U.S. Politics

[Royell Storing]

That would mean he was living on $23,000 in 1968 which equates to about $218,000 in today's dollars. On top of that, he worked offseason for one of the automakers so he was living quite well then and until his passing in 2020. He signed with the Detroit Tigers 2 days after he graduated from high school and went straight to the big leagues. He remained employed by the Tigers for the next 67 years in some capacity, as a player, coach, broadcaster, and in the front office.

   I am very familiar with Kaline's MLB stats, the old stadium with the 2nd deck overhang in the outfield, Reggie nailing the transformer, etc. Favorite Tiger would be Mickey Lolich, Norm Cash coming in 2nd, Freehan 3rd. The 2/3 deferred? Not sold.

[Benjamin Cole]

JC-

Some of these younger readers may not realize how little ballplayers made, back in the day.

"In February 1966, Dodgers pitchers Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale staged a historic 32-day joint holdout, demanding a three-year, $1 million contract ($167,000 annually). They ended the holdout on March 30, 1966, by signing one-year deals: Koufax for $130,000 and Drysdale for $105,000, making them the first $100,000-per-year pitchers."

Those were probably the two best pitchers the Dodgers ever had, btw.

The $100k salary was considered outlandish at the time.

"Johnny Roseboro's salary with the Los Angeles Dodgers grew from $8,500 in 1957 to roughly $48,000 by 1967. As a four-time All-Star catcher, he was a key player in the 1960s, with his pay rising to $40,000+ by 1964 and peaking near $60,000 before his trade to the Minnesota Twins in 1968"

True, you have to multiply all those 1960s salaries roughly by 10. Still, the better ballplayers of the 1960s were only well-off (remember they had short careers), and most average players worked off-season, especially as car salesmen, or even played in the Mexico leagues.

What players make today boggles the mind. $700 million for Ohtani.

I barely watch sports anymore.

[Royell Storing]

  Koufax had an arthritic elbow and retired after the Dodgers were swept in the 1966 World Series. He was only 30 yrs old.

[Tom Graves]

How damn stupid are legacy media reporters. I'm going to paraphrase this since I can't quote him word-for-word. Wolf Blitzer just said that he was just a short distance away when the "alleged gunman" was taken down by the Secret Service. If he saw him do it, why is he saying it's an alleged gunman. Does Wolf need confirmation to report what he saw with his own damn eyes. What an idiot.

Trump's buddy, Vladimir Putin, has doubles, so maybe last night's shooter had one, too!

[John Corbett]

   I am very familiar with Kaline's MLB stats, the old stadium with the 2nd deck overhang in the outfield, Reggie nailing the transformer, etc. Favorite Tiger would be Mickey Lolich, Norm Cash coming in 2nd, Freehan 3rd. The 2/3 deferred? Not sold.

I couldn't find a story to confirm Al Kaline's deferred compensation but I did find this one that said he turned down a raise to become Detroit's first $100,000 a year player because he didn't think he had a good enough season to earn it.
https://sports.ha.com/itm/baseball-collectibles/others/1971-al-kaline-signed-detroit-tigers-player-s-contract-and-copy-of-replacement-contract-requesting-a-lower-salary-from-the-al-ka/a/50049-58297.s

Mickey Lolich will always have a special place in the hearts of longtime Tigers fans for his heroic performance in the 1968 World Series when he stole the thunder from Denny McLain and Bob Gibson. He pitched his third complete game victory in game 7 on just two days rest, outdueling Bog Gibson. Lolich was a workhorse in the early 1970s, pitching over 300 innings in four consecutive seasons topped by an astounding 376 innings in 1971, the most by any pitcher since 1917. Wilbur Wood, a knuckleballer, eclipsed him by 2/3 of an inning the following year. Nobody has come close since. Today they think its a big deal if a pitcher throws 200 innings in a year. They pitch every fifth day and they call it a quality start if they pitch 6 innings and give up 3 runs or less. Lolich took the ball every fourth day and more often than not threw a complete game, 29 of them in 1971. Sadly, Mickey passed away this past February.

[John Corbett]

Further evidence the Democrat Party is intolerant of anyone showing signs of being sane:

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/he-needs-to-go-dems-blast-fetterman-as-trumps-favorite-democrat-after-tie-breaking-dhs-vote/ar-AA1Z4jHD

If you aren't in advanced stages of TDS, or at least pretending you are, you are not welcome in the Democrat Party.

[Royell Storing]

I couldn't find a story to confirm Al Kaline's deferred compensation but I did find this one that said he turned down a raise to become Detroit's first $100,000 a year player because he didn't think he had a good enough season to earn it.
https://sports.ha.com/itm/baseball-collectibles/others/1971-al-kaline-signed-detroit-tigers-player-s-contract-and-copy-of-replacement-contract-requesting-a-lower-salary-from-the-al-ka/a/50049-58297.s

Mickey Lolich will always have a special place in the hearts of longtime Tigers fans for his heroic performance in the 1968 World Series when he stole the thunder from Denny McLain and Bob Gibson. He pitched his third complete game victory in game 7 on just two days rest, outdueling Bog Gibson. Lolich was a workhorse in the early 1970s, pitching over 300 innings in four consecutive seasons topped by an astounding 376 innings in 1971, the most by any pitcher since 1917. Wilbur Wood, a knuckleballer, eclipsed him by 2/3 of an inning the following year. Nobody has come close since. Today they think its a big deal if a pitcher throws 200 innings in a year. They pitch every fifth day and they call it a quality start if they pitch 6 innings and give up 3 runs or less. Lolich took the ball every fourth day and more often than not threw a complete game, 29 of them in 1971. Sadly, Mickey passed away this past February.

   Lolich was a lot like Curt Simmons. Simmons never was a 20 game winner, but he was a 1950's workhorse and a big part of the 1950 Phillies "Whiz Kids" team. Simmons was still pitching in 1964 and started 2 World Series games for that championship Cardinal/Gibson team that you guys took down in "68".