Chapter Twenty-Three DODGER BLUE [ to the tune "Deportee" by Woody Guthrie & Martin Hoffman ]       The chalk lines are faded, the bleachers are empty       The parking lot's vacant at the ravine stadium       The fans have all taken up bad-mitten and checkers       On a hot summer evening there's nothin' else left for fun       The owners' and players' greed knows no boundaries       They've taken the fans on a phony hype ride       Though they both earn enough money to buy a jet airplane       'Till they have more than God, they won't be satisfied       Now, is this the best way to run America's pastime?       Is this fair to the fans who are loyal and true?       Like the late Billy Martin and Tommy Lasorda       There's no more real Yankees, no one bleeds Dodger Blue       Goodbye to Ty Cobb, Joe DiMaggio and Babe Ruth       Audios Lou Gehrig and true heroes for our youth       You won't see the great Clemente up on the big sports screen       The owners and players all want. . . more money       Now, us fans in the bleachers all want a solution       To stop all your whining and complaining on earth       Let's forget about salaries and pay by statistics       For hits, runs and outs, you'll be paid what you're worth       If you hit sixty homers, you'll get you're few million       But if you pitch more balls than strikes you'd better run       Down to apply at the nearest Del Taco       We're tired of big babies who ruin baseball's fun       Let's return our national pastime back to the fans       Give big bucks to the players only when they come through       And like the late Billy Martin and Tommy Lasorda       We'll cheer for real Yankees and bleed Dodger Blue       Goodbye to Ted Williams, Stan Musial and Cy Young       Adios Mickey Mantle, Willie Mays and Hank Aaron       You won't see Charlie Hustle up on the big sports screen       The owners and players all want. . . more money       The chalk lines are redrawn, the bleachers repainted       The big screen scoreboard is re-hooked to the juice       The parking lot's filled with limos and Mercedes       The owners and players have a temporary truce       Now, we want real heroes our children can look up to       We want fair owners who treat loyal fans right       People who love baseball and the values we stand for       With all of their heart and their soul and their might       If you don't care what happens to our time-honored pastime       Then get the hell out of the way of those of us who do       Like the late Billy Martin and Tommy Lasorda       We want to cheer for real Yankees and bleed Dodger Blue       Goodbye to Vin Scully, Branch Rickey and Bill Veeck       Adios Harry Carey and real baseball, but what the heck?       We won't see Jackie Robinson slide on the big sports screen       The owners and players all want. . . more money       Yeah, the owners and players all want. . . more money. . .       Are there any more real Yankees?       Does anyone bleed Dodger Blue? *            Oh, somewhere in this favored land, the sun is shining bright            The band is playing somewhere and somewhere hearts are light            And somewhere men are laughing and somewhere children shout            But there's no joy in America . . . we the people have struck out                  --with apologies to Ernest Lawrence Thayer, author                             of the famous American poem, Casey At The Bat The Roberto Clemente Foundation ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease) Association DEDICATED TO:  Jackie Robinson, Lou Gehrig, Roberto Clemente, Roy Campanella and Hank Aaron, heroes that go way beyond their particular sport of profession. *FootNote:  Given modern technology, it would be relatively simple to reward our athletic professionals as modern Golf and Tennis does; i.e., by what they produce.  Unlike traditional blue collar labor negatives when resorting to 'piece-work', where greedy company owners historically develop the bad habit of paying less and less for the same amount produced, modern American professional athletes have clearly demonstrated, because of their unique abilities and marketing potential, that they carry enough clout to offset such capitalist avarice at this level---if they must eventually strike, may they at least strike for reasonable raises in reward based on the merit of what is produced.  Rather than call for elimination of player unions, the call is for them to consider redirecting their energy toward the common good of American professional sports.  Let them bargain and force the hands of greedy ownership based on what union members actually provide in terms of statistical (and theoretically, monetary) value to the franchise organization.  If something drastic is not done soon, modern professional sports as we know them are likely to disappear; even now, many families can no longer afford to take their children to see their favorite professional team and the price of tickets is bound to continue to spiral out of control as long as the current system of unrealistic remuneration remains in place.             'Click Here' To Purchase This Book 'Click Here to eMail the Author Copyright © August 20th, 2003 by Richard Aberdeen. No part of this material may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including printing, photocopying, recording or by any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher and signed by the author.  Inquiries: Freedom Tracks Records or requested via eMail.  Essays entitled Revolution and Revolution - Side B are open copyright and may be reproduced as often as one likes.