As Sporting News notes today, Manny Ramirez has just reached a deal with the Dodgers: $45 million for two years.
Now consider this: in Trenton, New Jersey, a different Manny – Manny Rivera, the firefighter – was fighting for his life a month ago after sustaining a critical injury while saving the life of a teenager:
http://www.nj.com/mercer/index.ssf/2009/02/firefighter_battles_lifethreat.html
Now, consider that the median salary of a firefighter with 20 years or more experience, in the U.S., is $62,888:
http://www.payscale.com/research/US/Job=Fire_Fighter/Salary
So $22.5 million for knocking a piece of cowhide around; $62,888 for saving lives and risking one’s own life doing so, on a regular basis. The latter amount is not even 0.5% of the former.
That stinks.