealing scandal. Hmm… could it be that, like almost everyone else on the planet, the commissioner has a favorite, or a couple of favorite teams that are based in the American Northeast, close to the commissioner’s office?

I have ne doubt that the Yankees and Red Sox bring in more money than any other team aside from the Los Angeles Dodgers, so they’re given more leeway than other teams. The price that I paid to see an Astros-Yankees game three years ago and the amount that my son’s employer spent for him to watch a Red Sox game would shock most people. However, it’s been revealed that there were more than three teams doing what the Astros did. I’ll set the over-under at 25 teams if anyone wants to bet on it.

YES, IT'S A FASTBALL

The reason that baseball even has a commissioner is the result of another scandal in which the Chicago White (Black) Sox threw the World Series for about five grand. In today’s money, that probably would still be less than $100,000 ($95,638 in 2025). The minimum salary for a rookie just getting to the major leagues is $760,000.00. Let that sink in. the Black Sox didn’t negotiate very well, I suppose.

The other pro sports probably thought it was a good idea to have a commissioner to avoid a Black Sox type scandal, and some of them have been good for the game. Larry O’Brian brought NBA basketball to the forefront of sport fans’ minds in the early 1980s, and Pete Rozelle did a decent job of doing the same with the NFL> However, when Rozelle stepped down and Roger Goodall took over the reigns in the NFL, its popularity flourished. He sanctioned such things as keeping up with fantasy players’ statistics, and that increased the popularity of the sport exponentially. Even games that have no playoff implications are  widely watched.

In the meantime, the “National Past Time" (baseball) has declined in popularity even though it’s a game of numbers. Statistics are broadcast in detail with each batter, and the popularity of the game that started the fantasy craze still dwindles.

So, the question would be, how important is the leader of a sport? Is/he solely responsible for the sport’s popularity or is it the product that counts. What do you think, Cal.E.?....Cal.E.?

C.: zzz…Oh, that’s all the time we have for today, folks. Please join us tomorrow for another episode of d.c.’s rantings…er, Cal.E.’s Korner.