Excellent and accurate posts in particular by TPM and flingit above. Simply excellent.
Add to all of that the fact that it very likely puts the rest of your life on hold. Jobs, careers, girlfriends...it all gets a bit tougher as you're always on the move and nearly all of the off season is spent preparing for the next season.
Excellent and accurate posts in particular by TPM and flingit above. Simply excellent.
Add to all of that the fact that it very likely puts the rest of your life on hold. Jobs, careers, girlfriends...it all gets a bit tougher as you're always on the move and nearly all of the off season is spent preparing for the next season.
Well I was waiting for you to chime in so I tried to cover all of the bases without ya!!!!!
Of course I left out some of the really good stuff, travel, meeting folks, doing good deeds like visiting sick kids or hosting special needs kids at the park or a camp. Those are priceless moments you don't get paid for. However, first you need to get the hang of the job before that stuff really has any meaning!
My son was drafted out of hs and spent 9 yrs in pro ball. He graduated from hs on a Wed. was flown across country on a Sat and started complex ball. the team arranged for a first class flight and for a shuttle to the hotel.
He lived at the hotel with no transportation other then the shuttles to and from the fields.
There was a curfew of 11pm, there was bed check each night .
Son said there was little time for anything other then baseball eating and sleeping.
Times have changed. Now a player has to sign much earlier than before.
I do believe that many teams don't leave early draft signs in complex ball anymore.
Complex ball consists of mostly young latin players.
I know as a parent, that is not what we would wanted for my son.
My suggestion is just like one would for college, do your homework, ask where the rookies out of HS will spend first- second season, look at the rosters. Ask questions before you sign on the dotted line.
My sons first season was as a sign out of college. They are pretty much left to fend for themselves, not as much supervision as a drafted
player out of HS. From what I knew of young 17, 18,19 year olds, we decided that having a college coach looking over his shoulder would be a better option.
It is good to see you njbb. I wish you and your family a very happy holiday season.
Heard one of my former players speak on this after being signed. He basically said that he arrived at his first assignment. He was lost. Didn't know where to stay, Didn't know anything about meal money etc. Pitched in his first 3 games and there was an organization hot shot in the stands for the 3rd game. At the end of the game, he was sent to another team. Long story short, he moved fast that first year through that system which was not the norm. (Cardinal's organization.) At 18 he didn't know anything about doing his laundry, cooking, or how to handle the little bit of money he was making. It did get better by his second and third years and when he was at AAA. Until then, he still doesn't know how he managed.
TPM and flingit pretty much nailed the milb experience for most however not all players have the same level of hardship to start off.
As suggested earlier, if your HS son is faced with making the pro vs. college decision try not to get too caught up in the excitement of turning pro…take a step back, ask questions and make sure you know what you are getting into. Yes it can be a tough life (especially for kids out of high school) however there are a lot of advantages as well (coaching, trainers, level of competition…getting paid to play baseball).
As a parent our biggest concern was our son being on his own at 18, while college students are technically “on their own” to, at least there is a structure in place to support the student athlete transitioning into an independent life style. With pro ball I was told by many that a player was pretty much on his own to fend for themselves. I was pleasantly surprised to find out during Jerseyson’s negotiations that his organization (Pirates) went to great lengths to replicate the dorm experience for Fall Instructs, Spring Training and Rookie League players. They have a dorm that looks like a Hyatt and it sits in the Pirate complex next to the training facilities and fields. They also have a cafeteria so unless you just need to “get out” you really don’t have to leave the complex. They also had a 11pm curfew (with bed check) which is a bit much however for a parent sending their child off for the first time it was a bit of a comfort to know that his first experience of pro ball would be someone protected.
My son didn’t sign until the deadline so he didn’t play his first summer however by the time he was through Orientation, the Fall Instructional Leagues and Spring Training he pretty much had learned the ropes and was prepared for his first assignment with a Short Season A team.
I know that not all teams are the same with how they deal with first year players however in Jerseyson’s case when it came to living arrangements there wasn’t much difference between starting college or his professional career. Jerseyson may have been lucky however not all milb beginnings are as stressful as it may sound.
