Where've You Gone, Catfish Hunter?

Baseball fans in Oakland ain’t gonna be giving a lotta thanks this year. Last week, Major League Baseball approved the A's move to Las Vegas. Talk about a load of bullwinkle.

The Oakland Athletics won the World Series in 1972, 1973, and 1974. They had some great players. Sal Bando, Rollie Fingers, Reggie Jackson, Rickey Henderson, and my favorite, Jim “Catfish” Hunter. Jim got his nickname because he liked to fish. The story goes that little Jimmy ran away from home and they later found him down at the creek with a stringer full of catfish.

This move really rocked the A’s fans. One called the move “the death of the common everyday fan.” Another said, “There’s a certain pride to being an Oakland fan. They’re gritty and tough.” Well, it’s all over now, baby blue. Today it’s all about sports betting and big bucks.

Here’s a feel-good story from our neck of the woods. Bob Sullivan and his brother Paul have gotten all kinds of big bucks offers to sell Sullivan Tire. But instead of putting the business their family has built since 1955 in the hands of private equity, they decided to turn it over to their crew in an employee stock ownership plan. Sullivan Tire has roughly 1,500 employees and more than 100 locations across New England. 

“Everybody seems to be selling out,” Bob Sullivan said. “That’s not what we want to do. We care too much about our people to turn our backs on them. We want to give them a redeeming benefit.”

His brother Paul expressed a sentiment you never hear today. “"We have enough money, we're fine. You can have too much believe me. That's called greed,” he said. “It's more important for us to keep the culture.”

Way to go. The Sullivans gotta lotta soul.

Happy Thanksgiving. Keep your dukes up.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BXq_aqa_YIc

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