Former Cubs player Carmen Fanzone still has fond memories of his time in the Windy City. “When I was there, if people found out you played for the Cubs, you were treated like royalty,” the 78-year-old Fanzone says. Sadly, the same cannot be said of Major League Baseball and the union representing today’s players, the Major League Baseball Players’ Association.

Fanzone is among the over 600 retirees who do not receive MLB pensions because of a vesting rules change that occurred in 1980. Prior to that year, a big leaguer needed four years of service to receive a benefit and be permitted to buy into the league’s umbrella health insurance plan. Since then, all that’s needed is 43 game days of service for a pension and one game day of service to be eligible for health coverage.