Most Paid Pastime

Jun+9%2C+2017%3B+Atlanta%2C+GA%2C+USA%3B+View+of+an+official+baseball+on+the+infield+before+the+Atlanta+Braves+game+against+the+New+York+Mets+at+SunTrust+Park.+Mandatory+Credit%3A+Jason+Getz-USA+TODAY+Sports

Jason Getz-USA TODAY Sports

Jun 9, 2017; Atlanta, GA, USA; View of an official baseball on the infield before the Atlanta Braves game against the New York Mets at SunTrust Park. Mandatory Credit: Jason Getz-USA TODAY Sports

Baseball, an American past time, 3 million kids play baseball in America at the moment. Now I bring that up because just recently Mike Trout, an outfielder for the Los Angeles Angels just received a $430 million deal over 12 years.
Baseball free agency started in 1978 and at that point the highest paid player was Pete Rose who earned $3.2 million over 4 years. Then about 20 years later Kevin Brown became the first hundred million dollar baseball player. He would earn 100.5 million in a span of 7 years.
Then Alex Rodriguez became the first to make over 200 million. He made $252 million in 10 years with the Seattle Mariners than in 2008 he broke that record with $275 million over 10 years with the New York Yankees.
This contract though does not make Mike Trout the richest athlete, many athletes outshine him. Floyd Mayweather is a billionaire, Lionel Messi is the second richest athlete and Cristiano Ronaldo is the third richest athlete.
Many people have mixed feelings about this because some say why should anyone earn that much money. Others believe that he’s earned that money for being the best baseball player in the MLB.
“Do I believe he earned it? Yes I do, he is a great baseball player and he’s a great guy who has a good character,” said Mr. Beyer, a Heritage High School teacher.
Being a good guy doesn’t mean he is worth that much money, “That’s so much money I don’t think he or any other person is worth that much money to just play a sport, I know in our society we hold athletes to such a high standard but he isn’t worth that much,” Marcus Money(11).
The question seems to be whether if our society needs to change how we see athletes because these guys may not need all this money.
“What is there to do with all that money like you are set for the rest of your life, his retirement is going to be amazing,” Hayden Greene(11).
You can spend a million a day for a year and still have 65 million left, that insane! Hopefully Mike Trout will use what’s left to support charities or help out people in other countries or build up his own charity.