Minor League Baseball: Home to big league dreams
By John Bauman
Throughout the United States, in small towns and big cities, small cathedrals rise out of the earth to play host to minor league baseball. No matter how far away you are from a big league club, chances are that you will have a minor league team near by that you can go visit a couple nights each summer.
The minor leagues are known for their family friendly atmosphere and for a fun night beyond just the baseball on the field. In other words, the minor leagues are the king of promotions and on-field entertainment between innings. Dollar hot dog night always brings a crowd to the ballpark and kids get just as excited to see a mascot shoot t-shirts into the crowd or to sing “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” as they do when the players get a two-out RBI single.
With the focus of minor league baseball on having a good time for fans, the baseball often takes a backseat. There is almost like a bubble around the playing field that the fans never break. The players are on the field, doing their own thing, and the spectators are on the outside looking in. Seldom is the bubble broken except when hecklers pick out opposing players and when foul balls are projected into the stands.
One recent example of this came at a Durham Bulls game, when A.L. Rookie of the Year Wil Myers was rehabbing from injury. Before the Class-AAA affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays took the field, the line for Myers autograph ended up being much shorter than the lines for balloon animals in the sixth inning. Myers graciously signed everything put in front of him, but the majority of the line didn’t realize they were getting an autograph from a future MLB superstar.
However, I can’t really fault the kids and families. There is no rule that you must appreciate the nuances of baseball when you step inside a minor league ballpark. I just can’t imagine how it feels for the players. Here they are making a living in front of these fans, playing baseball in front of crowds day after day in the hot summer sun. These players are trying to make a living, trying to make it to the big leagues, and the minor league ballpark is their office. The pressure of trying to make it to the big leagues is huge, especially in August. All of the teams are starting to fill their 40 man rosters in their heads, and a bad outing can keep you in Triple-A instead of bringing you up to the majors for a September call up when the roster expands on September 1st.
The incentives for making to the big leagues extend far beyond just wanting to play in a bigger stadium or with a big league ball club. Many minor league players live below the poverty level, and making it to the big leagues offers a big pay day and financial stability and luxuries that the minor leagues can’t afford.
Triple-A is probably where the pressure of trying to make the majors is highest. The closest step in the minors to the big leagues, Triple-A is a mix of top-flight prospects and veterans who have made it to the big leagues once or twice before but are looking to get back as soon as possible. One example of the contrast would be with the Bulls again. Wilson Betemit, who has played over 800 games and 11 years in the bigs, now finds himself playing first base in Durham. At this point in his career, he is trying to get one more good season out of himself before retirement from the game he has played all his life. He is 32 years old, but his teammate Hak-Ju Lee nearly 10 years younger at age 23.
Lee has spent over five years and 527 games in the minors already, but has yet to find a spot in the big league infield with the Rays. He is one of the teams elite prospects, but he hit a rocky patch this year in Durham. His batting average is down to .204 and he has just three home runs in 85 games this season. He is on the 40 man roster along with Bulls infielder Tim Beckham, the number one overall pick in the 2008 MLB draft for the Rays. Beckham’s career never quite took off and he has toiled in the minors for over 635 games already trying to make a living as an everyday middle infielder for the Rays.
For all three of those guys, the stories and journeys are different but the goal is the same — a September call-up and a chance to play for the big league ball club. So next time you are at a minor league park, as you are eating your dollar hotdog, keep an eye on players like these and root them on as they chase on their dreams night after night on the minor league field.