Life in the minors

That is a good article describing the day-to-day routine of making ends meet in lower levels. One player I know got to his Appy league team and found about 10 guys living in the locker room. He was asked more than once by well meaning, but casual fans when he was going to make to the "pros" (MLB).

I think the article describes the accommodations & lifestyle (minus the bus trips) for most young people fortunate enough to have any professional career.  Everybody has to start at the bottom unless your last name is Trump, Carnegie or Rockefeller.  I know I lived in some incredible dumps in Chicago, Albany, Buffalo, Philly, Hoboken and NYC but I wouldn't trade that experience for anything 

After talking to a few minor leaguers, I came away thinking the major difference between minor league baseball players and everybody else is the amount of downtime and what they do with it.    Some continue their education or learn new skills, and others have a lot of off the field fun.   Many of them are bored when they are not playing.

I guess I was fortunate in that I never had to live a lifestyle like the minor leaguers do.  Had a good job and a pretty decent apartment right out of college. My wife and I...both engineers...had it pretty good I guess.

One thing that happens in triple-A...maybe a little bit in double-A too...is that there is a mix of "veterans"...many with MLB experience...who are being paid quite well (over $100K in many cases, over $1M in some cases) and the up-and-comers who still haven't hit the big paychecks.

I have not detected from our son that this is a big problem...but its gotta be at least a little tough to be living in "affordable housing" while teammates are living in a condo on the golf course (both true on our son's team last year).

From a show chronicling six D'backs AAA prospects a few years ago .... Carlos Quentin on being handed his per diem money for a MLB road trip after being called up, "Damn! The per diem money is more than my AAA paycheck!"

My son has a friend in AAA making about 150K, not on the 40 anymore. Once you go to the show and not on a ML roster the pay scale becomes better in ML. Free agents with ML/40 or minor league free agents get better pay. 

Interesting to note, many of the latin players get help from the latin big leaguers who want to see them succeed. They help with housing and clubhouse dues so they can live a bit better and send money home to help their families.

Life in the minors ended for my son last Friday. He was released. No regrets, no ill feelings just acceptance. Took me a few days to post this but wanted the people who have followed him and rooted for him to know. I want to thank each and everyone of you for the support the last ten years when I came on here when he was 14 trying to make the HS baseball team.)

So many wonderful memories and a few not so but we are choosing to focus on all the good things baseball brought to our family and esp my son.

He is in a very good place, and read to go on to the next phase of his life. Today he wrote his resume.

Learned so much about how it really is and its staggering. Especially for a non drafted Free agent.He wouldn't trade any of it for a minute. He is the man he is for all the time and work put into baseball.

They say:  They will tell you at 18,they will tell you at forty, but one day they will tell you that you aren't going to play anymore. His day came at 23.19 years of baseball in our lives,cant say I wont miss it, but am excited for what's next for him. He is a wonderful son, impeccable work ethic, and doesn't give up. Those and other wonderful attributes will help him in his life and I am excited to see what God brings

next.He has his degree from USC and is so glad he finished.

Thanks to each and everyone of you from my first post to this one for the support and friendship you brought.

Best of luck to all the boys /men returning to the game in a few weeks. I will be looking out for them and hope they beat the odds Their makeup is off the chart to be in this game after HS or college.

Fan

Fan, congratulations.

That might seem a strange salutation given the nature of your post, but I think it is actually the most appropriate say thing to say right now.

Congratulations for raising a young man in the game of baseball, and understanding what it offered to teach him how to succeed in life.

Congratulations for the success your son had in baseball, which is way beyond all but a small percentage of those who ever catch a ball in a game of organized baseball at any level.

Congratulations for what I know, from your posts over the years on this board, that you have raised as a son who wore the uniform with class, and for what you have offered to the folks here.

Your son and my son are the same age. I know precisely what you and our son have been through. And I know that even when it ends, the whole journey is worth it for what is builds in your son.

Congratulations!

Rob

Congrats indeed.  No doubt these positive attributes can be tied somewhat to the game and largely to mom.

Best wishes on the next phase of life for your son and I do hope you continue to contribute here.  A post from Fan is always positive, uplifting and insightful.

Fanofgame, what a wonderful, positive postscript on your son's baseball career.  I am saddened to hear his baseball story has ended but his story of life has just begun.  All through the years I have loved your posts and I know your son has no regrets because he gave it his all..

..and left it between the lines.

God Speed.  And stay our friend.

Rob - awesome post!

fanofgame is a great person and my friend.  We've only met over the phone but she and her husband were kind enough to attend one of my son's games in California.  It is a very small world.  At the upper levels as fanofgame's son has experienced, you start to realize what a small group of people we are talking about and how special they are.  It's no accident that many of us here at the hsbbweb know each other and follow each other's sons. 

