Bringing His A Game: Ian Crouch on A-Rod, the Astros, and Austerity

As sure as cold breezes and April blossoms on Opening Day, someone will remind us that Major League Baseball is in trouble. Ian Crouch steps up to the plate this year with this April 2013 essay from the New Yorker. 

Read it here: Crouch, “A-Rod, the Astros, and Austerity” 

 

1. Mentioning A-Rod, the Astros, and austerity in the same breath, as Crouch’s title does, may seem startlingly disparate. Crouch begins by talking about A-Rod and ends up arguing about the Astros. What does the one have to do with the other? Summarize the argument. Is the connection between those disparate elements clear to you? Does the essay hold together? Why or why not?
2. What does Crouch mean by “Yankee Schadenfreude” (paragraph 2)? Have you ever felt schadenfreude about the Yankees? About anything else? Describe your experience.
3. Like Crouch’s article, William Moller’s essay in Chapter 17 of your text focuses on A-Rod in order to make a larger argument about the status and treatment of superstar athletes. In what ways are Moller and Crouch’s arguments similar? In what ways are they different? Who do you think makes the stronger point? Why?
4. Major league baseball today, as Crouch points out, is quite openly all about business and profits. Could it be any other way? Should it? Using Crouch as your “They Say,” write an essay in which you respond to those questions. If you would like to see the situation be different, make concrete proposals for implementing your ideas.

 

Comments

[Brittany Cline]

Bringing His a Game
When I think of any major league team the first thing that pops into my head is money signs. It starts with someone wanting to go to a game. I have been to many major league events in my life from baseball, to hockey, and basketball to football. The only way to go to one of these places is by simply buying a ticket to get in. One must think “hmm if I plan on going to the game I better find a jersey or a shirt for my favorite team”. Then when you get there you look around and smell the hot dogs cooking, you see the beverage guy walking around with ice cold drinks, and of course all the kids want the cotton candy that they can see rows and rows away. Everything about my opening sentences have to deal with money all because of ones sports team on one particular day. A question that was brought up after the reading talked about how the teams are open about the profits they make and want to know if there is any other way they could do it. I believe the answer is simply, no. The reason I believe this is because it wouldn’t be hard for people to try and figure out the estimated profits revenues make. Every game I have been to have always announced how many people were there in on that day, if we could all sit down and do the math we could figure out the money that they had made on tickets. I believe that if we didn’t know how much teams made we would be skeptical about what they do with all their money. Right now they break it down by how much they pay their players, coaches and what they donate. If we didn’t know any of this wouldn’t you feel like they would be hiding a lot? The leagues do a great job at paying their athletes and giving back to the community as much as they can.

[Kristy Ultreras]

The constant finger pointing at professional athletes should have stopped years ago. Saying that someone is not worth the money they are paid is ridiculous. The numbers and talent one has, merits whatever number they can negotiate. If anything it is mankind’s entire fault. That we have devised a need for superiority instead of hospitality. This has created a need for money or other goods. If you want good talent, it costs good money. The owner of the Astros in this article seems to come across as cheapskate with no regard for what their fans desire. One needs to understand that a lot of fans are fair weather fans. They only want what other teams have. With just 1 player that draws fans could change the attendance for the park. Attendance pays the bills. If within 100 games, the player draws 1000 fans. Add in the cost of tickets at average $100.00. There is $100,000.00. Add wins to the schedule, and numbers increase. What we need to focus on is a saying that I have heard. “We are all worth exactly what we get.” If a player believes they are worth a large amount of money, they obviously have the confidence in their abilities. This will show on the field as well. Another saying that comes to mind is, “Don't sell yourself short.” This could be used to describe a player that does not believe their abilities are worth more. This lack of confidence will be prevalent to the fans as well. Although you cannot buy a World Series win. You can at least show your fans they are worth the effort to try. Even though it is a private business, it is still supported by the public. Show them you appreciate them. George Steinbrenner knew that if you fill the seats, you pay the bills. The losing records are why he was able to buy the team from CBS for so cheap. Then turned the team back into the dynasty they once were.