Chicago Cubs: MLBPA should leave no player behind

The Chicago Cubs retired infielder, Carmen Fanzone, is just one of 600 MLB players that never received a full pension due to a rule change 40 years ago.

Today there are 600 retired MLB players, including former Chicago Cubs, Carmen Fanzone, who have been mostly ‘left behind’ any pension benefits by MLB and the MLBPA; due to a simple vesting rule change from the ’80s. In an age of philanthropy by both these professional organizations, why are there still 600 former MLB players not getting their full benefits?

MLB is making millions daily through ads, sales, franchises and more. The MLBPA is also a wealthy organization now that MLB has come into its own and is seeing contracts like the one Chicago Cubs outfielder, Jason Heyward, signed for $184 million.  Yet today some 600 players aren’t earning their proper pensions due to a 1980 vesting rule change that left them behind like former Chicago Cubs first, second, and third baseman, Carmen Fanzone.

Fanzone was a decent enough player, taking the field four out of the five years of his career in 227 games for the Cubs. When Fanzone joined the Cubs in 1971, he was a celebrity baseball player just like the current Cubs shortstop, Javier Baez, or first baseman Anthony Rizzo. Fans lined up to get autographs just as they do today. Sure, he wasn’t Ernie Banks, but Fanzone was a pretty good ballplayer.

Fanzone’s five-year career in MLB accounts for  20 home runs, 94 RBIs,  27 doubles, 132 hits and 66 runs. Fanzone’s .686 career OPS and .313 OBP are somewhat better than the second baseman; the Cubs just hired in Jason Kipnis. So it’s easy to compare and say that Fanzone was as professional then as players are today. Douglas Gladstone wrote about Fanzone’s impressions of being a star in Fra Noi.com

“When I was there, if people found out you played for the Cubs, you were treated like royalty,” the 78-year-old Fanzone says. “It doesn’t make much sense to me,” he says. “These days, salaries are going up and up; it’s like the owners are playing with Monopoly money.”

Throughout Fanzone’s career, he never caught a break when it came to finances. Fanzone signed for $25 the year before MLB started a draft.  $25 was the cost of a new mitt  Fanzone just bought. Fanzone told his scout he needed the $25 to pay for the mitt, and just like that -Fanzone was recruited! What’s unfortunate is that Fanzone’s teammates that came on board a year or two later were getting $100,000 signing bonuses.

Not only did Fanzone miss out on a big signing bonus, but they also missed out on a decent pension.

Here’s what happened.

Chicago Cubs: Rule change leaves 600 MLB players pension poor

Before 1980, an MLB player had to have four years of service to get any benefit and to be permitted to buy into the league’s umbrella health plan. Without four years, you were not eligible for squat. Once you hit that magic four, then you were eligible for benefits and could then start contributing money into a health insurance plan.  After the rule change, you only needed 43 active game days where you played to collect a pension and just one active game day to be eligible for the health insurance plan.

Well, what’s wrong with that? Right? It just so happens that the benefit was made better for players, only not all players. The deal was never made retroactive. That meant some players retired after 1980 getting different benefits than a player who retired under the old system. After 1980 those players that first retired received an excellent pension under a much more lucrative system. Gladstone also wrote about this tragedy:

The problem for men like Fanzone, and former White Sox outfielder Bob “The Macaroni Pony” Coluccio, is that the agreement wasn’t made retroactive. So though he had three and one-half years of service, all Fanzone has been receiving for his time in “The Show” is a yearly stipend that, after taxes, comes to $6,250.

Meanwhile, a vested retiree who played after 1980 can earn up to $225,000.

Roughly 626 MLB players fell into the same hole as Fanzone. That’s just a handful of players compared to all those who have played the game professionally. Any executive could easily see this egregious error most likely drove some players to bankruptcy, homelessness, poverty, drugs or alcoholism.

For what? It’s just 600 players!

Both these organizations are making philanthropic donations of $3 million to non-profit charities for 2020. What about taking care of your own family first? If these orgs took the next five year’s worth of non-profit donations and gave it to these players, it could be enough.

Executive Director of the MLBPA Michael Weiner got the 600 players some monies in 2011.  However, the 600 believed if they hired one of their own to manage the organization, the chances of rectifying the outstanding debt owed to them would inevitably happen.

Enter Tony Clark.

Chicago Cubs: The perfect time to fix it all

The current CBA or collective bargaining agreement between MLB and the MLBPA expires in 2022. That means there is just one year left until baseball owners and players’ union reps commence negotiations for a new collective bargaining agreement.  It would be the perfect time to finally, once and for all, address the 600 player’s grievances that were left behind from the benefits of being a professional baseball player.

Players today don’t seem to be as concerned about the pension, the past, or the plan because they have a number to focus on these days. The number for most active players is 10. That’s right, just pure old 10 and everyone is racing for it. Once a player hits 10 years, he can retire and claim his health insurance. So everyone in MLB has got the same goal, according to Jorge L. Ortiz of USA TODAY.

The plan pays fully vested members a minimum of nearly $68,000 a year for those who start drawing at 45, with a sliding scale that goes up to $220,000 for beneficiaries who wait until age 62. The payout is even more meaningful for coaches, managers and trainers, who are also eligible and have lower salaries.

Expect there may be some changing of the 10-year rule down the road soon as well, but if not, MLB and the MLBPA will have to start thinking out the box. This can’t go on for wealthy organizations to leave anyone behind. The U.S. Army, also known as the biggest corporation in America, has made an entire culture out of leaving no one back from the time of the Viet Nam war until now.

There are so many fans and friends of the Chicago Cubs that would love to raise money and give something for the 600 players. Now more than ever, this is a matter for owners, MLB leadership, current players, coaches and the league.  Do you realize that just a nickel increase on every hot dog and drink sold this season would take care of those 600 for the rest of their lives?

Let them finally enjoy the fruits of making it to the show.

Especially Fanzone who still loves everything about Chicago, especially the food, according to Gladstone:

He still longs for Chicago cuisine. That’s why he regularly places online orders for Lou Malnati’s deep-dish pizza. “I’ve got two in my fridge right now,” he (Fanzone) says.

What do you say, MLBPA? Let’s fill that fridge up for Fanzone.