"The Man, The Myth, The Legend... On this date in 1950 Indians pitcher Bob Feller, after 15-14 season, takes $20,000 salary cut to $45,000, pay cut is Feller's own suggestion" Credit Vintage Baseball Photos. A man of honor and self reflection. Little heard of today.
Bob Feller takes pay cut
- Thread starter FG Dreadnought
- Start date
It was during baseball's Golden Age and honor was a common virtue. Great players were often great men. Clemente, Musial, Banks, Aaron...the list goes on. That's not to say there are no honorable players today, but their numbers pale by comparison.
Players are much more informed today. You can find countless stories of Hall of Fame players not even being the highest paid players on their team because the owners took advantage of their naivete. If Bob Feller truly understood the economics of the game, or how other players were being paid, I sincerely doubt he would have handled the situation the same way. That's not a shot at his ethics, just that his strong ethics would have probably led him to a different conclusion and/or course of action.
What did he say about coaches accepting paychecks after losing?
Nonsense. Did the owners give up their profits too?
The guy played 18 years interrupted by four years in the military during WW2. Quite a career.
Before free agency baseball was run like a monarchy. Every team was a little kingdom. Still, there’s pros and cons in both eras. Today, I couldn’t tell you the starting lineup to the 2022 NY Mets until a month or so after the season starts. From 1969-1975 you knew every player on your team before spring training ever started. The flip side was that owners financially abused many of the older players. It was heart wrenching to see them struggle financially in their later years. But let’s be honest this happened in every sport, boxing being the biggest abuser.
January 1954
PHILADELPHIA, Jan. 12 (AP) -- Headaches piled up today for President Bob Carpenter of the Philadelphia Phillies. First, Pitcher Robin Roberts, a twenty-three game winner, said absolutely no to a proposed pay cut. Then, Richie Ashburn, the club's top hitter at .330, said no to a slight increase.
PHILADELPHIA, Jan. 12 (AP) -- Headaches piled up today for President Bob Carpenter of the Philadelphia Phillies. First, Pitcher Robin Roberts, a twenty-three game winner, said absolutely no to a proposed pay cut. Then, Richie Ashburn, the club's top hitter at .330, said no to a slight increase.
One of the greatest interviews was Tim K interviewing Feller about his legendary career and Feller discussing his service during the War as his greatest accomplishment and that his baseball accomplishments aren’t jack squat. It’s something that Timmy will still marvel at.
I'm guessing that George Allen never turned down a paycheck after a loss. If not, how hypocritical. Pardon me if I am not unduly sympathetic of the plight of wealth MLB and NFL team owners. Either then or now.
Roberts was coming off a 23 win season. He had won 28 the year before and the cheap *** Phillies wanted to cut his salary? It should be noted he won 23 games the following 2 seasons as well and is in the Hall of Fame, as is Ashburn.
I will respectfully disagree Joe. Bob Feller knew the economics of the game. He was a savy businessman. He organized barnstorming tours in the off season, and entered into endorsement deals, that made him one of the wealthiest players of his generation. On the other hand, perhaps that made it easier for him to take a pay cut.
I will certainly agree that the owners took advantage of players in that era and the players had little leverage. Most had to take second jobs in the off season to make ends meet. One example:
In Game Two of the 1966 World Series, 20-year-old pitcher Jim Palmer tossed a complete-game shutout against the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Baltimore Orioles won the series and Palmer became an overnight sensation. Palmer’s salary for the season was $7,500. Even with his $11,000 World Series bonus, it wasn’t enough to cover the cost of a new home and the birth of his first child. So he took a second job. He sold suits at Hamburgers Clothing in downtown Baltimore for $150 a week, “enough to pay for groceries, hot water and electricity.”
The example is from this link:
https://medium.com/buzzer-beater/when-ballplayers-had-offseason-jobs-66bba31cecb2#
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He was a coach and not owner, and I believe it was not literal. He just was referring to players playing for the money as opposed to winning being the true goal
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