According to U.S. Department of Labor statistics, the average salesperson in this country makes $27,990 a year.
The average construction worker makes $34,440 annually, while teachers take home $37,900 a year.
Surgeons — the people ultimately responsible for whether you live or die — average $137,400 per year.
And what does the average Major League Baseball player earn?
Try $2,138,896 a year.
All for playing a game that requires a man to smack a baseball past eight infielders and a pitcher.
And yet, for the ninth time since 1972, it looks as though Major League Baseball will once again strike this summer.
The issues?
Try unfair salary structure allegations by the players and red ink claims by the owners.
The last time baseball decided that it couldn't live with these inequities, it stopped play for 232 days, wiping out the World Series for the first time since 1904.
And as has been the case since the first strike in 1972 — which lasted a total of 10 days — pro-baseball players are still upset that major league owners are getting much too rich off of their services while refusing to pass those same earnings on to the players.
Never mind the fact that big leaguers back in 1972 earned a little over $34,000 a year when the first work stoppage occurred.
Owners, on the other hand, see the game's costs skyrocketing out of control and their profits going straight down the drain as players demand more and more money.
And never mind the fact that the Texas Rangers agreed to pay shortstop Alex Rodriguez $252 million in the winter of 2000 to help lead the team to an unspectacular 73-89 record in 2001.
In baseball, humility and fiscal responsibility go right out the window.
Right behind them goes fan appreciation.
Major League Baseball patted itself on the back after the miracle home run year of 1998, saying it had made baseball America's game once again. The fact it took four years and a home run race to bring back the fans never crossed its mind however.
In baseball, what matters most in this modern era is not what is good for baseball but what is good for bargaining position.
Atlanta businessman Donald Watkins has been knocking on baseball owners' doors this year, offering to pay upwards of $300 million for the right to become a major league owner, yet he has been rebuffed by every team he has talked with this year.
Why? Baseball owners would rather cut off their own noses to spite their faces if it meant giving them an edge in their war with players.
Baseball players, on the other hand, are in the midst of creating one of the most exciting seasons of achievements in modern history.
Diamondback pitcher Curt Schilling has a legitimate shot at 30 wins this season, Barry Bonds could join the elite 600-home run club and Roger Clemens has an outside chance at winning his 300th game.
And still, like the owners, baseball players would gladly give it all up if it meant they could deny the owners another World Series.
We at the State Press marvel at both the lack of long-term memory Major League Baseball is exhibiting, as well as the lack of humility it is demonstrating as it asks for more and more money, while the very fans it claims to serve struggle to make ends meet.
In baseball, money isn't just the root of all evil, it is soon-to-be end of all fun.
