The Pull

Think about this.  You play baseball for a living; you've been doing so for years.  When you're not on the diamond, what's going on?  For a lot of guys, there's The Pull.  The Pull is the collection of forces that determine the direction the guy's private life will go.  These forces range from family to friends, from business acquaintances to fans, from groupies to total strangers.  Tied up in one big bundle and dropped onto our guy, like a safe landing on him after the fall from a 3rd story window, he either survives The Pull or is squashed.

Think finance.  Let's say you play for a mid-market team, like the Milwaukee Brewers.  Their median salary in 2009 was $1.347 million.  That means a bunch of guys made more and a bunch made less.  Either way, if you earned $1.3 million in 2009, a year the United States went through its worst recession in 70+ years, you did very well for yourself. 

So what do you do with the money?  Here's where The Pull comes in.  Your wife may say to save it.  Throw it in the bank, in conversative investments like a money market account, bonds or CDs.  You won't earn a lot off of these investments, but you won't lose much, if anything, either.

Your agent may have other ideas.  His financial team may suggest you put your money in some other places with a little more risk, like real estate since prices are so low they can't go anywhere but up.

Then there's a guy on the team, or a guy you used to play with, who suggests, or whose dad suggests, something else entirely.  Maybe tossing some money into oil futures in the Ukraine or with this guy who "I swear has nothing to do with any Ponzi schemes, I swear, seriously."

There might be an independent broker who saw you in a restaurant or friended you on Facebook.  He's got the right words to sway your interest (no pun intended).  Give him this one chance, something small, say $150,000.  Just let him work with that.  It'll grow.  Really.  Your wife will be happy you did this in the long run.

Don't forget, in some cases, the cries from parents or friends.  Maybe Dad is looking to get out from under the last 10 years of his 30-year mortgage.  Or maybe Eddie or Reggie or Jose, a guy you grew up with and is still floating around, mysteriously "bumping" into you a few times a year, maybe this guy is asking for a loan.

This happens too: A former teammate, a guy you barely knew, might send you a text message one night while you're at dinner, asking for a loan - totally short-term, really - to help put his daughter through private school or pay for his wife's medical expenses.  She may have cancer or MS, we don't know yet, but the costs of the tests are just so sky high.  Friggin' Obama, right?

Charity.  You've got a good heart.  Don't forget the charities that come calling.  Yeah, they have good hearts too.  But they also need to keep the operation running.  The economy stinks.  Donations are way down.  They need to go on the offensive, be aggressive.  They'll call, mail, email you.  There's cancer research, AIDS research, Haiti relief, Tsunami relief, your church, your old school (we'll name a field after you), your town (how does Dirk Hayhurst Avenue sound?), your old town (think the rock and dirt fields all over the Dominican).  There's Jerry Lewis and his Telethon.  There's St. Jude's.  There's this disease and that group.  There's hunger in America and starvation in Africa.  All worthy.  And all looking for help.  From you.

Politicians may come calling as well.  The more local they are, the less famous you need to be.  Playing baseball is cool.  Being associated with a Major League baseball player is cool too if you're looking for votes.  And if Mr. Politician can get Mr. Ballplayer to pony up a few thousand or more, that could really help with the campaign.

In review, you've got a wife with one idea, an agent and his people, a teammate/teammate's dad, a total stranger, Mom/Dad, a friend (for some guys it's their posse), another former teammate, the various charitable interests, politicians, and you gotta believe more.  Invest here.  Loan here.  Give here.  All of these people have their own agendas.  And they know you, as the player, are vulnerable.  They can sense it.  And you, as the player, are suddenly 16 again, feeling the peer pressure from different directions.  You fell for it at 16 and smoked some dope or got blitzed on Schlitz (highly doubtful you actually drank Schlitz) or drove your mom's car and 5 or your "best" friends before you had a license.  Will you fall for it now, at 26? 

There's one final Pull to remember: The player's own wishes.  While all of the people already mentioned have influence over his decisions, he's the one ultimately making them.  If he wants to please Mom & Dad or feel cool around a teammate, he may go in those directions.  Or, if he just wants to spend money on stuff, like cars and homes and the latest in electronics because he's got a personal interest there, then it may not matter what Wife or Mom & Dad say.  Our ballplayer might just be pigheaded enough to not listen to anyone at all except his own desires.

The Pull can ruin friendships and make the rich entirely wealthy.  The Pull can destroy a marriage or make you set for life.  You've practiced your baseball skills since you were a wee lad and knew, one day, you'd make it to the big leagues.  The last thing you ever thought about was The Pull.  You made the cut and made the team.  Now how are you going to play?