{"id":31832,"date":"2017-09-20T15:22:08","date_gmt":"2017-09-20T19:22:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/?p=31832"},"modified":"2017-09-20T15:22:08","modified_gmt":"2017-09-20T19:22:08","slug":"tony-clarks-legacy-could-be-significant-if","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/2017\/09\/20\/tony-clarks-legacy-could-be-significant-if\/","title":{"rendered":"Tony Clark’s Legacy Could Be Significant If….."},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Bob Sadowski was a pitcher for the Milwaukee Braves and Boston Red Sox in the 1960s. In a career that spanned 115 games, 54 of which he started, Sadowski won 20 games, collected eight saves and had a 3.87 Earned Run Average\u00a0over 439 and two-third innings. Sadowski, who resides in Sharpsburg, Georgia, turned\u00a079 earlier\u00a0this year.\u00a0 He recalls the time a fan from Evanston, Illinois wrote him requesting an autograph for his son. The man,\u00a0adds Sadowski, even included a $10 check.<\/p>\n

“I looked this fellow up in the phone book and called the guy and he couldn\u2019t believe it,\u201d he says, proudly. \u201cHe said, \u2018Mister Sadowski, what an honor.\u2019 And I said, Mister, I\u2019m the one who should be honored that you thought so much of me to want my autograph for your boy. That\u2019s payment enough for me. And he says, \u2018But I already sent you a check.\u2019 And I told him, I already sent it back.\u201d<\/p>\n

Baseball was simpler back then.\u00a0Bob Sadowski remembers when baseball was a game. Baseball is a business now.<\/p>\n

These days, promoters book retired players at card shows all the time. Just go to Cooperstown, New York\u00a0during the annual\u00a0Hall of Fame induction ceremonies. You’ll find the greats of the game hawking their signatures on Main Street for cash. And in today’s world, Sadowski does not receive a pension from having played Major League Baseball (MLB). For the most part, baseball players nowadays are set for life. Vested retirees are able to earn as much as $210,000; even\u00a0the minimum pension for someone who played after 1980 is a reported $34,000.<\/p>\n

Except\u00a0Sadowski played prior to 1980.\u00a0Retired players\u00a0like him only get $625 for every quarter of service credit of 43 game days\u00a0they accrued, up to 16 quarters or $10,000. The first time he received a payment six year ago,\u00a0Sadowski used it to purchase an air conditioner. Things must be going pretty bad for you if you don’t have an air conditioner in Georgia. Unlike a real pension, the non-qualified retirement benefit the pre-1980 retirees receive cannot be passed on\u00a0to any of the players’ spouses, loved ones or designated beneficiaries;\u00a0when the man dies, the payment dies with him.<\/p>\n

Since they are not vested, these men are also not eligible to buy into the league’s generous health insurance plan, either. Sadowski\u00a0and some 500 other retirees without MLB pensions are in this position because, during the 1980 Memorial Day Weekend, a threatened players strike was averted when the late Ray Grebey, the negotiator for the league, made the following offer to the late Marvin Miller and Don Fehr of the Major League Baseball Players\u2019 Association (MLBPA) — going forward, every player would automatically qualify for a pension after 43 game days of service, and he’d qualify for health coverage after only one game day.<\/p>\n

The problem for all the pre-1980 players was the proposal was never made retroactive. However, Ronald Dean, an employment benefits attorney who has argued cases before the State Supreme Appellate Court in California, is quoted as saying that “under ERISA it is perfectly permissible to make an amendment retroactive even if it then vests those who were previously unvested.” Even MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred concedes it can be done, but only in collective bargaining.<\/p>\n

To date, the MLBPA has been loathe to divvy up anymore of the collective pie. Even though\u00a0Forbes\u00a0recently reported that the current players\u2019 pension and welfare fund is valued at $2.7 billion,<\/a>\u00a0<\/em>MLBPA Executive Director Tony Clark —\u00a0the first former player to ever hold that position, by the way —\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0has never commented about these non-vested retirees, many of whom are filing for bankruptcy at advanced ages, having banks foreclose on their homes and are so sickly and poor that they cannot afford adequate health care coverage.<\/p>\n

Clark is a widely respected, erudite figure. So it\u2019s a head scratcher why he doesn\u2019t want to go to bat for these men. When he received the coveted Jackie Robinson Lifetime Achievement Award from the Negro Leagues Museum in Kansas City last June, Clark, the former Detroit Tigers All-Star first baseman, referenced a quote from the late\u00a0Muhammad Ali. \u201cSuccess is what you achieve,\u201d said Clark. \u201cYour significance is what you leave.\u201d<\/p>\n

I hope Mr. Clark believes what he says. ‘Cause if he actually does something about this situation, he really would be leaving Bob Sadowski something of great significance. And that would be a\u00a0nice achievement on his part.<\/p>\n

Douglas J. Gladstone is the author of two books and multiple newspaper, magazine and webzine stories.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Bob Sadowski was a pitcher for the Milwaukee Braves and Boston Red Sox in the 1960s. In a career that spanned 115 games, 54 of which he started, Sadowski won 20 games, collected eight saves and had a 3.87 Earned Run Average\u00a0over 439 and two-third innings. Sadowski, who resides in Sharpsburg, Georgia, turned\u00a079 earlier\u00a0this year.\u00a0 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":752,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31832","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t