DAILY DIRT: Bob Gibson made $85,000 in 1968; Yep, times have changed

At the height of his career, I seriously wonder what Gibson’s salary would be in today’s world. $40 million? Maybe $50 million? … Welcome to today’s three thoughts that make up Vol. 664 of The Daily Dirt.

1. One of my favorite Cardinals teams of all time was the 1968 National League Championship club that lost in seven games to the Detroit Tigers in the World Series.

How much has the game itself changed from those days?

Well, we could debate the designated hitter, use of the bullpen and proliferation of artificial turf from here to Opening Day 2024, but I thought it would be interesting simply to compare the salaries of the players.

Here’s what the key members of that memorable 1968 team made:

Orlando Cepeda    $80,000
Julian Javier        $45,000
Mike Shannon        $40,000
Dal Maxville        $37,500
Lou Brock        $70,000
Curt Flood        $72,500
Roger Maris        $75,000
Tim McCarver        $60,000
Bob Gibson        $85,000

Team payroll: a little over $800,000.

Here’s a look at what this year’s key contributors are making:

Nolan Arenado        $35,000,000

Paul Goldschmidt    $26,000,000

Wilson Contreras    $10,000,000

Paul DeJong            $9,166,668

Dylan Carlson        $742,400

Lars Nootbar            $732,400

Nolan Gorman        $726,950

Jordan Walker        $720,000

Miles Mikolas            $20,416,666

The team payroll in 2023: a little over $162,000,000. (All 2023 salary information supplied by spotrac.com)

2. The summer portion of the Great Plate Debate rolls along, with our medal standings from last week holding serve.

BE A BETH is in its second week atop the rankings:

Gold medal: BE A BETH. 

Silver medal: U LIED. 

Bronze medal: STINK. 

Some of the top entries from the past the week:

• VILENT 1
• SLOWE
• DER DER 7
• KCAR18
• HOW E 7

3. Here are some more goofy city and town names I stumble across over the past few days:

• Handsome Eddy, New York.
• Chicken, Alaska.
• Scratch Ankle, Alabama.
• Worms, Nebraska.
• Pie Town, New Mexico.
• Coward, South Carolina.
• Waterproof, Louisiana.
• Possumneck, Mississippi.
• Coupon, Pennsylvania.
• Big Bottom, Washington
• Spuds, Florida.
• Big Sag, Montana.

Steve Thought O’ The Day — At last report, Pie Town, N.M., was once known for a pie festival each September. The most recent figures indicate 118 people live in Pie Town. Apparently, it’s a small festival.

Steve Eighinger writes daily for Muddy River News. He likes pie. Do you like pie?