# Please Help Major League Baseball **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [August 29, 2002, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-major-league-baseball/126188 "2002-08-29T23:03:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![barbitu8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/839c29/32.png) [@barbitu8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/barbitu8)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2002, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-major-league-baseball/126188/1 "2002-08-29T23:03:20Z")
Since September 11, 2001, Americans have come together as never before in our generation. We have banded together to overcome tremendous adversity. We have weathered direct attacks on our own soil, wars overseas, corporate scandal, layoffs, unemployment, stock price plunges, droughts, fires, and a myriad of economic and physical disasters both great and small. But now, we must come together once again to overcome our greatest challenge yet. Hundreds of Major League Baseball players in our very own nation are living at, just below, or in most cases far above the seven-figure salary level. And as if that weren’t bad enough they could be deprived of their life giving pay for several months, possibly longer, as a result of the upcoming strike situation. But you can help! For only $20,835 a month, about $694.50 a day (that’s less than the cost of a large screen projection TV) you can help a MLB player remain economically viable during his time of need. This contribution by no means solves the problem as it barely covers the annual minimum salary, but it’s a start, and every little bit will help! Although $700 may not seem like a lot of money to you, to a baseball player it could mean the difference between spending the strike golfing in Florida or on a Mediterranean cruise. For you, seven hundred dollars is nothing more than a month’s rent, half a mortgage payment, two unemployment checks, or a month of medical insurance with COBRA, but to a baseball player, $700 will partially replace his daily salary. Your commitment of less than $700 a day will enable a player to buy that home entertainment center, trade in the year-old Lexus for a new Ferrari, or enjoy a weekend in Rio. HOW WILL I KNOW I’M HELPING? Each month, you will receive a complete financial report on the player you sponsor. Detailed information about his stocks, bonds, 401(k), real estate, and other investment holdings will be mailed to your home. Plus, upon signing up for this program, you will receive an unsigned photo of the player lounging during the strike on a beach somewhere in the Caribbean (for a signed photo, please include an additional $150). Put the photo on your refrigerator to remind you of other peoples’ suffering. HOW WILL HE KNOW I’M HELPING? Your MLB player will be told that he has a SPECIAL FRIEND who just wants to help in a time of need. Although the player won’t know your name, he will be able to make collect calls to your home via a special operator in case additional funds are needed for unforeseen expenses. YES, I WANT TO HELP! I would like to sponsor a striking MLB player. My preference is checked below: Infielder Outfielder Starting Pitcher Ace Pitcher Entire team (Please call our 900 number to ask for the cost of a specific team - $10 per minute) Alex Rodriguez (Higher cost: $60,000 per day) Please charge the account listed below $694.50 per day for the player for the duration of the strike. Please send me a picture of the player I have sponsored, along with an Alex Rodriguez 2001 Income Statement and my very own Donald Fehr MLB Players Union pin to wear proudly on my hat (include $80 for hat). Your Name: \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ Telephone Number: \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ Account Number: \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ Exp.Date:\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ MasterCard Visa American Express Discover Signature: \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ Alternate card (when the primary card exceeds its credit limit): Account Number: \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\__ **Exp.Date:** _ MasterCard Visa American Express Discover Signature: \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ Mail completed form to MLB Players Union or call 1-900-SCREW-THE-FANS now to enroll by phone ($10 per minute). Disclaimer: Sponsors are not permitted to contact the player they have sponsored, either in person or by other means including, but not limited to, telephone calls, letters, e-mail, or third parties. Contributions are not tax-deductible. You really have to pity these poor souls, earning an average of a paltry multi-million dollars a year with all their hard work. They have to work almost 7 months a year, and 3 or 4 hours a day! Granted that half that time they are sitting on the bench, the other half they have to stand out their somewhere in the dumb field and even, occasionally, field a ball or make a play. Well, of course the pitchers only work once or twice a week, but if they don’t do a good job, they’re out of there. ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2002, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-major-league-baseball/126188/2 "2002-08-29T23:05:19Z")
heh ---
**Author:** ![Hosayf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/2acd7d/32.png) [@Hosayf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hosayf)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2002, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-major-league-baseball/126188/3 "2002-08-29T23:23:18Z")
Umm… Haven’t I seen this before? ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2002, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-major-league-baseball/126188/4 "2002-08-29T23:41:01Z")
Not for nothing, but I think somebody else posted that exact thing a few days ago. However, I’d like to take this opportunity to publicly state to all my SDMB brethren and sistren, and any and all lurkers who may be dropping in, as Buddha is my witness … blahbidy blahbidy blah … something like that. … Not only do I not give two flaming rat turds if these dip-shits go on strike … I’m actively sacrificing live beings to the gods in hopes that they do go on strike. Buncha whining assholes. ---
**Author:** ![scout1222](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/34f0e0/32.png) [@scout1222](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scout1222)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2002, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-major-league-baseball/126188/5 "2002-08-29T23:53:18Z")
**Jack** , I’m kinda sorta with you. There is a very eeevil part of me that _wants_ them to go on strike. Maybe because I hope it will piss off fans, who will in turn take it out on MLB. I’m afraid it won’t work, though, and although people will be pissed, when it returns, all will be back to normal. ---
**Author:** ![Reeder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Reeder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeder)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2002, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-major-league-baseball/126188/6 "2002-08-30T02:50:06Z")
> [@](#): > > Umm… Haven’t I seen this before? [yep](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=132594) ---
**Author:** ![Wikkit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c0e974/32.png) [@Wikkit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wikkit)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2002, 6:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-major-league-baseball/126188/7 "2002-08-30T06:57:54Z")
How can you have more than 2000 posts and still not grasp attribution, or copyright, or the Search function? ---
