Salary Firsts

Here are some Major League Baseball salary firsts. The first player to earn a baseball salary $50,000 for one season was Babe Ruth in 1922. That season, the Bambino hit .315 with 35 home runs and 99 runs batted in. Not too bad, but not exactly Ruthian

Hank Greenburg, then with the Pittsburgh Pirates, was the first to make $100,000 a year in 1947. Hank hit .245 that 1947 season with only 25 home runs and 74 runs batted in. Again, not his best year by far.

1977 saw the Philadelphia Phillies third baseman Mike Schmidt become the first $500,000 per year player. Mike hit 38 home runs and drove in 101 in 1977.

In 1979, the Houston Astros gave pitcher Nolan Ryan $1,000,000 for the 1980 season. That made the Ryan express the first one to make that much per season. In 1980, Nolan won only eleven games and lost ten. His earned run average was 3.35.

George Foster became the first 2 million dollar earner in 1982 with the New York Mets. Foster in 1982 hit a dismal .247 with only 13 home runs and 70 runs batted in. By 1986, he was out of baseball.

Kirby Puckett collected $3,000,000 from the Minnesota Twins in 1990. Kirby batted .298 and hit 12 home runs. He drove in 80 runs that year.

The Oakland A's saw fit to make Jose Canseco the first 4 million dollar player in 1990. Canseco hit .274 that year. He smacked 37 home runs and drove in 101.

Roger Clemens of the Boston Red Sox became the first 5 million dollar man in 1991. Roger won 18 and lost 10 that season. His earned run average was 2.62.

The Chicago Cubs made Ryne Sandberg the first to reach the $7,000,000 plateau in 1992. That year Ryne batted .304 with 26 home runs and 87 runs batted in.

In 1996, Ken Griffey, Jr. became the first to crack the $8,000,000 mark with the Seattle Mariners. That year Junior hit .303 with 49 home runs and 140 runs batted in.

In 1996, the Chicago White Sox gave Albert Belle $11,000,000 for the 1997 season. Albert hit .274 with 30 homers and 116 runs batted in.

Pedro Martinez became the first $12,000,000 player with the Red Sox in 1998. Pedro won 19 and lost 7 in 1998. His earned run average was an outstanding 1.90.

The New York Mets gave catcher Mike Piazza $13,000,000 for the 1999 season. Mike batted .303. He hit 40 home runs and drove in 124.

Kevin Brown of the Los Angeles Dodgers was the first to see a $15,000,000 paycheck. That season, Brown won 18 and lost 9. His earned run average was 3.00.

The Toronto Blue Jays awarded Carlos Delgado a $17,000,000 contract for the 2001 season. That year Carlos batted .279 with 39 round trippers and 102 ribbies.

Manny Ramirez of the Red Sox became the first player to earn $21,000,000 per year in 2001. Manny hit .306 with 41 home runs and 125 runs batted in that season.

And last but certainly not least, Alex Rodriguez gathered in a whopping $27,000,000 from the Texas Rangers in 2001. A Rod hit .318 with 52 home runs and 135 runs batted in.

You can see that once free agency allowed the player's salaries to escalate, they escalated quickly. So quickly that there was no first six million dollar a year player. Ryne Sandberg jumped right to the first 7 million dollar player. There was no first nine or ten million dollar man either. In 1997, Albert Belle shot right to eleven million.