EVERY-THING SPORTS
Jermaine Every on women in sports: Times are changing
Jul 24, 2018, 8:01 am
Serena Williams has helped change the way women are viewed in sports. Clive Mason/Getty Images
Women are a critical part of life. Understatement of the millennium, I know. Without them, life as we know it doesn’t exist. Men can’t get pregnant, and we can’t pro-create with one another. Can’t live with ‘em, can’t live without ‘em.
However, in society, we have been slow to give them the respect they deserve. They were not given the right to vote nationally until 1920. To this day, women still fight for equal pay and fair treatment. The whole #MeToo Movement was sparked by a rash of sexual assault and abuse, starting with higher profile cases being brought to the public’s attention.
In the sports world, women have been marginalized as well. Little attention is paid to women’s athletics. Most of the time when men pay attention to them, it’s more for the eye candy aspect instead of an appreciation for their athletic ability. Sure, the women aren’t as athletically gifted as men in any given sport in which both genders compete, but they can be just as (in some cases more so) competitive and hungry as the men.
The intensity at which they compete hasn’t translated into respect and better pay or conditions. Recently, WNBA players have been more vocal about equal pay. NBA players get roughly a 50/50 split, while their WNBA counterparts get a 20/80 split. That is where their beef should lie. Venus and Serena Williams have always spoken out about better pay for ladies’ tennis players. The USWNT (national soccer team for those that don’t know) easily won their fight for better pay. But why is there a discrepancy in the first place?
To look deeper into the issue, we have to look follow the paper trail. Men’s sports typically generate higher and more diverse revenue streams. For example: you’ll see jerseys, shirts, purses, etc. geared for women consumers from men’s pro sports leagues, but you’ll find a unicorn before you find a men’s jersey from a women’s league. It’s as simple as a Google search to find out where to buy them, but I can find a guy wearing a basketball jersey from the 1980’s at an NFL game before I find a guy wearing a jersey from a women’s league at a women’s game.
Perhaps the biggest source of income for men’s sports is television contracts. The NBA has $2.6 billion dollars worth of television contracts annually, compared to the minute $12 million dollars the WNBA brings in annually from its television deal. Longevity of the leagues is apparent with the NBA existing 50 years before the WNBA was brought into existence.
Tennis was one of the sports in which women achieved pay parity with the men. Looking at the majors, here’s when they achieved that status: U.S. Open (1973), Australian Open (2001, although there was a period in which the women were paid more in the 1980s), French Open (2006), and Wimbledon (2007). Tennis is the one sport in which the women are sometimes more exciting to watch. Pay parity can be attributed to the Williams sisters rise in the rankings and popularity, as well as their outspokenness on the subject.
To be clear, I’m no feminist. However, I’ve always had an appreciation for women’s sports. Women’s tennis, in particular, held my attention at an early age because it was the one sport in which their storylines - Steffi Graf’s Grand Slam in 1988 - were more exciting. Graf’s dominance and looking to see if anyone could unseat her was akin to fans nowadays wondering if anyone can knock off the Golden State Warriors.
The idea for this article came from the WWE announcing the first all-women’s pay per view. Wrestling is sports entertainment, not a sport. But they clearly have their hand on the pulse of what their fans want. They’ve created a buzz for women’s wrestling by promoting their product. Women’s tennis has done a great job of this as well. Women’s soccer in this country took off the same time Brandi Chastain took off her jersey after they won the 1999 World Cup at the Rose Bowl.
Ladies are continuing their fight for equality in the sports world. Even sports journalists and reporters are fighting for their place as well. Am I looking to see equal pay and television time? No. I simply want to draw attention to what women are doing on the athletic front, and behind the cameras and mics. Give them a chance. You never know. You might end up liking it.
