The Have's and the Have-Not's

[DOUGHBOYS]

We live in a world of 'Have's and 'Have-nots'. The 'Have's' play baseball. The 'Have-not's' play fantasy baseball.
The Have-not's expect more out of the Have's.
The Have-nots go through their daily rituals of getting up, going to work, helping with the family. A rut.
They Have-not's expect the same out of the Have's. They forget that the Have's job is different from the Have-nots.

The Have's actually have two jobs. Their job on the field. And how folks perceive them off the field.
The second job is almost as important as the first. It ties them to huge pay days from endorsements and being locally and Nationally accepted is just good business. Good will means good money.
Ask Paula Dean.
The Have-nots can utter just about anything they want. Their words do not carry much weight. They will just be frowned at or possibly looked down upon by a few. Then go on with their lives.
The Have's don't have the luxury. They have to bite the bullet. They speak little of race, religion, sexual choice, or even sex at all for that matter. They know the press eats it up. And they know that any good will that is built, can tumble to the ground in one bad sentence. Or even an admittance.
Ask Lance Armstrong.

The Have's are bound to optimism. The Have-not's prefer the truth, whether it be optimistic or pessimistic.
This is the reason for a Corey Hart optimistic self-diagnosis.
And the reason for stupid ARod to say that he's cleared to play.
And the reason why Carl Crawford was 'so close' to coming back during the past couple of years.
It is their job to be optimistic, not truthful.

As Have-not's, we have to weed out what is over optimism and weigh how much truth is in a statement. It is a given that a Have is hopeful to be activated from the disabled list as soon as eligible. The reality is that this hardly ever happens. The club wouldn't have put him on the dl to begin with, if it wasn't more than just a nagging injury, quick to recover from.
The Have's do not do this to fool the Have-not's. It is part of their secondary job to 'want' to play.
Which brings me to the first part of the Have's job, that of on the field.
There are now more injuries than ever. There are different philosophies of why.
Have-not's think of the Have's as pussies.
Have-not's think the Have's work out too much.
Have-not's think the Have's lift too many weights.

It could be anything. One thing that has hardly been discussed is that maybe the Have's have too much.
Like some Have-nots, who live off of a Government check from a 'disability', or buy liquor with food stamps, or sue somebody that doesn't need sued, the Have's have also discovered that they don't need to work to earn their money.
Leading up to free agency, the Have's knew that in order to earn more money the following year that they would have to work harder and put up better numbers. An injury, any injury, would set them back in that pursuit.

Today's Have's do not have to worry about that. A couple of good years makes them a possible gem.
A possible gem is different from a prospect. A prospect is somebody who has shown good qualities, but not at the Mjor league level.
A possible gem is a Have, who has had at least a year or two or three of good MLB participation.
Kevin Youkilis has been a possible gem for years.
If a Have-not, he would certainly be collecting a disability check for a number of maladies.
Today's Have's do not have to suit up everyday to make more money like their past counterparts. As such, the disabled list has swollen like our National Debt.
It's not all the Have's fault. Owners and GM's are as much at fault. They give a player like Youkilis a 12 million dollar payday after realizing that the 25 million dollar to ARod would end up as disability pay. Like our Government, some owners throw money at problems hoping to solve a situation.
In some cases, they'll keep paying that money to Have's like Carlos Marmol, or Jeff Francoeur, or Delmon Young, or Jon Garland even though there is cheaper and more reliable help on hand.


In the end, the Have's and Have-not's have a lot n common on our 'field of play'.
The Have-nots go to work knowing who'll work hard and not work hard around them.
Same with the Have's.
The Have-nots will have folks sitting around collecting checks for real or phantom purposes.
Same with the Have's.

What sets us apart is the second half of the Have's job.
We have the luxury of being honest. We even take it for granted. We can voice our opinion's about how we feel about any subject, including Kevin Youkilis. I'm doing that right now.
The Have's cannot.
We can say our Have's team sucks and that they should get a new Manager or players, or quit getting hurt.
The Have's cannot.

Next time Corey Hart, or Carl Crawford, or even ARod says something that may sound a little too optimistic.
Don't blame them.
The Have's are just doing their job.