National opinion: MLB and retirees

One of the most well-known of the “Our Gang” comedy shorts was “Mail and Female,” and it was about how the boys formed a group called the He-Man Woman Haters Club.

Of course, everything is fine by the end of the episode. Things always worked out in the end.

It is anyone's guess how things will work out for Scottsdale‘s Patty Hilton, whose late husband, Dave, once played for the San Diego Padres in the 1970s. Regrettably, Dave was among the retirees who didn’t get an Major League Baseball (MLB) pension because of a 1980 change in the vesting requirements. That is when the union representing current ballplayers, the Major League Baseball Players’ Association (MLBPA), was offered the opportunity to give its members the following sweetheart deal: only 43 game days of service credit would be needed for a pension. Prior to 1980, you needed four years of credit for a pension.

The problem with that was it didn’t include all the men like Dave, who had more than 43 game days but less than four years. And it's been like that for the past 44 years.

In April 2011, MLB and MLBPA partially remedied the problem by paying all the men like Hilton $625 for every 43 games he was on an active roster, up to a maximum of $10,000. In March 2022, that stipend was increased by 15 percent, to $718.75, for every 43 game days, up to a maximum annual payment of $11,500.

Meanwhile, the maximum benefit a vested player can receive is now $275,000.

The payment isn’t a pension, but rather a non-qualified retirement stipend that cannot be passed on to a man’s widow, children or other designated beneficiaries or loved ones.

So when Dave, who was the founder of the Arizona School of Baseball, passed away seven years ago, that was the end of the money. Patty has never received that annual bone since.

Unfortunately, Patty has been victimized twice by the sport her husband played. That’s because, though he was the first base coach for the Milwaukee Brewers during the 1987 and 1988 seasons, Dave wasn't receiving a pension for his work as an MLB coach, either. At the time Hilton coached, only four baseball coaches on a team were permitted to accrue pensionable credit. This was never spelled out in the collective bargaining agreement between the league and the union, however; it was akin to a “wink and a nod” understanding between the league and the union.

Just imagine if your loved one, spouse or partner couldn’t collect a benefit due to a “wink and a nod” understanding. Then imagine what it also feels like to have a small stipend taken away from you only six months after your husband died.

Five years ago, after appearing on the podcast I used to co-host, Patty told me a Brewers official contacted her and volunteered to give her an annual non-player’s pension. However, the team has never followed up with her.

So recently, I emailed two Brewers officials to see if they’d be willing to intercede on Patty’s behalf in order to remedy this reprehensible situation. As of this writing, neither has gotten back to me.

The man who could help Patty, Tony Clark — who played college basketball at the University of Arizona — is a former Arizona Diamondback who is now the executive director of the MLBPA. He earned a reported salary of $4.25 million last year and at one time reportedly resided in Glendale.

By the way, last year was also when a brand new 10,000 square foot union facility opened in Scottsdale. Wonder how much that cost? Probably a lot more than the cost of continuing to send Dave’s stipend to Patty.

I often wonder what Clark’s wife, Frances, thinks about all this. Does she ever think that, if the shoe was on the other foot, and it was Tony who wasn’t fortunate enough to be vested, whether she’d want the MLBPA executive director to do something to help her and all the other wives?

Of course, Patty’s situation is an extreme example of the disregard MLB and the MLBPA have shown since 2011. And this coming from a sport where 34% of the casual fan base is females, according to Statista.

On International Women’s Day this past March, MLB touted some of the women who are changing the game. And while that’s great, other things have to change too, like giving death benefits to the women such as Patty.

Otherwise, you might as well start calling the national pastime the new He-Man Women Hater's Club.