The Commodification Of Baseball Players - 1839 Words

The Commodification of Baseball Players English Culminating Clayton Lyons Over the years the great game of baseball has developed and evolved into much more than just â€Å"America’s Favourite Past Time†. It is now a globalized, highly profit-motivated industry that seems to have a greater interest in mass-producing players into their commodity chain. In today’s game there is a wide variety of ethnicities in the Major Leagues, ranging from the Dominican Republic and Cuba all the way to China, Korea and Japan. Now, I am one of the many who believe it is not a bad thing to have this wide range of nationalities but the difficult journeys and hardships that many of the international players have had to face on their ‘road to the show’ can be considered unfair when compared to the average North American ball player. Even though the conditions for the majority of Major League players are very luxurious, they are all treated as commodities in some ways by the millionaire owners, baseball executives and scouts. Prosp ects are graded on a five tool system and only the players who fit all five categories are given the generous signing bonuses. If you do not have the skills or if the scouts do not believe you will ever achieve those skills you are considered to be inferior or substandard. That is what the book Moneyball is about, it describes the process that Billy Beane, the GM of the low-budgeted Oakland A’s had to use to find value in the players that were ‘tossed aside’ and undervalued.Show MoreRelatedEssay on Marketing of the Sport Celebrity2080 Words   |  9 Pagesbe a celebrity. The athlete must have a unique personality, something bold and different that makes them shine from the rest. There are different facets of marketable celebrities such as the strong fierce athlete, the hero, and the controversial player. Examples of controversial athletes are Mike Tyson, Charles Barkley, Dennis Rodman and Alex Higgins. The hero athlete is someone like Tiger Woods or Michael J ordan. And lastly the strong and fierce competitor like Allen Iverson or Muhammad Ali,Read MoreStudy Guide9234 Words   |  37 Pagesthe basic social needs. The initial goal of playing sports is to have fun and win. It can even be a profession. But the institution of sports does more than that. It can be an important part of shaping someone’s identity. For example, boys who play baseball may learn that it is important to be part of a team. They may also learn that it is bad to â€Å"run like a girl.† Fans of some sports teams can also find an identity, such as being loyal to the team that always loses. 4. A sociologist studies the way