Fehr Not! For He Did His Job Well!

I have to stick up for "fear" for one reason tonight. And it's because you pronounce the last name of now former Major League Players Union director Don Fehr the same way. And it was the "fear" that "Fehr" put into Major League Owners that convinced me--and still convinces me--that he has kept baseball in line with what used to be known as "The American Way".

And, that American Way is capitalism, and it was Fehr's 26-year leadership of the players' union that kept it from caving in on one of the most socialistic and un-American economic tools around: the salary cap. If one has even a rudimentary understanding of economics, one knows this to be true. Fehr understood that players may be RICH, but owners are WEALTHY, and that the owners basically want a salary cap to "have the players save the owners from the owners". Now, for those of you who choose to be stupid and say to yourself, "But those players earn way too much for playing a kids' game!", get a clue and take an economics class. Players have a limited window and opportunity to earn their millions. The owners basically use their franchises as play money, and if their franchises weren't generally profitable, they'd sell 'em. And, Don Fehr understood this, and did his job by being as much as a hard-line negotiator as the fat-cat owners, and never blinked. Sure, he could come across as smarmy and arrogant, but so could the owners, who proved to be liars after the collusion ruling concerning the 1985-87 off-seasons--one that cost MLB $280 million.

As you can tell, I'm firmly in the players' corner when it comes to salaries, and under Fehr's watch, big league salary averages went from $369,000 to nearly $3 million. And don't try to tell me that the owners bled cash during those times, because if they had, they wouldn't have paid the players that kind of money--because that's how the many of the owners made their own money--yeah, a think called "free market capitalism"--something they want to eliminate when it comes to their franchises. Dopes.

Now, that's not to say I'm a 100-percent "Fehr Factor Fan". I'm not. Part of his legacy will be the "steroids era", and he was staunchly opposed to drug testing and anti-doping policies--and with all the steroids and HGH revelations over the past couple of years, that's going to go down as a black mark. But to be fair, don't think for a second the owners didn't know about doping. They did, and they turned a blind eye. Why? Simple. The game was making money, and why get in the way of a profitable venture--again, a thing called "free market capitalism" (unless the minions are making too much money, and then it's time to junk free market capitalism and slap 'em with a salary cap).

Also on Fehr's watch? Three work stoppages, including the 7-and-a-half month players strike that cost fans the 1994 World Series--something that still haunts the game to this day. But hey, when the owners tried to unilaterally institute a salary cap tied to revenue sharing with no benefit to the players? I'd have stood my ground too--especially when it came less than a decade after the aforementioned $280 million collusion ruling. He had no reason to trust the owners, who again, had a history of back-handedness and lying.

Yes, Don Fehr had his share of detractors. I suppose detractors go with the territory. Longtime baseball writer Hal Bodley wrote that he and Fehr had some bitter battles, but that he also has enormous respect for Fehr, and also calls him one of the most intelligent, articulate men he's ever known. Such men usually are able to put their detractors and supporters in the same kind of place when it comes down to it: other people's opinions.

And, the opinions on Fehr will be mixed. But when it comes to the economics of the game, my opinion will be favorable. He stood up to the fat-cat owners and never blinked.