Joe DiMaggio On Big Salaries

Joe DiMaggio knew something about big egos - he refused to walk on the field of Yankee Stadium unless he was introduced as "the greatest living Yankee." (Seriously, how could anyone even think to ask for such a thing?) But even he admits that the lure of money isn't as strong as the lure of playing the game. An excerpt from the NY Daily News:

That's one of the funny things about baseball and baseball players. If you are selling gas pipe and your employer fights you on salary, you may have some sort of grudge in your mind, and it possibly will affect your work.

But in baseball, the man who carries a salary grievance into the field with him is as rare as an Italian who isn't nuts about his spaghetti and vino.

The piece covers big salaries, hold outs and how even a player getting screwed by the owners gets the itch when spring rolls around.