I also have to state that my son doesn't feel sorry for himself. why would he?

I had no idea what minor league life was like. I heard things about the life style but I didn't really understand. So I thought my posts may help to inform others

This thread has been most enjoyable. njbb - I have particularly enjoyed your participation over these past several days. infielddad - classic post and it is nice when we can all acknowledge when misunderstandings have occurred and that there is nothing more to it than that. PG - nice post

Coach2709 - please keep posting your ideas

quote:

Originally posted by njbb:

I had no idea what minor league life was like. I heard things about the life style but I didn't really understand. So I thought my posts may help to inform others

They have, thanks all!

What does this have to do with life in the minors?
If you want to promote a player I think you should post it under the "Please let us know about your player" topic in the general forum

I agree that it can be rough for some minor league players with families and other expenses, but it is alot better now than it was years ago. My Great Uncle played minor league ball and then a short with the pirates; however he didn't get paid enough to support his family so he went back to West Virginia and worked in a coal mine. Now that's rough.

if i could play single-A for a living i would, no matter what my salary was. i'd find a way to make a living.

quote:

Originally posted by infielddad:

quote:

There are many MUCH worse jobs out there

PopTime, with all due respect, I wonder how much you know about life in the minor leagues. Quite clearly my comments were not directed toward those players who are set from the time they sign their contract and receive the draft bonus. It focused, as Dad04 confirmed, on the other 90% of those in minor leauge baseball. Playing professional baseball, even in the minors, is the dream of so many. What you, at some point, find out is what you thought of as a game is really a business. The business is both physically and mentally demanding as well mentally and emotionally exhausting. Minor league players are not protected the collective bargainning agreement. Again, with all due respect, confusing the "riches" of those at the major league level with the process in the minor leagues that "might" get a player to that level isn't reality, but it might be a bit "silly."
I wonder which jobs you think are MUCH worse. Through A ball, the minor league players get paid either $1,150 or $1,350 per month. They play 29 days per month. With bus travel, which is extensive, they average a 12 hour work day. That ends up around $4.50 per hour for their work. From that, they pay room/board etc to live, they pay the locker room attendant, fines, etc. What is a job that, just from a pay perspective, is MUCH worse than that? Better stop typing, this is making me upset.

I could think a ton of worse jobs. Custodian, garbage man, fry cook at mcdonalds, etc.

I know they don't make much at all, and work very hard, but there are other people that work much harder than they do, and make the same or less money.

I do think that pro ballplayers get paid way to much money. I don't care how good they are, there is no way A-rod deserved to get 250 million (he didn't get all of it, but that was the contract) form the rangers, when there are doctors who work more hours than they do, and don't getpaid anywhere near that, yet they are SAVING PEOPLES LIVES. All the ballplayers do is provide entertainment, and nothing more. They give money to charities, but they are still merely entertainers, and thats all it amounts too,and they make too much money to be entertainers.

quote:

I could think a ton of worse jobs. Custodian, garbage man, fry cook at mcdonalds, etc.

Adam, I am not sure I could have been more clear in my post. My comments were focused on the minor leagues and the pay in the minor leagues. Each job you have included is protected by the federal and state minimum wage laws. A fry cook at McDonald's, earning the minimum wage, gets paid more per hour than a minor league player at the lower levels.
Since you have such a problem with the amounts major leaguers are paid, do you have similar type feelings for the owners of those clubs who made money in private industry and then pay those salaries as opposed to donating the money to charity?
You are indeed correct that MLB is an entertainment business. It attracts billions of dollars in revenues because people love to watch the game being played or the beer that is being served, or other such things. With those billions in revenue that MLB is receiving, why do the players earn too much money, when it is their talent that is responsible for the popularity of the game? Are you proposing the money should only go to the owners and to MLB/Bud.

[/QUOTE]I do think that pro ballplayers get paid way to much money. I don't care how good they are, there is no way A-rod deserved to get 250 million (he didn't get all of it, but that was the contract) form the rangers, when there are doctors who work more hours than they do, and don't getpaid anywhere near that, yet they are SAVING PEOPLES LIVES. All the ballplayers do is provide entertainment, and nothing more. They give money to charities, but they are still merely entertainers, and thats all it amounts too,and they make too much money to be entertainers.[/QUOTE]


Funny that only ballplayers are over paid. Nobody whines about the actors and musicians making too much. I think ballplayers work quite a bit harder than these other entertainers and most do not make near the same money.

IMO you are worth what the owners will pay you.

shock jock Howard Stern is paid $100 million dollars per yr.

Institutional Investor's Alpha magazine lists the top Hedge Fund Earners for 2006 and the top 25 all earned above 240 million.
Top earner James Simons of Renaissance Technologies earned 1.7 BILLION.
Kenneth Griffin and Edward Lampart each earned 1 Billion plus.

J. Bradford Delay an economist at CAL questioned what the hell they are doing that is worth that kind of money. He said it is ****ed mysterious.

The earnings of most occupations rarely equates to reasonable compensation at either end of the spectrum.

I know some kids out of college and even older who work all day at low paying jobs, then go practice or play baseball in a town league most every day including weekends from April until September.

They pay their own travel expenses, pay for food, and pay for everything else that is required. Some have little if any insurance and have problems making ends meet. They practice and play for zero! Worse than zero, it actually costs them money to play for nothing but the love for the game. Might not make sense to all of us, but that is loving the game.

This town league is full of players who would trade places with any minor league player in a heart beat.

The "real" players aren't playing baseball for the money. Yet some of them make it and end up being very wealthy. Others become wealthy the day they sign a contract. For most, wealth is not the right reason to be playing baseball.

I know others who practice and play golf every day of the week. Some who even travel all over the place to play golf. Why do people do this? Then there is the serious softball player or tennis player. How many golfers, softball players or tennis players get paid to play?

There are kids who practice and play baseball everyday in the summer. Sometimes they pay for this privilage. They travel all over the country doing this, it's actually their life for the summer. Often their parents pay a lot of money to do this. It's very tiring and hard, but many of the kids really love it and can't wait for the next summer to do it again. They are among the "real" players.

There are people who spend their entire summer coaching youth baseball for no financial gain. Sometimes people do things just because they love doing it.

Back to the town leagues, they charge at the gate and sell consessions and print programs just like a small time minor league club. But the players play for nothing and they have almost no chance of making the big time dollars in baseball. I know it's not the same, but there are some similarities.

Life time minor leaguers might have had a better life doing something else, but they just didn't want anything else. I for one can respect that and understand it.

Finally... I too believe minor league players are under paid. I wish they were paid enough to live more comfortably. There is an obnvious inequity from the minor league 1st rounder and the 35th rounder. They have the same job, but one has much more security. But we have to remember that the MLB club puts a value on a player before he signs on. If that value is a thousand dollars, they don't think of you as having a lot of value. It's up to the player if that is something he wants to do. And to prove the MLB club wrong as to his value.

Sometimes that is exactly what happens!

PG

You're absolutely right.

A long time scout once told me, "The club pays out the right amount of money every year. Sometimes we just give it to the wrong guys"