Will the economy hurt baseball?

God I hope so.

Don't get me wrong -- I love watching the game at Fenway Park. I spent three summers waitressing at bars and restaurants in Kenmore Square in college. A lot of my best memories have something to do with the Red Sox.

But hearing on the news last night that Manny Ramirez just signed a contract with the Dodgers for $45 million dollars made me a bit sick.

I don't like Manny. He's got an attitude problem and is a lousy role model. Yet he's the second highest player in the major leagues behind A-Rod. Coaches have to go out of their way to deal with him yet he makes the big bucks. It's like paying a great salesman a top salary even though he's rude to fellow employees and disrespects the boss.

Now I said that I love going to Fenway but how often can I afford to go? Hardly ever. It's too damn expensive! I wonder how the economy is going to affect ticket sales, if at all, this year. How much do ticket sales affect the salaries of the players? I'm assuming that the best teams have the best attendance and thus more money to loo the top players onto their roster...but if no one can afford to attend the games does it matter?

In any case, I think it's ridiculous that pro sports players make so much money -- especially when they get caught using performance enhancing drugs. How did the bar get set so low and the salaries set so high? Why don't more people seem to care? Why aren't these over-paid jocks held accountable?