Every player enters into a Major League Baseball farm system with the dream to make it into the big leagues, but realizing that goal is often a struggle. It costs the families money and hardships while their player packs up to leave for months at a time.​



Jared Goedert is the epitome of a player who represents the many challenges of minor league baseball. He recently signed a minor league deal with the Pirates coming from the Cleveland Indians last season. He has been in many leagues starting at Low-A Mahoney Valley in 2006. In 2010, he was called up from Double-A to Triple-A in the middle of the season. Then, in 2011, he was moved back down from Triple-A to Double-A. He said the toughest part is being away from his wife, who is an elementary school teacher.



“For what we do, it kind of works out as well as it can,” Goedert said. “She can come out over spring break and then the summer. And I get to go back home during the off season so it is kind of tough being apart, but it’s kind of part of it.”

Professional baseball is a lifestyle change that players must adjust to. Players pack up and expect to be away from their hometowns for more than six months at a time.



Lucas May is catcher who recently signed as a free agent with the Pirate’s Triple-A affiliate, the Indianapolis Indians. He has moved to a different team almost every year since starting his career in 2003.

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“You kind of just get used to having things packed at the house so you don’t have to do it every year,” May said. “You have a big tub of things you bring for the season and you just stick in the basement when you’re done. It’s just something you get used to.”



Coach Mike Steele calls the minor leagues a “maturity environment” that each player must go through and adjust to being away from family before making it the major leagues. The average age for the Triple-A league is 28.2 as compared to the average age of the Single-A, which is 21.2.



“All these guys come in and they have tools and talent,” Steele said. “Physically, they’re as good as guys in the major leagues are. The biggest separator is the maturity factor. These guys have to do it every single day and just grow up and be men.”



On the road, players often share apartments and move around between different cities as they move up and down the farm system. Kris Johnson most recently was a pitcher for the Pirates Triple-A affiliate, the Indianapolis Indians. When he lived in Indianapolis last year, he stayed with a friend in a nearby suburb.

“A lot of travel, going back from Double-A to Triple-A back to Double A, going up and down different levels, different teams, it’s a journey, but over the years you get used to it.” Johnson said.


Vic Black was drafted in 2009 by the Pirates organization and describes the baseball lifestyle as a “big brotherhood.” He says he has friends all over because of baseball.

“You come from a college where you’re on campus, you’re around the same guys for three years for me, and the faces don’t change, often the coaches you get to know,”  Black said. “But now, you go to a new team each year. Hopefully, you’re moving up and often times you’re with new guys. You’ve got to understand personalities, how you fit in and what roles you play.”

Undoubtedly, the players have to go through a lot of hardships playing minor league ball. However, the reason that most of them go through the hardship is the same.
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“The ups are obviously reaching the ultimate level, which is the big leagues,” May said.



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THE COACH'S TAKE