Exchange of the Day (Bill Watterson, on Baseball Salaries)

Calvin (after swinging his bat and missing several times): “Can you make a living playing silly games?”
Calvin’s Father: “Actually, you can be among the most overpaid people on the planet.”—Bill Watterson, “Calvin and Hobbes,” 1993

As of yesterday, if you are on a professional team in New York City, you can be among the most overpaid people in the planet and play in the priciest stadiums erected on the planet. Don’t ask me how the Yankees and Mets are going to make all this money back. And please don’t ask what they’re going to do if all those overpaid people don’t even make it to the playoffs again, never mind win the World Series.

And yet…Like most other fans, I’m going to be following the scores and pennant races this season, see how the players stack up against the all-time greats, and, when I get a chance, still catch a glimpse of “The Summer Game” on TV. Just don’t ask me to buy one of the Steinbrenners’ $2,500 seats. (Didn’t they pay attention to the fate of the Mel Brooks musical Young Frankenstein, whose $450 seats scared away so many potential fans that they didn’t come out even after the prices were reduced?)