I can't believe this. Check out the story below, about Ruben Rivera stealing a bat and glove from Derek Jeter's locker and selling them to a memorabilia collector for $2500 (after signing a $1 million contract with the Yanks). Is this guy NUTS?

http://www.sportingnews.com/baseball/artic...312/389598.html

This is just so ridiculous. And the most sickening part of the story is that the Yankees had to pay him $200,000! If you or I were caught stealing from a coworker, we'd be fired, plain and simple. And this moron was resigned by the Yanks at the request of his cousin Mariano Rivera.

Of all the commandments to break in the clubhouse, stealing is pretty bad. Well I guess murder would rank higher, along with coveting a teammate's wife, but that's besides the point.

Once trust is broken, there is really no way to mend the situation.

Lesson to all of us: Don't steal.

I think the 200K buyout was simply so that the issue would go away quickly, rather than linger in an arbitration dispute and be a distraction to the whole team. Personally, I can't believe he stole Jeter's mitt rather than his jock. On that note, Roger Clemens in today's Times talks about how if he's even going to throw away used underwear he cuts his name or number out of the waistband first.

[quote]Originally posted by Munson Man:
I think the 200K buyout was simply so that the issue would go away quickly, rather than linger in an arbitration dispute and be a distraction to the whole team.

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I know why they did it. The point is that they shouldn't have had to pay him a freakin' dime.

Well as David Letterman joked last night, "Now the Yankees are calling up Winona Ryder from the minors".

The thing I like is Strawberry, who has done far worse for far longer, is still going to end up being some sort of batting coach for the Yanks after he gets out of jail--again. In the meantime the $2,500 dumbass is going to be home watching Celebrity Jeopardy with the rest of us.

Z

[quote]Originally posted by Munson Man:
On that note, Roger Clemens in today's Times talks about how if he's even going to throw away used underwear he cuts his name or number out of the waistband first.

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He writes his name/number on his waistband?

MMMM....

Rivera was set to make $1 million f*cking dollars, so he throws it away for a quick $2,500 and the thrill of theft and deception? I mean, he could have gotten Jeter to GIVE him crap as a teammate if he'd befriended him...just shockingly idiotic! Now the moron is in Panama saying that "it wasn't like I murdered someone." Let's hope that's not next on the agenda....

[quote]Originally posted by Zman:
The thing I like is Strawberry, who has done far worse for far longer, is still going to end up being some sort of batting coach for the Yanks after he gets out of jail--again.

Z

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I was avoiding bringing up the whole Strawberry thing...and then he got arrested again for violating his probation. Just how many chances is this guy going to get? None of us would be able to get away with stealing...let alone the many chances Strawberry has gotten...and keep our jobs...nay, be ASSURED of a job (which Steinbrenner has said publicly).

I'll say one thing, there is sometimes a tremendous amount of loyalty that goes with those Yankee pinstripes.

[ March 15, 2002: Message edited by: raysnjays ]

[quote]Originally posted by raysnjays:


None of us would be able to get away with stealing...let alone the many chances Strawberry has gotten...and keep our jobs...nay, be ASSURED of a job (which Steinbrenner has said publicly).
[ March 15, 2002: Message edited by: raysnjays ]

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Maybe that's why Strawberry falls off the wagon. He knows abit the long arm of the law, nothing serioiusly bad will happen to him. Strawberry knows in the back of his mind, he has a net to catch him, everytime. Steinbrenner could actually setting Strawberry up for continued abuse. As long as Strawberry is told, that no matter what happens, he will always have a job, then, what's has he lost. Most if not all addicts, usually have to loose it all, family, money, position, and job...they have to hit rock bottom before they start the road back to recovery.

You're right, ..if it was you or me, we'd have permanant residency on skid row by now.

It's a sad situation.

[ March 15, 2002: Message edited by: satxbuddy1 ]

Never though of George Steinbrenner as an enabler before. Excellent point.

Prediction: If he can play he'll back somewhere. There's no right or wrong in professional baseball. Just win or lose.

OK, class. Its time for our math lesson.
Today we'll do problem solving;
If Mr. Ball Player has been promised one million dollars, but takes only $200,000 and a glove, what is the realized value of the glove?
The answer is $800,000.

Assuming Rivera did not collect $800,000 for that glove, I'd say he received a poor return on his investment.

Articles in the Sunday papers talked about this case and the recent incident where a Saints player stole cash from another player's locker. Some of the sports psychologist's theories were interesting, including one theory that states that the championing of on-field invincibility is risky when the player does not have the emotional maturity to "know he has to act differently off-field".

However, I'd throw out another, maybe more simplistic rationale. Say a player has a $1.0M contract - it's being paid in x number of payments. The check goes to his manager's (or agent's) firm. After taxes and the cuts taken by the managers/agents, the monthly stipend can be dimished. Then say there are payments for those extravagances purchased when the first contract was signed - the tricked-out Escalade, the house for Mom, all that .....

A player could be painfully non-liquid at times, right? And along comes this guy who will give him lots of cold cash (no taxes or cuts to be deducted, no child support, etc) for something seemingly easy to obtain and easily transported.... and not something REALLY BAD like drugs or anything.....

Again I'm certainly NOT condoning such behavior (that is, unless it's a Chargers player who'll get me #9's j######) but I could see the above scenario happening. In a world where a 17-year old high school player with a full-ride scholarship in his pocket in Hampton VA, goes out and gets himself killed while robbing a liquor store, anything's possible, unfortunately .....