Daniel R. Epstein – Beyond the Box Score: At the heart of Major League Baseball, there is one truth that its owners and executives believe in more than any other. That truth is that the fans are idiots and that MLB can lie about their profits and the fans will be none the wiser. Even when confronted with a high number of educated fans who can spot MLB’s shenanigans from a mile away there is no change in the way MLB operates. MLB is a titan, they are not some mom and pop outfit barely getting by, don’t let them say otherwise.
Steven Goldman – Baseball Prospectus ($): MLB is an organization that is full of hubris. That seems like an odd statement to make but just look at their Houston Plan. They know the effect this will have on the communities serviced by the teams they plan to ax. They know the possible long term ramifications to their own bottom lines. MLB does not care and they don’t care because they operate in a state where they believe they are above reproach. That level of hubris will come back to bite them, it’s only a matter of when.
Derrick Goold – St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Curt Flood was not a simple man but he did write one very simple letter that changed the course of MLB. In the past decade, there have been some prominent baseball writers, Bill James for example, who have done their best to minimize the impact of Flood’s letter. The truth of the matter is that Flood’s letter lit a fire under the MLB’s labor movement and set the stage for the short term losses and long term triumphs that were to come. Every MLB player owes Curt Flood a debt of gratitude, and some people need a lesson on the reality of his importance.
Lead photo courtesy of Unknown – Wikimedia Commons
