Red Sox player boycott
By adamg - Wed, 03/19/2008 - 12:17pm.
UPDATE: Management resolves issue; boycott over, Japan trip back on.
Joy of Sox rounds up Sox player comments on the boycott over coaches not getting paid extra (like the players) for the trip to Japan.
Lewis Forman: This is why I love our Red Sox and how they all stick up for everyone in the clubhouse, no matter what they make or don't make.
Beth ponders what's next for the new Activist Sox:
... Like Jacoby Ellsbury and Jon Lester stumping for Barack Obama, Josh Beckett campaigning for hemp-crop legalization, and Jason Varitek, Mike Lowell and Kevin Youkilis staging pan-flute concerts in support of Tibet.
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Will Oakland boycott too?
And if not, does this mean two forfeited games for the Sox?
What!? No travel bonus for Red Sox coaches? Outrageous!
Silly news. I am a sports fan but it's not so important to me whether the coches get a travel bonus for going to Japan. To threaten a boycott seems like hitting a tack with a sledghammer unless of course all the managers were really upset about the unfair treatment.
I think Major League Baseball players and coaches get payed well - in fact I think they make more than anyone reading this - so I don't think its even all that necessary to pay players a bonus to play a game in Japan. When I travel for work, there's no bonus.
Moreover, the fact players get a bonus while the managers don't is not a big enough injustice to boycott, although press coverage is probably good for the team and so is solidarity.
It's a 10 on PR and a 1 on merit.
"Give an inch and they'll
"Give an inch and they'll take a mile"
What happens when the MLB decides to do a whole month, or put more teams in a Japanneese rotation, but pays them the same?
My guess is they're trying to not set a precedent of not paying the backoffice for duties above and beyond what they normally do.
What happens when... I think
What happens when... I think you're imagining concerns that are not in evidence.
it wasn't about being greedy
The game against Toronto started an hour late because of the boycott, which the team voted unanimously to stage after learning their coaches and staff would not be getting a $40,000 appearance fee for the Japan trip.
Players said they believed that fee had been part of the deal.
Speaking to ESPN during the game against Toronto, Francona said he was proud of his team. He also says
it wasn't about being greedy, it was about being united.The manager wouldn't comment on the specifics of the resolution.
Catcher Jason Varitek said earlier in the day the team would not take the field until Major League Baseball agreed to pay the coaches and staff.
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If it's not about the money, then I'm sure we'll be reading news stories about thier $40,000 cnotributions to the non-profit cause of their choice. How about body armor for troops in Iraq?
Nobody Should Expect People to do Extra Work for Free
If I was expected to go overseas and work all kinds of hours, and half the staff got paid for it and half didn't, I'd be really ticked off.
Why should the coaches and staff be expected to volunteer their services, which is for the benefit of MLB and not the Sox?
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From the brains behind http://www.bigdumptruck.com
Baby I got your money
I don't know all the specifics, but MLB (and team owners) make a LOT of money when MLB teams play in Japan. A LOT of money. I believe that revenue stream gets distributed amongst the owners of MLB franchise teams. This money is what is used to persuade teams (and that means players, coaches, trainers, staff, etc) to make the trip. Its a big deal: spring training ends early with a big road trip. Traveling from Boston to Seattle is hard enough. Taking a road trip to Japan is just nuts.
The reason for the boycott wasn't just that coaches and staff weren't going to be paid: its that there was an agreement that everyone would be compensated. Then MLB revoked that promise. They probably thought no one would question it, let alone propose a boycott. Its another example of how out of touch and irresponsible MLB's front office has become under Selig.
Then MLB revoked that promise.
Then MLB revoked that promise.
That's a good reason to insist on it.
Thanks Mikey Lowell
and Wake, and Youk, and Tek and all the other
stand-up guys in that clubhouse. Class all the way.
Compare and contrast to the pathetic performance
delivered by the Texas Con Man in front of Congress.
And Bud Selig couldn't run a used car lot in Union Square.