What traveler amongst us hasn’t taken to Twitter at one time or another to complain about long airport security lines, crying babies on planes or a drunken JetBlue steward or pilot extended stay on the runwway? Apparently, Pirates OF Andrew McCutchen shouldn’t be allowed such personal indulgences, with the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Ron Cook criticizing the NL All-Star’s “sense of entitlement”.
I suppose it would have been OK for McCutchen to take to Twitter to complain if he really believed he was performing a public service and anyone actually, you know, cared about his travel problems or the fact he and teammate Joel Hanrahan didn’t arrive at their Kansas City hotel until 3 a.m. But going out of his way to take a cheap shot at his bosses? At a time when the Pirates are flying higher than at any point in nearly 20 years? That’s hard to explain. That’s impossible to justify.
McCutchen struck out in that tweet in a couple of ways. Major League Baseball — not the individual teams — pays for a player’s travel to the All-Star Game. Each player gets a first-class ticket — not coach — and one for a guest. The teams are responsible for booking the travel.
You might have heard players make big money these days. They have the right and certainly the means to pay for a private jet, although it’s hard to believe there isn’t at least one local flight company that would have been delighted to give McCutchen and Hanrahan a free ride to Kansas City in return for an endorsement and the publicity. Apparently, Giants pitcher Matt Cain — who will start in the game tonight for the National League — picked up the tab for a plane for he and three teammates.