Much has been made of the fact that Roger Dearing makes more than Rick Scott, the governor of Florida. That’s because Dearing, who you’ve likely never heard of, is the executive director of the Florida High School Athletic Association. He takes home $151,000 a year. The state allots Gov. Scott $130,000.
It might seem a blatantly skewed priority to be allocating the Sunshine State’s (salary-declining) governor an amount that is less than someone who leads an organization of 29 employees doing work that is arguably far less important than that of a mega-state’s chief executive.
This sort of bizarre juxtaposition harkens back to a certain celebrated salary comparison for relevant context. The year was 1930. Babe Ruth was coming off a 1929 season in which he hit 46 home runs, knocked in 154 runs and had a .345 batting average. He signed with the Yankees for an unprecedented $80,000. President Herbert Hoover, who made $75,000, was coming off a relatively depressing experience.
When baited with a question about the disparity between an athlete’s salary and that of the president of the United States, Ruth was famously quick on his brutally candid retort. “I know,” he acknowledged, “but I had a better year than Hoover.”