She has much to be proud and thankful for and I wish her and her family all the best.  If a little, and I mean a "very little" bit of luck would have gone her son's way, he would be on a path to the big leagues someday.  Perhaps that path will still materialize.  Either way, her son will be in the "big leagues" of whatever endeavor he chooses to follow.  I know that because he has displayed a "big league" attitude his entire life.

Well done fanofgame and well done Matt! 

Great post, I think RK hit it right on the head, can't top that so I won't even try.

Any chance you can talk him in to joining the HSBBW team now?  I am sure he has a plethora of knowledge that a lot of us would like to pluck from him, just a thought.

Fan, this statement says it all for me...

Yes, milb can be a brutally tough endeavor, however the blood, sweat and tears a player puts into their baseball can help mold them and will provide valuable life experiences for years to come.  It sounds like your son gave it his all and seems to have no regrets...as a baseball parent aside from making it to the "show", I guess that is all we can hope for.  

So yes, congratulations are certainly in order to you and your son! 

Best of luck to all the boys /men returning to the game in a few weeks. I will be looking out for them and hope they beat the odds

Fan...your son already beat the odds and accomplished what so many will not. That he will always have. This game has a way of molding men that is unique.

fan, Wow how time does fly.  From your earliest posts when it appeared Matt's best option would be a D3 in Oregon until now, Matt's experience in baseball has been truly awesome.  In my view, it would be wonderful for many who are new to this site to understand and appreciate the options which seemed limited at once, the talent and skills Matt possessed which opened other options, including the D1 in Stockton measured against the JC, and finally his being accepted at USC something like 1-2 days before school started. Quite a journey with success at every point, due to talent and lot's of hard work and sacrifice by Matt and Mom and Dad too.

Over the years I have been lucky to watch many talented players at Sunken Diamond. Matt and jemaz' son are two who stand out for me.  As I posted a few years back, Matt played the game so well, competed the right way and could hit with a toothpick. What a gorgeous swing.

Having had our son experience this "release" news a few years back, it sure seems tough right now.  Time really does make a difference. Yesterday, our son posted a picture of our  smiling 15 month old grandson on FB. He had just put on  his first baseball glove...a nice little Mizuno beauty(his first name is Derek to sort of emphasize the baseball aspects). My very first thought was get the glove out of storage, get it oiled and the time will start again to "have" a catch.

I know you won't forget all that Matt accomplished in baseball and outside of baseball. Whatever Matt has done, I would expect, will pale when compared with what he will do with all that he learned from his journey.

Congratulations!

Bill

fanofgame, I am usually not at a loss for words, having just gone through this with my son. I have to say it still tugs at my heart a little, but I know that our sons did beat the odds.  What an incredible experience they have had and how it will forever be a part of who they are. Not many get the chance and oh what an incredible journey their baseball paths have taken us on!!!!!!

fog:

Best of luck to your son. (and you and the rest of the fog clan)  I enjoyed meeting you and bsbl247 two years ago at Dodger stadium. How time fly's.

Your son is now off on a new journey with a very nice degree from USC and a lot of great memories. Really does not get much better than that!

I particularly like your grounded wisdom here, which I hope continues. 

Congrats on job well done!

PS: Infielddad I am guessing it was a RH glove!

Fan - thanks for all your positivity and inspiration.  Your open writing and foremost your passion for sharing has meant a lot to me over the years, especially since I share with you a son trying to cut through the undrafted free agent challenges. 

I believe as others have shared that your son will be a success in the biggest game of life because of your and his outlook.

I think what I look forward to the most anymore with my son is not so much his baseball experiences, but his perception of worth he has for himself, outside of the game he plays.  He is getting married next December and I look forward to that.  What I am really curious to watch is if he ever has a son, and how he will approach the game of baseball with his offspring.  I think that will be an indication if what we did to encourage him in baseball wore the right way with son.  Hard to explain what I am talking about, but I think I wonder at times if we pushed too much and I want to see how that manifests in his own children.

I too hope Fan you stay active on here, love your style.  God bless to you and your son! 

Wow what nice responses and heartfelt. Thank you. Rob beautiful words and infielddad your memory is very good Always felt you were a fan of Matts as many on here. Matt always hit the ball well there. but that's what has made this site so good. We really follow the kids on here and feel connected to them and their families.

Fan:

I watched your son play several times. He is damn good. I know you are proud of him. He will remain a baseball player, a competitor and an outstanding man, I am sure. Best of luck to him in his future endeavors and thanks for sharing all of this here today.