**Author:** ![barbitu8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/839c29/32.png) [@barbitu8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/barbitu8)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2002, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-major-league-baseball/126188/8 "2002-08-30T13:25:25Z")
That was an email I received from a friend who did not attribute it to anyone, so it was in the public domain. I should have noted that it was an email, but the prior post didn’t either. I did a cursory search, but I should have done a more thorough one. Nonetheless, my last paragraph was not in the email and was not in the prior post. ---
**Author:** ![apotheosis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ba8739/32.png) [@apotheosis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/apotheosis)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2002, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-major-league-baseball/126188/9 "2002-08-30T13:41:34Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by barbitu8 \* > **That was an email I received from a friend who did not attribute it to anyone, so it was in the public domain.** And that, ladies and gentlemen, is the basis for my new file-sharing service; we e-mail it to YOU, and that makes it LEGAL. IPO to be announced soon. ---
**Author:** ![Enderw24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba9def/32.png) [@Enderw24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enderw24)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2002, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-major-league-baseball/126188/10 "2002-08-30T15:07:05Z")
One time my friend ran up to me with a container full of jewelry and said “hold this for awhile” before running off. I took it to a pawn shop to hawk. It’s ok, though, because he never mentioned anything about stealing them. ---
**Author:** ![barbitu8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/839c29/32.png) [@barbitu8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/barbitu8)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2002, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-major-league-baseball/126188/11 "2002-08-30T17:38:04Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Enderw24 \* > \*\*One time my friend ran up to me with a container full of jewelry and said “hold this for awhile” before running off. > I took it to a pawn shop to hawk. It’s ok, though, because he never mentioned anything about stealing them. \*\* You’re mixing squash and bananas. The written word can be “owned” in the sense of being copyrighted, but if the word or words are not copyrighted and are freely published, all “ownership” is lost. I assumed my friend thought of that email since he did not attribute it to anyone else, and since it obviously is being promulgated freely (see the prior thread), whoever thought of it did not copyright it, or if he did (doubtful) the copyright has been lost. However, tangible property is really owned by someone and that ownership cannot be lost except by alienation or abandonment. So quit bashing me about this. In the first place, the prior thread did not attribute it to anyone, yet noone is commenting about that. ---
**Author:** ![elf6c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c57346/32.png) [@elf6c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elf6c)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2002, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-major-league-baseball/126188/12 "2002-08-30T18:01:05Z")
A deal is in place- bad baseball joke threads go bye-bye now. Thank god. **Play Ball!** ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2002, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-major-league-baseball/126188/13 "2002-08-31T00:11:36Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by barbitu8 \* > \*\*So quit bashing me about this. In the first place, the prior thread did not attribute it to anyone, yet noone is commenting about that. \*\* Uh, yeah, but you did post it as if it were your own. Pretty fucking weak if you ask me. Haj ---
**Author:** ![barbitu8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/839c29/32.png) [@barbitu8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/barbitu8)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2002, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-major-league-baseball/126188/14 "2002-08-31T00:30:55Z")
If I told you the name of my sender, would that have enlightened you? And until I made my post you all assumed that the OP in the other thread was original. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2002, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-major-league-baseball/126188/15 "2002-08-31T01:10:45Z")
I never saw the other OP. I did get the same thing in an email from my sister though. IMO, you should have started off by saying “Hey. Check out this funny email that I received” or something to that effect. Haj ---
**Author:** ![barbitu8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/839c29/32.png) [@barbitu8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/barbitu8)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2002, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-major-league-baseball/126188/16 "2002-08-31T21:21:36Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by hajario \* > \*\*I never saw the other OP. I did get the same thing in an email from my sister though. IMO, you should have started off by saying “Hey. Check out this funny email that I received” or something to that effect. > > Haj \*\* You’re right. I was considering doing that, but decided not to. My mistake. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2002, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-major-league-baseball/126188/17 "2002-08-31T21:48:44Z")
Group hug. ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2002, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-major-league-baseball/126188/18 "2002-09-01T06:03:44Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by barbitu8 \* > **…since it obviously is being promulgated freely (see the prior thread), whoever thought of it did not copyright it, or if he did (doubtful) the copyright has been lost.** How do you know it’s not copyrighted? Having a copyright on a piece doesn’t give you any power to stop it from being flung around the net. How about that [“sunscreen”](http://www.snopes.com/quotes/vonnegut.htm) essay; the one that everyone thought was a commencement address given by Kurt Vonnegut? Someone named Mary Schmich wrote it in a column for the Chicago Tribune. (I’m assuming newpaper columns are copyrighted.) No matter how freely it was promulgated, it was still hers: not anyone else’s and not public domain. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2002, 6:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-major-league-baseball/126188/19 "2002-09-01T06:29:52Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by barbitu8 \* > \*\*So quit bashing me about this. In the first place, the prior thread did not attribute it to anyone, yet noone is commenting about that. \*\* But the other OP added this: > [@](#): > > This was in my in-box today. I don’t know whom to credit. ---
**Author:** ![happyheathen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5e925/32.png) [@happyheathen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/happyheathen)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2002, 6:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-major-league-baseball/126188/20 "2002-09-01T06:48:34Z")
would a lawyer care to comment on “common law copyright”? my impression is that it (legally) dies as soon as it is published