"It's the same with the ballplayers. Babe Ruth spent a lot, too and the ballplayers make a lot more money now"
About this Quote
Mickey Gilley draws a straight line between entertainers and athletes, arguing that the spectacle of money and spending has always accompanied stardom. Babe Ruth serves as the emblem of that continuity. He lived large, cultivated myth as much as he hit home runs, and commanded a salary that shocked his era, capped by the famous retort about earning more than President Hoover because he had a better year. Gilley undercuts nostalgia that imagines earlier heroes as thrifty or morally superior; the appetite for fame, comfort, and display is not new. What has changed is the scale.
Ballplayers do make more money now, not because they are greedier, but because the economics of sport exploded. Television rights, free agency, sponsorships, and global audiences created a market in which elite performance is extraordinarily valuable. The same forces transformed music and nightlife, worlds Gilley knew intimately. When revenue climbs, compensation follows, and so does spending. Public judgment often trails behind, confusing market outcomes with moral failings.
There is also a pragmatic insight here about celebrity identity. Washing away quirks and excess would strip away part of the aura that draws crowds in the first place. Ruth’s appetite, like an entertainer’s stage persona, fed the legend. Fans may cluck at extravagance while still paying to see it. Gilley implies that criticism of modern athletes for living large misses the historical pattern and the basic logic of attention-driven industries.
The line also quietly acknowledges risk. Sudden wealth can amplify bad decisions, whether in baseball or on a concert tour. But pointing to Ruth reframes the conversation: this is not a modern descent but an old, recurring dance between fame, fortune, and public scrutiny. If the money is larger now, so are the spotlights. The human impulses at the center remain familiar.
Ballplayers do make more money now, not because they are greedier, but because the economics of sport exploded. Television rights, free agency, sponsorships, and global audiences created a market in which elite performance is extraordinarily valuable. The same forces transformed music and nightlife, worlds Gilley knew intimately. When revenue climbs, compensation follows, and so does spending. Public judgment often trails behind, confusing market outcomes with moral failings.
There is also a pragmatic insight here about celebrity identity. Washing away quirks and excess would strip away part of the aura that draws crowds in the first place. Ruth’s appetite, like an entertainer’s stage persona, fed the legend. Fans may cluck at extravagance while still paying to see it. Gilley implies that criticism of modern athletes for living large misses the historical pattern and the basic logic of attention-driven industries.
The line also quietly acknowledges risk. Sudden wealth can amplify bad decisions, whether in baseball or on a concert tour. But pointing to Ruth reframes the conversation: this is not a modern descent but an old, recurring dance between fame, fortune, and public scrutiny. If the money is larger now, so are the spotlights. The human impulses at the center remain familiar.
Quote Details
| Topic | Money |
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