Photo Credit: Mark LoMoglio/Yankees
(Editor’s Note: Dillon McNamara was drafted out of Adelphi University in 2013 by the New York Yankees. In ’13, he was named All-American when he set a program record with 13 saves and he allowed just one ER in 32.0 IP with 43 Ks (0.28 ERA). He just completed his fourth minor league season and has a 2.77 career ERA over 204.1 IP.
by Dillon McNamara
I once had a teammate describe minor league baseball to me as follows:
Imagine you are in a dark room with your hand on the wall and all you can see is a speck of light in the distance. The wall is comfortable, it’s familiar, and while you can’t see anything around you, somehow you know you are safe. You might start to crawl towards that bright light, but each time you do you get scared and scurry back to your familiar wall. You want to see, but how much are you willing to sacrifice? Are you willing to let go of that safe wall and crawl in the darkness day after day to a light that no matter how far you crawl may still be unachievable?
Minor League baseball players live two lives. Seven months out of the year you are in-season training and competing day in and day out. It’s a cliche but, your teammates and coaching staff truly become your family. You take most of your meals together, you train together, you compete against each other, you literally live at the field grinding to be better 24/7. You do this every day for 140 games (not counting Spring Training or playoffs) and then suddenly it pauses. You turn that competitive, regimented side of yourself off and fly home to relax for a month or two before you start crawling to that light again.
I’ll be entering my 5th season of minor league ball with the Yankees in a few months. I started this past season with the Tampa Yankees, the High-A affiliate. A common mistake to even well-versed baseball fans is that there are three levels of minor league baseball simply Single-A, Double-A, and Triple-A. That is not the case, especially not for the Yankees.
There are actually six levels of minor league baseball: Rookie ball, Short Season, Single-A, Advanced-A, Double-A, and Triple-A, in of which the Yankees have 10 different teams. So when you arrive home after your fourth season of minor league baseball a common question you may hear is “What level are you up to? Double A?” You can imagine the surprised and disappointed looks when you respond that you finished the previous year in A-ball and are hoping to start the next one in Advanced-A. While it may seem tedious to others, each climb up the ladder is a goal accomplished; another step towards that light. The point is this minor league lifestyle is a grind. A relentless, thankless grind that I am beyond blessed to take part in.
I didn’t understand the scope of minor league life when I was drafted almost four years ago in the 27th round by the New York Yankees out of Division-II Adelphi University. I didn’t know how it would shape me as a person by allowing me to travel around the country with people–now brothers, from Texas, Florida, California, Montana, Dominican Republic, Venezuela, South Korea, and so on and so on. I didn’t realize I’d have to see countless of these brothers, guys way more talented than me, have their dreams cut cruelly short. However, this is a business, and an uber-competitive one at that.
I’d like to think I now have some grasp on minor league life. I finished this past season with the Trenton Thunder, the Double-A affiliate, so yes I can now answer affirmatively to that piercing off-season question; even if it was only for a handful of games. Just as I am trying to get better every day so are the Yankees and the 29 other MLB organizations from top to bottom. The New York Yankees have 25 MLB roster spots and over 250 minor league players. It goes without saying every player is not going to reach that ever dimming light, but I guarantee you none of them are going to reach it without first letting go of that wall.
