Gladstone: Jewish ballplayers not receiving pensions from MLB

From SABR member Doug Gladstone at Seamheads.com on November 18, 2012:

Like a lot of Jews, I’m of the opinion that you can’t have justice for yourself unless other people have justice as well. As you may know, my book, A Bitter Cup of Coffee, tells the true story of why nearly 900 retired ballplayers, all of whom played between 1947 and 1979, don’t have pensions.

It’s my opinion that we should all have a little healthy respect for those who came before us. For me, this tradition of helping others attain justice is best expressed in Zechariah 8:16 — the world stands on three things: on truth, on justice and on peace. Execute truth, justice and peace within your gates and, when truth is achieved, justice is done.

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For your information, on April 21, 2011, because of all the publicity that I generated, MLB and the players union announced with much fanfare that they would be awarding these men up to $10,000 over the next five years as compensation for their service. Unfortunately, these payments don’t include health insurance, nor do they permit the player to pass his monies onto a loved one, spouse or child in the event of his death. And given that MLB is a $8 billion industry, most of the players believe that they have been thrown the equivalent of a bone. It was appeasement at its most obvious.

Read the full article here: http://seamheads.com/2012/11/18/oy-vey-members-of-the-tribe-dont-receive-pensions-and-health-insurance-from-mlb/



Originally published: November 18, 2012. Last Updated: November 18, 2012.