Arthur SolomonIf ever there was an incident that emphasized the schism between employer and employee it is the Matt Harvey innings-limited controversy, about whether the Met pitcher should call it a season when he reaches the 180 innings pitch limit, supposedly suggested by the surgeon whose expertise made it possible for the pitcher to resume his career.

For those readers who have more important things to do than care about the fortunes of a baseball team, could care less about the rants of talk radio hosts and their fanatic callers, don’t take seriously what TV and print pundits preach, a suggestion: Google, read and listen carefully to what Scott Boras, Harvey’s agent says, and what Sandy Alderson, the Mets general manager says, because the situation also applies to you and your employer. Like a baseball player with a number on his jersey, despite management sweet talk, you’re just an employee number (although not nearly as well paid).

Students of history know that the Harvey-Mets situation is nothing new when it comes to employee-management relationships. Child labor, sweat shops, company towns, strike breaking thugs, were the norm in America for decades before FDR’s New Deal passed corrective legislation and unions gained some power. The fight still goes on today, as management tries to weaken labor laws.

Just recently, a federal judge accused NFL commissioner Roger Goodell of creating his own labor laws, when he ruled for Tom Brady in the deflategate case.

Too many people believe that sports business is different than other entities. And that’s too bad. Because it never was and as you read this isn’t. Just as in the early days of American industrialization, all management – including sports – seeks optimum profits, often disregarding the health and safety of its employees. Has your salary kept up with the cost of living as management salaries increase by the millions? Is your health insurance being made better or is it more difficult and expensive to get the medicines and treatments your doctors recommend? If it’s better, you must be in top management.

In the sports world, for years the NFL and NHL ignored the effects of concussions and other injuries and shuffled players in our out of the game in a matter of minutes. (In the NFL, it was often after one play.)

In baseball, for years outfield walls were made of concrete without padding, with club owners disregarding the heads of players running into them while trying to make a catch. Today, stadiums are built with so little room between the foul lines and stands that every time a player goes into foul territory to make a play it’s a safety hazard for the athlete.

Barring career-ending injury, Harvey will soon make more money in one season than the great majority of fans and sports pundits, who treated Harvey’s and Boras’ innings-limited comments as if it was a foreign nation declaring war on the U.S., will make in a life time.

Harvey’s agent, Boras, was doing what a caring agent should do. Do what’s best for his client’s future. And instead of being derided he should be praised. (Too bad management in non-sports businesses, including PR, doesn’t have the same concern for their employees.)

In our business, the exit door for employees never closes, except for management No matter how bad managers screw up they are the last to leave.

What Boras did was try to protect the health and future of his client. Alderson’s reaction to that was similar to most management types, when push comes to shove, you’re just an employee number.

Fans in fantasyland scream that with all the money Harvey is making he should put the team first, even if it means reinjuring his elbow and ending his career. They disregard that in all sports, the minute an athlete is deemed not to be able to help the team they are cut loose, the same as employees in other businesses.

Unlike adult sports fanatics, whose undying devotion to players and teams I never understood, the innings pitch limit is a side show to me. The main attraction is the relationship between employee and employer. My question to all the sports fanatics and pundits who relentlessly disparage Harvey day and night is, “How many of you would put your careers at risk for your employer?”

That’s why history and experience show that when it comes to employee-employer relationships, put yourself first. Your mom and pop, aunts and uncles might put you first, but your employer never will.

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Arthur Solomon, a former senior VP at Burson-Marsteller, contributes to PR and sports business publications, consults on PR projects and serves on the Seoul Peace Prize nominating committee. He can be reached at [email protected].