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So where does one turn now in Houston for mediocre, overpriced salsa? I kid, I kid. While wondering if Breggy Baked Beans are on the horizon. Congrats to Alex Bregman and agent Scott Boras for landing an on its face outlandish three-year 120-million dollar contract with the Boston Red Sox. With deferred money part of the deal the contract will be valuated in the neighborhood of “only” three years 90 million. Would Bregman have taken that from the Astros if offered? The Astros’ six-year 156-million dollar proposal was 26 mil per season. Bregman has the right to opt out after each of the first two seasons of his BoSox deal. If his decline (while still a very good player) of the last two seasons continues, or even if he holds steady, there is near zero chance of Bregman opting out unless he hates life in New England. At the end of the three years, will Bregman be able to land a three-year 66 million-dollar deal when he’s about to turn 34 years old? That plus the 90 mil with deferrals accounted for in his new deal would total 156 million. Massachusetts taxes personal income of just over a million dollars and upward at a nine percent rate. Playing half his games in the Bay State, Bregman will pay Massachusetts tax on half his salary.
Reminders...
Bregman obviously had an excellent Astros’ career, among non-pitchers he is top 10 all-time, but the excellence was frontloaded. Over Bregman’s first three big seasons he compiled a .289 batting average and .924 OPS. Elite numbers. Over the five seasons since: .261 and .795. Good, nothing legendary. After his monster MVP runner-up 2019 season (stats aided by the juiced balls of that season) Bregman was on a strong early Hall of Fame track. Now not so much, without some offensive resurgence. Fenway Park should suit Bregman well. He’ll bang singles and doubles off of the Green Monster, though the much higher than Crawford Boxes wall will not goose his home run numbers. In his time with the Astros Bregman mashed at Fenway with a .375 batting average and 1.240 OPS. That’s in a statistically not very significant 98 regular season plate appearances.
It is myth that Bregman in the postseason was some relentless hitting machine. He posted phenomenal numbers over seven Division Series batting .333 with an OPS over 1.000. Over 68 American League Championship Series and World Series games: batting average .196, OPS sub-.700.
For his career, Bregman’s worst month of performance by far has been April (plus any days in March, .737 OPS). In 2024 Bregman was baseball garbage into mid-May. Should a typical slow start happen again, we’ll see what the Fenway faithful patience level is. By far, Bregman’s best batting month has been August (.992 OPS). As it works out, both Astros-Red Sox series are in August this year. First in Boston August 1-3 then in Houston August 11-13.
Who's on third?
Over the last two seasons combined, new Astros’ third baseman Isaac Paredes has been as good offensively as Bregman. That includes Paredes pretty much stinking for two months in Chicago after being dealt from the Rays to the Cubs. Paredes, who turns 26 years old on Tuesday, was an AL All-Star last season. Bregman, who turns 31 March 30, was last an All-Star in 2019. The defensive drop-off from Bregman to Paredes is a fairly steep one.
There is no question that Bregman’s official departure weakens the Astros via a domino effect. Had Bregman wound up staying here, Paredes would have shifted to second base with Jose Altuve primarily in left field. Now, 600-plus plate appearances that Bregman would have taken project to be divided among Mauricio Dubon, Ben Gamel, Zach Dezenzo, and others. That projects as a substantial offensive downgrade. The lineup net result of the Astros’ offseason is negative. Christian Walker and Paredes joining the infield in lieu of Jon Singleton and Bregman is fine. Kyle Tucker out, hodge-podge in in the outfield, oh boy.
Alex Bregman is an unquestioned gamer, leader, and would seem to have the temperament to take well to the more intense baseball environment of Boston relative to that in Houston. Yankee fans should reeeeally love him now!
New beginnings
Considering baseball wasn’t invented until more than a century later, the poet Alexander Pope did not have baseball in mind when in 1732 he wrote “Hope springs eternal (in the human breast).” It works though. Other than the Chicago White Sox and Colorado Rockies, Major League teams have convened in Florida or Arizona thinking if things break right this could be their year! I’d probably put the Miami Marlins in with the ChiSox and Rockies. Many Astros’ fans are strongly disgruntled over the departures of Bregman and Kyle Tucker. This team still has “gruntlement” potential. The batting order appears Morganna-level (Google as necessary) top heavy, but one through five stacks well versus most other lineups. In the American League only the Mariners, Yankees, and maybe Royals have starting pitching rotations that should rate above the Astros’ rotation. Let the countdown to Opening Day begin!
Spring training is up and running. Join Brandon Strange, Josh Jordan, and me for the Stone Cold ‘Stros podcast which drops each Monday afternoon, with an additional episode now on Thursday. Click here to catch!
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