Today's Player Plays for One Thing, the Almighty Buck

by user Alanschech

Roger Clemens made his return to baseball official again this week by signing a contract to return to the Astros this season. Now Roger Clemens is a great pitcher, no one can doubt that. I am a Mets fan, and I can acknowledge the fact that he is a wonderful pitcher, and has had a great career. However, his leaving and returning the way he has shows one thing, that today's player is driven by money and nothing else. Frankly, I am sick of it.

Clemens is a prime example. As I said, I am a Mets fan, and after the year 2000 that automatically makes me an anti-Clemens fan. However, when he was on his retirement tour with the Yankees, even I was into it. Watching a player of his magnitude ending his career is a big deal. I was moved when the Yankees were playing the Marlins in the World Series, and Clemens was given a standing ovation by everyone, including the opposing team. We were watching a legend end his career was amazing. The sight of his children putting dirt from Yankee Stadium into a baggy to give their Dad a souvenir was very moving. But what does Roger do? He signs a zillion dollar contract with the Astros. I know he will talk about wanting to be close to his kids, but I don't buy it. If he wanted to be with his kids so badly, stay retired. The fact that he signed a contract to play with anyone showed that it is all about the money. Roger Clemens has nothing left to prove. All about the money.

Another prime example is Michael Jordan. Again, don't misunderstand me, I am not saying that Jordan isn't great. I am just saying that you have to know when it is time to call it quits. When he retired from the Bulls, who in sports had any less to prove than Michael Jordan? Nobody, that's who. Michael Jordan had no reason to make that silly comeback with the Wizards, except for the almighty dollar.

You can see the millions of examples all over sports. Mets fans, remember when Mike Hampton left the Mets to sign with the Rockies? Remember the excuse that he gave? He said he left for Colorado for the school systems? Who's kidding who here? His children couldn't have gotten a good education in Greenwich, CT? The reason, and the only reason, that he left New York, is the fact that the Rockies offered him quite a bit more money than the Mets did. That is why he left.

How about Johnny Damon? Mr. Anti-Establishment with the Red Sox, everything anti-Yankee, and now all of a sudden, he is Mr. Corporate America as a Yankee??? The reason for this is that the Boss has given him the financial reasoning to be Mr. Corporate America.

The result of this is fans can't have allegiance to players anymore. Players very rarely have allegiance to teams, so therefore they are here today and gone tomorrow. We don't root for the players anymore, we root for the jersey, and I am sick of it. I may do it just like the rest of us, but I wish it weren't so.

There are some examples that buck the theory. Paul O'Neill wanted to win, his sole motivation for being a Yankee, and that was admirable. Those examples are too few and far between for my taste. Too many of today's players are slaves to the dollar, and it has caused today's player to be a selfish player that is in it for himself, and not the good of the team. Frankly, it is too bad and a huge shame.

Date

Wed 06/07/06, 7:25 pm EST

Bball3345Draft Pick

1271 days ago

Score 1

Do you really think Clemens or Jordan needed any more money? Maybe they are just competitive and had a desire to keep playing the sport... Oh, and if you were offered a raise in your job, would you turn it down?

Permalink | Reply

ASwaffAll-American

1271 days ago

Score 0

I agree with Bball. Saying Clemens is the prime example of a player returning for money is only only sayable if you ignore many factors. For example, he played in 2004 for less than 6 million dollars, when he was clearly worth more. He went to Houston when he would have gotten more money in Boston or New York. He went to the World Series with Houston last year, and they have a good chance of returning this year with him. I'm not saying I disagree with your premise, but trying to build it around Clemens is absurd. Is it so hard to think that a guy is playing because he gets joy out of playing?

Permalink | Reply

Davis21wylieMVP

1271 days ago

Score 0

I don't have a problem with the amount of money Clemens re-signed for, but rather the fact that he hung his teammates out to dry until May before making his decision to come back. Houston's pitching (Taylor Buchholz -- ERA: 6.25 -- has 63.3 IP? WTF?) has been a major reason that they are unlikely to make the playoffs again (barring last season's 2nd-half magic), but Rocket could have made a difference had he been in uniform in April. Instead, whatever he adds is likely to be too little, too late. Clemens is definitely selfish, but for more reasons than just his salary.

