By the end of January, John O’Reilly was chomping at the bit to get to spring training.
Like most minor leaguers, the 24-year-old pitcher, newly assigned to the Pittsburgh Pirates organization, viewed baseball’s pre-season as a mecca of opportunity.
O’Reilly, who played last season in Double-A — minor league baseball’s second-highest level — was not expecting to make it to the majors and become the Pirates’ opening day starter, but with a decent showing, he could perhaps inch his way up minor league baseball’s arduous, low-salaried ladder.
When the pandemic started, O’Reilly was having what he considered to be a highly successful spring training — he had even been called on to finish innings for major league pitchers.
In one game, he pitched against the New York Yankees, a big deal for a kid from New Jersey.
Then on March 13, O’Reilly got a message from the organization: Beginning tomorrow morning, everyone must go home.
By that point, the COVID-19 outbreak had been officially declared a pandemic and it was no longer safe for any large groups to gather together — baseball games were no exception.
“It is definitely scary,” O’Reilly said. “Less of a chance to go out and play the game you love with your teammates. You look forward to it for the five months you’re away [during the off-season].”
O’Reilly went home to his family in New Jersey, where he is anxiously following the news.
Mitch Horacek, a 28-year-old pitcher in the Minnesota Twins organization, opted to stay in Florida with his girlfriend’s family, instead of going home to the cold of Colorado.
One day, Twins doctors were cautioning players to wash their hands and avoid signing autographs. Three days later, Horacek’s big league hopes were paused.
Horacek had been following the spread of the coronavirus since the first outbreak in Wuhan, China, and sensed that baseball might be shelved a while.
“One of our last games had almost 10,000 people,” Horacek said. “It was a culmination of my nerves. I kept thinking: ‘Someone here might have this virus, we should do something.’ Of course, things got way more crazy.”
The exodus from camps was chaotic and unprecedented.
As teams were figuring out how to operate in the new climate, Horacek, O’Reilly and hundreds of other minor leaguers started to worry about when — or if — they would be paid.
Then again, money is always a concern in the minor leagues.
Despite being professional athletes, these players’ salaries often fall below the US’ minimum wage, forcing many to get creative to make ends meet.
Horacek said that it is commonplace for players to double the occupants allowed on a lease, so they can all afford to pay rent.
Many offer pitching or hitting lessons, but a huge chunk of players take second jobs that they can fit around their baseball career, such as delivery driving.
Horacek used to engage in another common cost-cutter for minor leaguers: skipping breakfast.
Minor leaguers understand that it is all part of the sacrifice, namely because they have no choice if they eventually want to make it to the big leagues.
“I watch guys I’ve pitched well against. There are guys on TV I’ve struck out before so I know I’m good enough,” Horacek said.
Last season was Horacek’s best training camp and had a few more stars aligned, he said that he could have been called up to the big leagues.
Instead he toggled between Double-A and Triple-A, his dream dangling so close.
Last year, Horacek’s taxable income from baseball was less than US$8,000.
Horacek was met with pushback on Twitter when he initially expressed his concern about pay.
“It’s a perception problem,” he said. “Someone might perceive baseball as less of a job than working at a stadium concession job.”
Despite the conditions, despite the unlivable wages, despite the slim odds of making it to the majors, the dangling carrot is too hard to walk away from for guys like Horacek.
“Every year you play is like rolling craps,” he said. “Say you need to roll a seven. If you stop rolling the dice, you have no chance.”
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