My Low Wage Life

Following the in class example, I would like to do my next hypertext on minor league baseball players. Professional athletes are often regarded as millionaires lucky enough to be able to play games for a living. However, for every major league superstar there are hundreds of players in the minor leagues or independent leagues who usually make less than $2000 a month. The lives of these players are far less glamorous than those of major league players. Minor league players live very nomadic lives, traveling around the country, often far from family or friends. They are not a part of the MLB players’ union (except for the few minor league players on a team’s 40 man roster), and so they don’t receive the benefits that major league players have and have no ability to fight decisions made by the teams. Very few minor league players can afford decent housing, and considering how often players change teams in the minors, it usually would not be worth the trouble anyway. Many players in the lower minor leagues especially actually live with host families, since they cannot afford a place to stay. Players from countries other than the United States, who make up about 40% of all players, are also dealing with living in a new country with a new language. Many of these players are not able to directly communicate with their teammates or coaches. And of course, since the players are not paid in the offseason, they often have to find other low wage work to feed and house themselves and their families, while making sure they are keeping up on their offseason condition and practice for the next season.
The live of minor league players are interesting to me because, as an avid baseball fan, I follow my team’s minor league system closely. While fans tend to focus on the few players who have a chance of making it in the big leagues, there are far more players who go largely unnoticed by fans, players who scouts do not expect to make the major leagues but who chase their dreams anyway. I want to learn the sacrifices somebody makes in order to be able to follow the American dream. What dream is more American than to want to become a professional baseball player? As a fan, I have followed names and statistics of players from the time they were drafted until they make their major league debut and beyond. We as fans do not hear anything else baseball related. We feel good for players who “get the call” to go to the major leagues because it is probably the realization of a life-long dream. For the player however, not only is it that, it sometimes means that the player can afford to live in his own apartment, or eat something other than cheap fast food, or send money to his poor family back home. I know the names of many minor league players in my favorite teams farm system, but I know very little about how they make ends meet.