Permalink | Reply

ASwaffAll-American

1271 days ago

Score 2

Davis, he didn't leave his teammates out to dry. The Astros front office left Clemens and the Astros players out to dry by not offering him arbitration. It was their refusal to offer him arbitration that disallowed the Astros from even being able to re-sign Clemens until the beginning of May. Besides, I think that his waiting is better for the team. They were fine through April, and they struggled through May. But now they'll have Roger Clemens through the summer, and he won't have pitched a full season. So, he'll be able to contribute a lot more down the stretch, and in the post season, than he was able to the last couple of years. I think that's in the team's best interest.

Permalink | Reply

Davis21wylieMVP

1271 days ago

Score 0

I should have said, "he hung his teammates out to dry until late May before making his decision to come back"... Clemens was eligible to sign as early as the beginning of May, but instead sat back and enjoyed his pesudo-retirement (and several high-profile suitors lavishing him with attention) while the 'Stros, as you said, struggled. Now, even with Pujols' injury, they'll be lucky to make the playoffs; the Cards, Reds, and Brewers (whose poor record is belied by the fact have faced a difficult schedule so far) are all better teams than Houston. Oh, and Clemens, despite the huge contract, won't be attending every road game like any normal team member, even though the road is precisely where the Astros need the most help -- they're 9-18 away from Minute Maid this season. But Roger did everything with the team's best interest in mind, right?

Permalink | Reply

ChristofMVP

1271 days ago

Score 1

Sounds like the author is a little bitter toward Clemens and the NY Yanks. Funny thing is, the Mets is a big market club that overpays players. I do not know how you can complain about players caring about money only, when you root for teams that set the market for players' salaries.

Permalink | Reply

ASwaffAll-American

1271 days ago

Score -1

"Oh, and Clemens, despite the huge contract, won't be attending every road game like any normal team member, even though the road is precisely where the Astros need the most help -- they're 9-18 away from Minute Maid this season."

That's the exact same thing he's done each of the last two seasons. That was part of the deal in 2004 and 2005. That's not new. And it's not like he won't be pitcing on the road. He'll still make his turns in the rotation on the road, so it's not like he's killing his team by only making half the starts he should be making. And I disagree that the Astros aren't better than the Reds and Brewers. The Astros are ahead of the Brewers in the Central, and they are 3-2 against them this year without Roger Clemens. And although the Reds have beaten up on the Astros this year, the Reds have a history of playing past their potential early in the season. But, as the season goes on, their bad pitching gets exposed more and more, and that leads to their bullpen getting worn out, so that they're not even in contention in August. As for the Cardinals, the Astros don't need to be better than them until October. Until then, the Astros only need to better than the other Wild Card contenders, which they have been each of the last two seasons.

Permalink | Reply

ASwaffAll-American

1271 days ago

Score 0

By the way, I agree with Christof.

Permalink | Reply

XinophDraft Pick

1271 days ago

Score 0

Why is signing with a good team just so you can get a ring any more admirable than signing with a well-funded team just to get the mills? Aren't those essentially the same thing? Whether you join the Yankees for the big bucks or for the World Series ring, you're hardly doing it for love of the team and the sport.

Permalink | Reply

FFSBasketball

1261 days ago

Score 0

How about backing up your claims with facts? You say "Michael Jordan had no reason to make that silly comeback with the Wizards, except for the almighty dollar." You don't even consider the idea that he came back to raise attendance in the DC area and put the Wizards on the map as an NBA franchise. You don't consider the fact that he wanted to play a player/coach kind of role with the Wizards - a team he put together. In fact, you totally ignore the fact that the contract he signed was for the veteran minimum with the Wizards. I can't see in any way how this is all about the "almighty dollar."

Permalink | Reply