A few days ago, the St. Louis Baseball Cadinals' General Manager, John Mozeliak suggested, after announcing the one year 1.5 million dollars contract signing of recently released Mets' shortstop Rueben Tejada that his addition to the club gives depth to the shortstop position and addresses the 'fatigue factor...'
'Fatigue Factor?' Is this one of those 'NEW' Major League Baseball sabermetrics statistical analysis?
I began following professional baseball in 1946. I remember teams traveling by train from city to city. Today, teams take charter flights. Back in the day, players had hotel roommates. Today, teams stay in 5-star hotels and most players have their own hotel room. The 1950 players' clubhouse and dugouts were dingy and without perks. Today, those clubhouses are carpeted with first class food amenities and state-of-the-art training room needs and video rooms. Yesteryears' Playing fields were suspect. Many were not manicured very well, which made fielding problematic and injuries likely. Today, major league fields are immaculate.
Players unions, today protect players better than any labor organization in America. Once upon a time, major league teams played a few 'double-headers' every year. Today that scenario occurs only near the season's end to insure rainout games are completed.
The top baseball salary in 1950 was $50,000.00. Today's AVERAGE baseball salary is 4 million.
Please spare me the 'fatigue factor' comment. Those baseball Prima Donnas should enter the blue-collar labor market and become familiar with fatigue.
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