The average teacher in Detroit would have to work 5,840 years to make what baseball player Miguel Cabrera will “earn” in 10.
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Detroit Tigers president and general manager Dave Dombrowski said that Miguel Cabrera has “a chance to be one of the best hitters in the history of the game.” He’s damn good at the game of baseball. The game. Game: a form of play. Cool.
Meanwhile, in real life, ya know, The Survival Game, 19 facts about Detroit’s bankruptcy:
1. Detroit’s revenue, in inflation-adjusted dollars, fell 40% from 1962 to 2012.
2. The city currently has just 9,700 workers, yet has 21,000 retirees drawing benefits.
3. Detroit’s population has declined 63% since 1950, including a 26% decline since 2000. As of December 2012, its population was 684,799 – down from 1,849,600 in 1950.
4. Unemployment has tripled since 2000. As of June 2012, it’s 18.3%, which is more than double the national average.
5. The number of employed residents has dropped more than 53% since 1970.
6. Property tax revenues have decreased by approximately 19.7% over the past five years.
7. The per capita tax burden on Detroiters is the highest in Michigan, despite relatively low levels of income for city residents.
8. The total assessed value of property in Detroit declined by 77% over the past 50 years in inflation-adjusted dollars.
9. Without restructuring, the city is projected to have negative cash flows of $198.5 million in FY 2014.
10. Detroit’s long-term debt is estimated to be between $18 billion and $20 billion.
11. The city has unfunded pension liabilities of $3.5 billion.
12. Its unfunded health care liabilities are $5.7 billion.
13. In 2012, Detroit had the highest violent crime rate of any U.S. city with a population over 200,000. The overall crime rate is five times the national average.
14. Detroit has just 370 functioning street lights per square mile, compared with 812 for Cleveland and 785 for St. Louis.
15. Detroit has witnessed 11,000-12,000 fires every year for the past decade.
16. Detroit’s homicide rate is at the highest level in 40 years, and it has been named one of the most dangerous cities in America for more than 20 years.
17. Its citizens wait on average more than 58 minutes for the police to respond to their calls, compared to a national average of 11 minutes.
18. The city has 78,000 abandoned structures.
19. More than half of its parks have closed since 2008.
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–Photo: AP
@Tom Yo what’s up Tom?I kinda agree with Jules in that the commissioners and owners of these leagues,on average,make twice as much as the highest paid player,yet it is the players who take the hit.Owners,not players,use their wealth and influence to extort sweetheart deals from cities for new stadiums and the land to build them on. While I do not criticize the players for making money,I do question the lack of give back to the communities that nurtured and sustained them when they were nobodies.I also question fans who equate being a great athlete with being a great person.Micheal Jordan… Read more »
Hi Ogwriter, how’s it going? I didn’t want to give the impression that there was a connection between Cabrara and the decline or continued decline of Detroit. But it is rather ironic that a man can be paid that kind of contract in a city that’s in major distress. It’s kind of a slap in the face to the people of Detroit. Think about the person who was assaulted one night and didn’t see law enforcement for an hour because the funds aren’t there to provide services and then wake up the following morning to read that this guy was… Read more »
The implication of the post suggests that somehow Cabrera or baseball or perhaps all of professional sports should be criticized because of societies misplaced priorities. Cabrera’s salary does not come from tax revenues. He is paid primarily from a pool of money generated from tv revenues. It has nothing to do with the money used to run Detroit, the city. Moreover, even though it is difficult to reconcile. What professional athletes make is good for regular folks everywhere. Free agency is the ultimate representation of capitalism and socialism and was won through the superhuman efforts of a blue-collar man from… Read more »
@ogwriter, Hey Bro! I am curious just how much $$$$$ does the city pony up each year for its sports team (in the form of tax credits….). Tax credits are nothing but revenue loss for most governments. But, then I would ask: Do we really need to give govt more $$$? What bothers me is not the players salaries but the salary of people like the MLB Commissioner or the NFL commissioner. I am a big football fan. To learn that Paul T is making $40 mil makes me sick to the stomach. Someone said he (Paul T) has to… Read more »
As a person who loves architecture, I’ve seen photos of the abandoned homes in Detroit and am saddened to see some amazing buildings falling apart. There is no doubt that Detroit is in the dumpster and from what I’ve seen is that there isn’t much happening to pull it out. What’s Detroit doing to pull itself out? I guess paying a ball player almost $300 million isn’t going to do anything. Doubt very much if he’s even going to even live IN Detroit where at least they could pull some tax dollars from him. Other then car companies having their… Read more »