I loved the guy and always respected him, but the way he left (and just as much the way his wife reacted) caused me to lose that respect and made it easier to watch him leave. It's kind of like LeBron leaving Cleveland; I don't fault him for it, but the way he did it was terrible.
Albert's wife went on the radio and was talking about the Cardinals' offers to him being a slap in the face. Those number she's calling a slap in the face were the 190 million for 9 years or whatever their last offer was to him. Not a slap in the face; the Angels were just dumb enough to give him more money. Did Albert deserve a/the top contract? Sure. But it's the fault of organizations paying people like A-Rod 250 million for skewing the numbers and making people think they deserve more. On the contrary, others just deserve less.
Albert did a lot for the community and I respect that. I was really sad to see him leave, but I understood the move to the AL where he could be a DH. The difference in what StL offered him and what others did, though, just wouldn't be enough for me to leave a team that has a great fanbase and had already locked up 2 championships in the 10 years he'd been there. When you're talking a certain amount of millions of dollars, there's just a point where more doesn't mean much (I say that loosely). What St. Louis offered him was more than enough to live any type of lavish lifestyle and the fact that his wife called it disrespectful made me instantly lose respect for them. Is the baseball season long (162 games) and taxing on your body, emotions, relationships, etc.? Sure. But let's also not forget you're playing a game that you love (or at least you should). An equivalent job in terms of being strenuous could be traveling for construction. I worked one summer with a crew who traveled all over the midwest just depending on where the job was. They got put up in hotels, but they weren't 5-star. They got a meal voucher, but it wasn't steak and lobster. They received mileage for their trip, but they didn't take a private jet. They were away from their families for longer than average roadtrips. They worked 12-hour days on average for 60 hour work weeks. The guys at the top of the line made less than $100k (I'm talking one foreman) and most made around $40k or so. The league average for MLB is $414,000.
This is a long, drawn out post that isn't necessary, but I guess I just got on a roll and lose major respect points for people who complain about money. Do other people make more than they deserve? They sure do, but how about you go take that up with them instead of crying that you don't make enough (my anger for Dwayne Wade is still running hot, too).
Oh, and St. Louis leads the entire major leagues in batting average, is tied for the lead in homeruns and runs scored, and leads in several other offensive categories.
We're good.
