European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - November 23, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse Friday november 23,1990 the stars and stripes a a a Page 23commentarymillions for mediocrity in baseball by Howard Kleinberg in you were a Barber and you Cut hair poorly my expect your Boss to give you a fat pay Jaise would you More Likely you a get fired. If you Van accountant and did a Lousy Job with the numbers you expect a pay raise would you again of course not. If you were a politician and did your Job badly you expect Awell there Are exceptions to everything. T and another exception is the professional athlete. I done to know what our kids will come to expect from i their own on the Job performance in later life when they pick up the newspapers or see on to that professional athletes a like politicians a Are rewarded for being mediocre to bad. A Case in Point is the astonishing contract tendered last week to Tim Leary a Pitcher with the new York Yankees. Leary in the course of the last baseball season managed to lose 19 games while winning Only nine. Along with a Pitcher for the st. Louis team it was the most losses by a Pitcher in All of major league baseball. To save him the embarrassment of reaching the 20-loss shelf Leary steam chose not to Start him in any games after sept. 19, about two weeks before the season concluded. Unlike the Barber or the accountant Leary was i rewarded for his lacklustre efforts with a pay raise of such astronomical proportion As to be considered obscene. A recipient of $825,000 last season his new contract Calls for him to earn $1,475 million next sea son $1,675 million in 1992 and $1.9 million in 1993. On top of that the 32-year-old Pitcher will receive $1 million As a Bonus simply for signing. And on top of i that in moves comparable to the pitch of Steak knife i salesmen on to the Yankees threw in options for the 1994 and 1995 seasons and incentive clauses on performance in the first three years of the new contract. Leary a credentials for such remuneration Are that in addition to his humiliating record of last i season he has a lifetime major league record of 75 games lost to 54 games won. His lifetime earned run average is 4.11, which May be tolerable by today a standards but would get you sent to the minor leagues just a couple of decades ago. The Thunder you hear in the distance is the grumbling of great baseball pitchers like Warren Spahn and Bob Gibson Christy Mathewson and Grover Cleveland Alexander a and anybody who Ever worked hard and Well at any Job and had to endure the whim of the Boss when it came to pay raise time. I do not blame Leary for taking the Money i question the sanity of the new York Yankees for giving it. If they re flush with Money i know of a lot of homeless and aids riddled persons living within the Shadow of Yankee stadium who can use it. Actually the new Leary contract was one of two sad Kleinberg can to understand Why the Yankees rewarded 19-game loser Tim Leaty with an a a obscene $6 million. Messages sent the Public by professional sports last week. Leary a situation was one of performance the other has More serious implications. It involves the reinstatement of football player Dexter Manley banished for life by the National football league last year for multiple positive testing for drug use. Yes the clause in the banishment did say the Case would be reviewed after a year and it was. Most expected the ban would not go into a second year. It unlike the ban baseball imposed on some of the 1919 Chicago a Black sox a was Little More than a suspend. Sion. Its one thing to give a Guy a second Chance but a third and a fourth inexplicably and uniquely Pete Rose a baseball a Gambler income tax cheat a languishes in prison because what he did technically ran afoul of the Law. Had it not head probably be on the lecture circuit today or greeting customers at the in trance to a gambling Casino. That a the message to our children. Be outrageous be obscene be weak be immoral be mediocre a and see How the Bucks Roll in. From Rock music to what today passes for literature to the poorest on baseball a pitching Mounds to the Sorters in footballs locker rooms the message has come Forth performance dependability and responsibility no longer count. Comparably what should a constant Winner both on and off the Field such As Pitcher Dave Stewart be Worth and Why Are baseball players and other athletes a Many of them mediocre a making 10 times a year More than a person with a responsibility on his shoulders such As that of the president of the United states Cox news serv Letitia bullish Over bears 9-1 season by Joe Mooshil i Lake Forest 111. A whether Mike Ditka is loing the Best coaching Job of his career is debatable nut he is having More fun. Joo Ore an when he took Over a ragged Bear team in l�2and two years later had them in the playoffs. I maybe even More than in 1985, when the bears were it 1 the regular season and then swept through the layoffs to win the super bowl with a 46-10 Victory Over new England patriots. I Ditka is certainly having More fun than last year when pm bears fell to 6-10 after having won their division five recessive seasons. One reason for his Delight is because the bears were pen virtually no Chance to come Back from last years Paster. Lsan a Young bears Are 9-1 and a step away from punching their sixth divisional title in seven years. Iji.eni0yec Tiem a it a Ditka said of his years As head an of the bears. A but this is a real fun year with real n no you remember i said that at the begin-p8 of the season. Now do you come Back from a bad season those sthvloshfn8es a 6 we a in a a a a part 1� you get these Young Guys to play better to l a better attitude to believe in themselves How do stack up against and compete with the Best teams in the league those Are the real challenges in be had to respond Ditka credits his players for what has happened. A it still goes Down to the players a said Ditka. A i can to say enough about the respect i have for the David tates the John magnums the Ron coxes. Ron Cox is going to be a great football player. That Guy made a couple of big time plays that i Haven to seen too Many linebackers make. He destroyed the fullback in sundays 16-13 overtime Victory Over Denver and made the Stop for a 3-Yard Ditka was giving the reserves their due for having filled in capably. He also said a a we be had a lot of help from a lot of new a he talked of Roo de run Ning Back Johnny Bailey and punter Maury Buford whom he once fired and rehired. He spoke of Shaun Gayle playing Strong safety As Well As in be seen it played and of linebackers Mike he said of players Mike Ditka playing beyond expectations. A those Are the encouraging things you like to see. I think you know when you talk about Why its fun. Its fun because of them and seeing them having fun and enjoying themselves. That a what excites me. Good things Are happening to Ditka suppresses his excitement and temper these Days although it took a while for him to adjust since suffering a heart attack two years ago. He jokes and laughs about keeping under control. Asked Why he did no to have Butler attempt a 52-Yard Field goal Early in sundays game he says a a in a just too conservative. In a he had a slip of the Tongue last week and said a maybe we run too asked to explain he laughed and said a a that a it in a too try As he might he cannot hide his sentimental Side. He choked up when he talked about Becky Bell an 11-year-old cancer patient. A we talk about football players being Tough and courageous a he said. A she fought hard for five years. She Only weighed 50 pounds and fight Ditka had her attend the Atlanta game a week ago sunday. He and some of the players visited her last thursday. In his taped pregame television show he signed off with a a Chi Becky. Becky did no to see it. She died saturday. A this is one that touched me Quot he said. A she was incredible. She never griped. Shell be of
