TPM, that there should be posted on HSBBW's front page. Great stuff!
Bum, Jr. saw it all his first year. He started in Rookie ball and stayed at the hotel across the street from the complex. It was almost like a vacation or an extended prospect camp. In a few weeks he moved up to short season and stayed with a host family who helped with his transportation.
Reality set in when he went to long-A, a small town in the middle of nowhere, Iowa. He showed up, got a few nights stay at the hotel and was told to find his own accomodations thereafter. He said it was with five other guys in a basement "pad" in what some locals referred to as a haunted house with a tainted past. It helped the previous two years he was in the oft-travelled Northwoods league and was used to living like a Gypsie.
No offense to the Roma culture. Baseball in the minor leagues is a spartan existence.
I wonder how many parents chasing the "dream" for their kids with travel ball at early age would have second thoughts after reading about the reality of trying to make it to the MLB? How many players at a young age would want to continue traveling on weekends to chase this dream?
If my son was good enough to get drafted out of high school the only way I would give my approval to my son is if he received a minimum of $500K sign on bonus to put in the bank for college later on should he wash out. Otherwise I would encourage and motivate him to go to college straight from high school.