DAILY DIRT: We’ve come a long way since that Ty Cobb contract milestone

I wonder who will be the first MLB player to make $100 million in a season? We all know it’s coming, probably sooner than later … Welcome to today’s three thoughts that make up Vol. 832 of The Daily Dirt.

1. It’s no secret how salaries for pro sports stars have continued to escalate, with no apparent end in sight.

I’m pretty sure there was not one human being who did not raise at least one eyebrow when Shohei Ohtani signed that other-worldly contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers in early December. But how did we get where we are, as far as today’s athletic paychecks are concerned?

Baseball has always been the leader in megadeals, so with that in mind here’s a trip through time when it comes to one ka-ching milestone after another:

• The first $10,000 annual MLB contract: Ty Cobb, 1913.
• The first $25,000 annual MLB contract: Ty Cobb, 1921.
• The first $50,000 annual MLB contract: Babe Ruth, 1922.
• The first $100,000 annual MLB contract: Joe DiMaggio, 1949.
• The first $250,000 annual MLB contract: Richie Allen, 1972.
• The first $500,000 annual MLB contract: Mike Schmidt, 1977.
• The first $1M annual MLB contract: Nolan Ryan, 1980.
• The first $5M annual MLB contract: Bobby Bonilla, 1992.
• The first $10M annual MLB contract: Albert Belle, 1997.
• The first $20M annual MLB contract: Alex Rodriguez, 2001.
• The first $30M annual MLB contract: Alex Rodriguez, 2009.
• (and then, we just jumped past the $40M, $50M and $60M marks …)
• The first $70M annual MLB contract: Shohei Ohtani, 2023.

Some of the aforementioned contract data was supplied by by the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR).

2. I found the following words of wisdom on a site entitled “Dad Jokes”:

“Before the crowbar was invented, crows simply drank at home.”

Thank you, thank you very much. I’ll show myself out.

3. Twenty-four years ago, we were just a week into the 1980s.

These were the top 10 songs we were listening to:

• 1. “Please Don’t Go,” by KC and the Sunshine Band: My favorite from this group, but considering all of its other releases sounded exactly the same that’s not necessarily a major compliment.
• 2. “Escape (The Pina Colada Song),” by Rupert Holmes: At the time, I thought Rupert Holmes would be a superstar. Missed that prediction.
• 3. “Rock With You” by Michael Jackson: Michael. Jackson. Smooth.
• 4. “Send One Your Love,” by Stevie Wonder: I don’t think I’ve ever heard this song …
• 5. “Do That To Me One More Time,” by the Captain and Tennille: One of their finer efforts.
• 6. “Babe,” by Styx: Another annoying song by Styx. Ugh.
• 7. “Still,” by the Commodores: This was the point in time when every Commodores song sounded just like the pone that preceded it.
• 8. “Coward of the County,” by Kenny Rogers: Arguably the worst song Kenny ever released.
• 9. “Ladies Night,” by Kool and the Gang: Don’t you just like to say “Kool and the Gang?”
• 10. “We Don’t Talk Anymore,” by Cliff Richard: Cliff was a huge item in Great Britain, but never became a star in the states.

Steve Thought O’ The Day – I’ll be honest, I’m still chuckling about the crowbar joke.

Steve Eighinger writes daily for Muddy River News. Kenny Rogers had no bad songs.