A couple of days ago I wrote about the greed of the management of the Cincinnati Reds and the Philadelphia Phllies for forcing fans to buy ticket packages in order to get Red Sox tickets. Well, the owners topped themselves in the story I read today.

MLB provides an annual $100,000 grant to the Cape Cod League. The Cape League, in case you don't know, is the leading summer collegiate league. About 200 current major leaguers are Cape League alumni. The league was recently informed that if the teams that share nicknames with major league teams don't start using MLB approved suppliers, the grant will disappear. MLB is also demanding an 11% royalty on merchandise sales by the six affected teams. This would cut out the local vendors the Cape League currently uses.

Let's not even get into the fact that the Harwich Mariners have been around since 1930. The Seattle version didn't show up until 1977, so maybe Seattle should be paying Harwich royalties.

The Cape League is nothing but good for baseball. For MLB to be making these demands of a league that promotes the game and is an important talent source for the teams is nothing short of an embarrassment. Can Bud Selig put a stop to this, or is he too busy rumpling his suits?

By the way, if you are interested in the Cape League, check out the book The Last Best League by Jim Collins. It's a great read.