Over the weekend lots of our friends started to make their way down to Florida or out to Arizona for Spring Training. I want to take a few minutes to let you into a life some of you may find far too familiar and some of you may know nothing about.
| milb baseball life |
First off, the life of a minor league baseball player is nothing too fabulous. Yes, some may have received hefty signing bonuses, but not everyone is that fortunate. Some players that are drafted just get a plane ticket out to the facility to show their talents at a chance to make their dreams come true. Most of the minor league baseball players are living off their signing bonuses because their salaries throughout the season are so low. An average minor league baseball player makes anywhere from $850/month- $1,500 a month. So for that reason alone, we decided that I will be staying in Norfolk full time. We have known this for a while, but with the season approaching, it is actually starting to becoming a reality.
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| Photo credit to Lianna Holub Photography |
Another aspect that makes the baseball wife life so dynamic is all the teams. The MLB draft is different than any other sport. 5.6% of high school baseball players continue on to the collegiate level. 2.3% of college baseball players get drafted by a team in the MLB draft. So, if you are lucky enough to be in that small percentage of highschool or college baseball players that get drafted, you still have to prove you are major league worthy. Only 7% of players drafted after the 21st round have had a shot in the Majors. Here is a breakdown of all the different levels in Minor Leauge Baseball.
Majors
AAA
AA
A Advance
A
Short Season
Rookie Ball
So you can see why it is hard to actually settle down in one place. You could start on A Advance and move up to AA during a season, or back down the next week. The goal for any minor league player is to always move up and not back down. The lifestyle is pretty rough if you plan to have a job and be wherever your hubby is. For example, if I was to try and go wherever D.J. is, I would not be able to get a "career" job because of the potential (and hope) that he will move up sometime that season. I am so thankful that my friends and family understand the decision of us living half the year apart. It really allows D.J. the full potential to reach his childhood dream while I keep on keepin' on back in Norfolk! [Sidenote- this will be our first season as a married couple, so I will keep you updated on how I feel about being apart when the season gets going.]
Keep in mind that this is only one way of going through the season. We have dear friends that are lucky enough to go wherever their man is. They have found jobs that keep them busy, but allow them to still be at the games and enjoy living together with their husbands. Hopefully, D.J. will be on a team that is close enough for me to make weekend trips and see lots of games. I will report back in late March-early April on where D.J. will be playing to start the season!
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| Photo credit to Lianna Holub Photography |
The day-to-day life of a minor league baseball player is hard. Over the months of April to September, the boys have 11 days off. Every other day, they have games. Half of that time, they are on the road. Sometimes they have to hop on the bus after a game and drive 8 hours through the night to be in the next city by morning to play again. My hats go off to those guys. They are sleeping in hotel beds every other night, napping on the floor of the bus, and eating peanut butter and jelly for lunch before the game. This is another reason why for us, it would be worthless for me to travel with D.J. If we are going to be apart from each other, at least with me in Norfolk I am able to make a living and am surrounded by family that keeps me occupied.
All in all, the life is not a glorious as it may seem. I hope that I enlightened you into our lives a little and I hope to share more about the minor league baseball life with you all as we continue on our crazy fastball of a life! For all of those baseball wives/fiances/girlfriends- stay positive as we begin to put another off season in the books. We are all just hoping that one day, we get the call we have all been dreaming of. I am so lucky to be the woman that stands by his side as he goes through all these baseball milestones. It is nothing less than a roller coaster ride, and I would choose to sit in the front row every single time.
Please leave a comment about your experiences or what you would like to know more about! I would love to share!
You're awesome! Love your positive attitude!
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed this post! I have two boys that eat sleep and breathe high school baseball. I know it's unlikely that either of them will make a career out of it, but it's pretty interesting to see what that would be like! Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteThis is great. Let me know if you ever book a two-night cross country trip on a Thursday, leave on Saturday morning, arrive in time for the first pitch that evening and find out around midnight that same night that he is to get on a shuttle to the airport the next day at 8:00am to switch teams...meanwhile, you are still in the state of Washington for a whole day longer. Hahaha, I can laugh about it now, but We were not laughing then. Good luck to D.J. and to you as well! Also, don't forget that baseball doesn't always end after the minors...There is also Independent ball...an entirely different monster that is similar to the minors with a bit more stability.
ReplyDeleteLove this post! It takes somebody living the Minor League life to understand it. It definitely is not as glamorous as so many people think it is!
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