If you’ve never known or had a family member play for a minor league team, I envy your ignorant bliss. This game has forever changed my life, and will forever be a part of my life. I had no idea what I was getting into.
Before I met my husband, I was (and will always be) a fan of baseball. I go to city’s MLB game, drink beer, order a big salted pretzel, hoot and holler, sing “Take me Out to the Ball Game” and simply, just have fun. I understood the basics. There were 9 innings in a game, three outs to end the inning, and a home run was a very exciting thing. Judge me, I was full of ignorance and that’s what made this sporting event enjoyable.
That was unfortunately changed. I no longer go to a for the beer and entertainment. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve had my fair share of beers at my husband’s games. But now, my view of the game has drastically shifted. I judge pitches. I analyze strikes, balls, and swings. I know the plays. I know where the ball is going to land once it’s hit. Understand the positions, the fundamentals, and the stats. Holy hell, the stats. I can’t even begin to explain the countless stats. I know the multiple levels of the minor league farm system, I know where the teams play, I understand the draft, and I know now that a home run can be a very bad thing.
I am no longer a just a fan, but instead I am a support system, an analyst, a criticizer, a confidant, a shoulder, a fake smile, an embracing and understanding hug, a servant, a coach, a lover, a friend, a teammate, a social butterfly, loyal, his family, a baseball wife, a traveler, a person who lives out of a suitcase, a hotel hopper, a dreamer, a “Go get ’em Slugger” butt tap, wise and noble, proud, strong, selfless, a long distance relationship expert, a woman who follows and no longer leads, and of course, his number one fan.
Baseball is now a job, not a hobby or entertainment. And just like any job, performance is everything if you want to earn a promotion. If you don’t perform well, you do not progress, and someone else earns that promotion, and eventually you may be terminated.
There are 5 levels in the farm system. FIVE! Once drafted, there is a what I call the Rookie League, but formally known as Short Season. This is shorter than the normal baseball season to teach players that there is BIG difference between High School/College and professional baseball. The levels then continue to Low-A, High-A, Double A, and Triple A.
A typical draftee will spend about a year a each level. Sometimes more, sometimes less. A lot depends on their draft level and the money the organization had invested in them. Too many politics to wrap my head around.
As a player learns themselves and their roll become more clear, as long as they perform to the organizational standards, they progress and move up in the organization. It is a lot easier to move up at the lower levels as players tend treat them as more of a learning phase and the competition is not as difficult.
From what I’ve seen a lot of men are “parked” in Double-A. Sometimes spending 2-5 years at the level. I’ve seen longer, but why they choose to stay I’ll never understand. Players are very good at this level and in my (nonprofessional) opinion a very, very difficult level to overcome and progress in and one of the biggest hurdles in the minor league system. Performance at this level is crucial. There are MLB teams that have called upon Double-A players to the Majors, skipping final the Triple-A level. If a player does not perform at this level, they are often times released. And due to the fact that it is a difficult level, most players to do get picked up by an alternate team. I’ve seen 30 year old men be released from this level and with out a college education, struggle to find their place in the world. At times an organization will send a player down a level to the High-A level. Once that happens, it is extremely difficult to get back to Double-A. At this time, many players ask for their release to peruse an alternate career choice.
The road to success in this career is a long and winding road, with countless ups and downs, and endless curve balls (pun or no pun intended) and the odds are never in your favor. Some people don’t understand how truly difficult it is to accomplish the dream of playing in the Majors.
“Drafted baseball players almost always go to a minor league team. These teams abound; there are over 150 of them, compared to 30 in the majors. The big leagues have 750 players, yet the 2004 draft alone took 1,500. Hence some estimate that only one in 33 minor leaguers ever makes it to the pros. If that’s correct, the chance of a high school player making the big leagues is one in 6,600, or 0.015 percent.” (NCAA.ORG)
These men all have the same dream, and they endure so much to accomplish it. It takes a unique individual to put oneself through such strife. I envy them and their drive.
More Than Peanuts and Beer 