There are empty chairs and I think I hear the music...............

quote:

tpm quote:
It's an exciting time for most of us "new" minor league parents, please don't try to burst my bubble by being negative. That is not what my intention was.

If you want to hear it we have to hear it both ways. With the good comes the negative. My son has been in the minors a whole three weeks and I have three weeks of parental experience which is squat in my mind. I know nothing except the "stories" I hear or read about, nothing first hand and that's reality. I will pass along what he tells me, which will be what he wants me to hear. I will not hear about the loneliness, the frustrations, the redundancy, and the worries of a minor league player. He is now an adult working in a profession where it is his life and while I'd like to think I know it all, I know very little and I would like to understand from others on this site who may have seen the "darker" side so I can understand the realities. Ryan said it best. As far as he's concerned he is the bottom of the professional food chain, starting all over, and with all bottom feeders life is not a bowl of cherries. On a different plane, he said there are many similarities to being a college freshman, but, with grown up responsibilities.

rz,
Good points.

I have always carefully read posts from Fungo, njbb, txmom, infielddad, FBM, OPP about the next level. Good example of how I perceive their posts, Infielddad gives great insight WITHOUT being negative. There is a difference.

JMO.

Before my dad died he and Ryan would have these talks that I never remembered listening to, and I should have. I overheard him one time where he was trying to explain to Ryan about "taking the blinders off". He had Ryan hold his hands next to his eyes like blinders and then wacked him upside the head with a newspaper Then he said to take his hands down, another swing at his noggin and Ryan ducked it. When he finished laughing Ryan said "It sure is better when you see it coming". The posters you mention are great people who give great advice, but, reality isn't always coming right at you in the tone you want to hear. The best thing about this site is that many times you learn most with honest shots from the blindside.

As stated before, that's why we encouraged DK to go to college first. If we had worn blinders, he might not have had that experience.

I started this thread so some of the people that have followed all of our sons could find out about their new experiences and draw their own conclusions and I THINK most have enjoyed reading.

There have been many college vs. pro threads that have addressed the negatives and positvies on the subject.

My intention for creating this topic was not that.
Done.

I had two sons play in the following professional leagues

Gulf Coast - Rookie
NY/Penn – Short season
Pioneer – Short season
South Atlantic – Low A
Midwest – Low A
Florida State – High A
Eastern - Double A
International – Triple A
Pacific Coast – Triple A
Arizona Fall League
Winter ball in Venezuela, Australia, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico
National League – Major League
American League – Major League
Might be a couple I’m forgetting!

As a parent, I think I knew more before all the above happened. It will take “many” games before people will realize just how difficult and unpredictable this stuff is. The game gets “much” better and faster at every level. The ones who make it are the ones who continued to learn, improve and adjust in professional baseball.

There are some very interesting and misleading things that happen along the way. For one example, pitchers in rookie and other short season leagues can get a false read on pro baseball. You see a lot of unbelievable k/bb ratios. This is because many young pro hitters swing at anything close to the strike zone. The hitters get smarter at every level. In AA and AAA this just doesn’t happen as often, those hitters swing less freely and make pitchers throw strikes.

One interesting story… A college pitcher we were very familiar with went directly to the NY/Penn league out of college. He pitched 61 innings with 40 strikeouts and 0 walks. That’s correct Zero walks he gave up in 61 innings pitched. That was in 2001, fast forward to 2007 pitching in AAA, he has pitched 59 innings and has 36 strikeouts to 27 walks. He is a better pitcher now than he was his first year, but the competition is just that much better and smarter.

Anyway, I love hearing all the updates about those who are playing professional baseball. Like many other things in life… the more we’re around it, the more we come to realize just how much we “don’t” know.

Just got back from beautiful Clemson University - and saw that Hudson Valley just got "Zinked".

Way to go Ryan!!!

I love hearing from all the new pro parents. Its an exciting time.
Everyones experience will be different depending on what organization they play for,what league they are sent to and what their expectations are.
Remember its a marathon not a sprint and never doubt for a min. that your the best one on that field.

So far - from my perspective - not much has changed.
Competition ratcheted up a couple notches. You get a little dough. Crowds are bigger.

But - The player still has to hit it - catch it - and run like a wild dog.

And the pitchers have to get people out.

And I guess - if you dont do those things - you will be coming home sooner rather than later.

And thats about it.

Its,
It can be much different than that.
If you are signed for a signficant bonus, you will get a very, very long look before you ever head home. If you are a prospect, usually determined by where you are drafted or your bonus, you can be elevated and will continue to play even when the performance doesn't seem to warrant that.
If you are a pick from say the 12th/13th round on, you are going to earn every start by your performance. To earn a promotion, you have to prove you can play and dominate, and are a prospect.
I think the business of the minor league can be very much different than what you see on the field.
If you are, for instance a 20th round pick, you must prove you belong, and prove it every day. But that does not get you a promotion, and that is what this is all about.

its,
I have to agree with infielddad. I thought just as you but soon realized that draft rounds have the major impact on the lineups and player movement (at least at the lower levels of pro ball). What you say about a player having to hit, catch, run and get players out is true but that is only part of the formula. The window of opportunity is narrower for someone drafted in the later rounds.

