Bill James — the father of Sabermetrics, a renowned baseball historian and a Red Sox senior advisor — let loose some provocative baseball opinions on Twitter on Wednesday night.
What began as a debate about the value of player salaries escalated when James, in one particular blunt take, said: “If the players all retired tomorrow, we would replace them, the game would go on; in three years it would make no difference whatsoever. The players are NOT the game, any more than the beer vendors are.”
That particular tweet (since deleted) — and James’ overall expressed sentiment that players are overpaid — has since drawn rebukes from MLB Players Association executive director Tony Clark as well as from major leaguers such as Astros pitcher Justin Verlander, retired infielder Michael Young and retired outfielder Torii Hunter.