The Stack of Resumes (One Sixty-Two: Day 10)

Writer’s note: One Sixty-Two is a season-long series of blog posts connecting baseball’s major-league players to life’s universal themes. Just as there are 162 games in a season, so there will be 162 posts in this series. Let’s play some ball.

Day Ten: Jermaine Dye, Free Agent

I attended a job fair at the local community college yesterday, as I’m always looking for summer and evening work to help supplement our family income. But as I walked into the college on this warm May afternoon, I saw hundreds of adults – many of them older than me – standing in line, sharply dressed in suits, ties and skirts.

As I waited in line to sign in for an interview, I struck up a conversation with the applicant in front of me. Her supervisory position at a school had been eliminated, and she was anxious to find herself some work. As I moved on to a line for English teachers, I learned that the college had not expected so many applicants, and was therefore having trouble coordinating all the lines and interviews. As I sat down with an English professor, I saw a stack of resumes in front of her, already an inch thick.

This is America, 2010. With our economy still struggling mightily, the job of an adjunct instructor at a community college is highly competitive. I’m sure that most of the people at yesterday’s fair will not be called back, simply because there aren’t enough jobs to go around. Many of them will attend other job fairs at other schools in the near future. They will keep trying.

In his baseball career, Jermaine Dye has earned many millions of dollars, and I would hope he has invested his money wisely. But just one year after he hit 27 home runs for the Chicago White Sox, the 36-year-old Dye remains unemployed this spring. It’s true, his batting average dipped 41 points last year. But still, the man has averaged 31 homers over the past six years, and he has hit 325 home runs over the course of his career. But that drop in batting average, coupled with some struggles on defense, have left Dye untouched.

A few years ago, plenty of teams would have been willing to spend money on a veteran like Dye. With cash to burn, the risk would have been minimal. But not now. You don’t take risks when your cash flow is down. You look for ways to economize.

In time, someone may call and ask Dye to suit up for a team this year. He might have to take on the role of part-time player. His salary won’t be nearly what it was. But this is 2010. The job fairs are packed, and the resumes are piling up. You take what you can get.