Guess What? That Gap-Toothed MLB Commish Is Back Again To Remind You That He’s The Worst
Talk of revenue losses throughout the sport has been prominent since the outset of the Covid-19 pandemic, but commissioner Rob Manfred put some more concrete numbers on the concept this week. In an interview with Barry M. Bloom for Sportico, Manfred claimed that the league’s 30 teams have amassed a collective $8.3 billion in debt and will post anywhere from $2.8 to $3.0 billion in combined operational losses.
via MLB Trade Rumors
Step aside, Gary. You’ve been dethroned, Roger. Adam Silver, what are you even doing here? You don’t even belong in this conversation. That gap-toothed MLB commissioner just proved – once again this year – why he’s the worst commissioner in sports.
This is so wildly tone deaf. Rob’s playing the “woe is me” card by citing billions of dollars in losses this year, while literally hundreds, if not thousands, of team employees, stadium employees, and just overall people who feed on Major League Baseball have lost their jobs this year and are out of work. Are those billionaire owners now forced to shop at Aldi’s?
You lost billions? Let me get you a tissue, or better yet, a $100 bill to wipe your tears away.
Manfred’s comments come at a time when many clubs throughout the league have made sweeping layoffs to both business-side and baseball operations employees. The Athletic’s Alex Coffey reported last week that the A’s, for instance, are preparing to lay off upwards of 150 employees who were furloughed throughout much of the 2020 season. They’re far from the only club making such broad-ranging cuts, although Oakland certainly figures to be on the more extreme end of the spectrum.
And not only is this claim painfully tone deaf, it’s also poorly timed. What kind of monster would announce this on the eve of a Game 6 (and potentially a Game 7) of the championship for their sport? Baseball is in the midst of a World Series high right now with the way Game 4 ended and the way this series has played out. They’re getting so much positive run nationally. Both the Dodgers and (probably more so) the Rays are fun as hell to watch, and they’ve delivered one of the more memorable World Series in recent years.
As of right now, baseball has either A.) a team that has waited 32 years to hoist that piece of metal (as you called it earlier this year) with your name on it (The Commissioner’s Trophy), or B.) a team that has NEVER won a title on the verge of winning for the first time. And you decide to rip headlines away from that immeasurable feat by continuing to carry the water for the billionaire owners who are going to be just fine financially, no matter how long this global pandemic lasts.
Imagine on the eve of a Browns-Lions Super Bowl Roger Goodell announcing that the league suffered millions of dollars in revenue loss. You probably can’t imagine that. Not just Roger Goodell creating bad press on the eve of the biggest night of his sport, but also the whole Browns-Lions Super Bowl thing. Lol.
But here’s where that moldy, wet sock Rob Manfred with his MAD magazine smile comes to ruin everyone’s day. Part of me wonders if Rob Manfred isn’t just Rachel Dracht in drag and this is some long-form Debbie Downer skit for SNL.
Everyone – including people outside of your fake sports bubble – has lost money this year, Bobert. You don’t have to announce it. It’s a damn global pandemic.
Speaking of pandemics, that’s exactly what you are to the game of baseball. Have you done anything right since taking office? It started nonchalantly by trying to change the game to cater the sport to people who probably won’t watch the sport anyway. All the while, making your already diehard baseball fans angry. Guess what, Bobert? If the average length of musicals is shortened by 10 minutes, that’s not going to get me to start watching musicals. So why are you trying to alter the sport for people who won’t watch anyway?
Second, the Astros scandal. Man, how much time do you have? I could spend all day on this one – which would probably be longer than Manfred spent on it.
Not only did Manfred fail to punish the proper people behind the biggest cheating scandal in American sports, but he even went so far as to defend them by all means necessary. What a freaking buffoon. And just know, I do not bust out the b-word lightly. Hashtag free Joe Kelly.
And then came the summer. When we should’ve and could’ve had baseball before literally every major sport returned, they instead spent that time to argue of dollars and cents. Do I put this onus on the players as MLB tried to publicly spin it? No more than 10%, if even that. It was Manfred and the owners who made this feud public, trying to win the P.R. battle, but it backfired mightily. They wanted more revenue than they initially agreed to when baseball went on hiatus. There’s no question we could’ve played 100 if not 162 this year, but Bobert had to defend his billionaire puppet masters. I get it. Pinocchio would’ve done the same for Gepetto.
It was the worst public MLB feud since the 1994 strike, which nearly killed the sport. And, for a few years, actually did. But don’t be surprised to see a similar work stoppage happen under Manfred’s watch. Manfred works for the owners, and he makes no hesitation in letting that be known. However, Adam Silver also works for the owners, but he understands the players come first – since they, you know, make up the sport. That’s a big reason why he’s universally praised for his work as commissioner. He’s not perfect, by any means. But compared to dodo birds like Rob Manfred, he’s immaculate.
Look, I’m not one of those people who demands for people in sports to be fired. Mainly because I wouldn’t want people to ever demand for me to be fired. However, to use as blunt of an overly-used baseball cliché as possible, this is now strike three for Bobert. Unless he plans on altering the rules to four strikes, which I wouldn’t put past him, this means he should be out.
P.S. – Since this is America, here’s a proper use of capitalism. Buy a shirt to get behind the movement. Click here or on the image below.
