Baseball's Millionaires at Series Watch Score, Tape as Stock Market Swoons

[marmar]

Baseball Millionaires Watch Series Score, Tape as Market Swoons

By Danielle Sessa

Oct. 27 (Bloomberg) -- Millionaire baseball players trying to win the World Series are talking about the stock market's plunge in between discussions about hitting breaking balls or stealing bases.

Philadelphia Phillies relief pitcher Brad Lidge said he's checked in with his financial adviser throughout the Major League Baseball playoffs as the Standard & Poor's 500 Index has dropped 25 percent in October. It's been a topic of conversation in the clubhouses of the Phillies and Tampa Bay Rays as players flip through newspapers and watch television.

``We are paying more attention now than we ever have,'' said Lidge, who has made almost $17 million in his seven-year career. ``Not so closely that it's going to distract us, but we are all aware that maybe we should be moving stuff into real estate right now.''

Players on both teams have plenty at stake in the financial markets, with 20 of the 50 players on the World Series teams making $1 million or more a season and the rest earning at least the major-league minimum of $390,000. The Phillies are one win away from their first World Series title in 28 years after their 10-2 rout of the Rays last night in Philadelphia and can clinch the title tonight.

Lidge, who majored in economics and marketing at the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana, is cutting back his allocation to stocks and considering adding to his real estate holdings. Declining demand has made homes cheaper and more appealing, he said. ......(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601079&sid=asJignDv5NN4&refer=home

[Blue_Tires]

1. wow....why even play the market if your contract is already worth multi-millions?

i guess some things i'll never understand...

[arcadian]

2. Pro sports, another industry that feeds off of socialism.

n/t