The organization has to view you as a prospect at the major league level.
Higher round players were evaluated to have the tools, (hence the big bonus)and will be given every opportunity to prove themselves.
Once a player is in the system and the organization has had more time to evaluate them,a lower round player could project to have MLB tools (great scouting find)and will be given more playing time.

Another good article Josh says is "dead on".

Passing Up Life to Play Ball

BB is a great sport and even when you are considered one of the best you will still get guys like Pain / sports analysts telling you you ain't doing it right

quote:

Originally posted by njbb:
The organization has to view you as a prospect at the major league level.
Once a player is in the system and the organization has had more time to evaluate them,a lower round player could project to have MLB tools (great scouting find)and will be given more playing time.

njbb, while I agree with you, I also think it is important to recognize the opportunities to be "evaluated" can vary widely depending on the organization.
In 2004, there were 2 DIII shortstops drafted in nearly identical rounds. Both started in short season A. After about 1 month, they had similar playing time, close to nothing. By the end of the season, one had played 13 games with less than 30 AB's and one had played 45 games with about 130 AB's.
The next year, one player went to the AZL where he played 22 games with 60 AB's and one ended up in the MWL and ended up playing close to 120 games with nearly 500 AB's. I think these types of numbers and stories are important. The organizational approach, emphasis on player development, and minor league depth has a lot to do with who can "earn" a chance to prove they might have "tools."
And to be honest, if you are a lower pick, even if you prove something one year, you usually move to the bottom and have to prove things again the next year, with the drafted or bonus prospects getting preference.

Frank, thank you for posting the link. Great reading. Pretty accurate from our experience.

BHD, was that posted on the right thread?

Ya it was a rambling thought that crossed my mind. I see all these great ball players working hard and giving up life in the pusuit of BB and analysts I listened to talk about them like they don't have any skill. Just rambling.

MO, there are various things, all count, but in different ways at different times.

1. Ability, talent, tools… This is very important in order to be a early round draft pick.
2. Intangables, makeup, etc… This is important at all times.
3. Performance, improvement, etc… This is what causes a later round pick to pass by the early round picks.

While it is true that the early picks get the most benefit of the doubt and the late picks have to prove themselves, the system still works.

Sometimes the late rounder will have to succeed at every level while the early pick moves up quickly. But in the end the Major Leagues are full of later round picks and many early picks don’t get there. In the end, they get it right most of the time IMO.

Minor league baseball life is tough.
Period.
Exclamation point.
Bottom line !!!

I love the link Frank gave us to Fernando Perez's journal because it expresses so much of what the players feel and think on an everyday basis ... I know in talking with our son and his wife we definitely see it. But as our son's mother-in-law told me yesterday (after their return from Mobile), they never heard the kids complain at all ... even when the wife got up at 3 a.m. to pick our son up at the field after a 10 day road trip and still had to go to work in the morning at 8; even when there are strenuously long road trips of 15+ hours; etc. (Well, actually, they do complain about the heat and humidity ...) He loves it because it is his dream and she loves it because it is his dream and she loves him.

Some of the experiences that our son has told us about, the trials of finding a ride to a local WalMart so he can buy the dreaded shower shoes/flip flops and not get 'fined', of finding a place to live in a town where there are few if any host families, can put stress on the guys when it is all new to them. But far more important in the grand scheme of things is the living out of a dream, something many of us have never really done in our lives because we thought we had to have different priorities, something promoted by us as parents because we may not have lived out our own dreams, and something I feel the boys will never regret. Plus there are very funny times (I think baseball players have the best and funniest stories of the shennanigans in the club house and dug out), friendships that develop for life, and memories that will never fade ...

JMHO FWIW

Here is another aspect of life in the minor leagues.

http://www.wzzm13.com/video/sports_player_1.aspx?aid=20930&sid=77334&bw=

Fines will be levied and come out of that paycheck FO described before. Suspensions also impact that check.

PG, while I defer to your experience, and while I agree that "they get it right most of the time," I tend to wonder, some, about the process.`
When we look at ML rosters and teams, we usually can see the ones that are better run/managed from those with question marks. My current view is that the quality of talent judgement/decision making at the major league level may reflect similar practices in the minor leagues.
As a result, there are minor league organizations that are loaded with quality talent and depth of talent, and some that are not so. Neither works particularly well for the player but I think it is especially hard on the later round pick trying to prove himself. If he is with a great organization, they continue to load in talent above and behind him.
If he is with a "less so," they don't necessarily give him the look/opportunity/coaching he needs to develop.
With the Rule V being extended an additional year, I think it only adds to the dilemma of the player. It certainly does help the ML team ensure they make the right choices, ultimately, though.