Happy May Day!

The day marks the halfway point between the first day of spring and the summer solstice and dates back to the days of the Romans. In this country, it is also a day known for Maypoles, flowers and the welcoming of spring. At one time, the day was a holiday for some, but it brings back an unpleasant memory for me. As an elementary school student, I got in some big trouble when I refused to participate in the Maypole dance which consisted of dancing around the pole with ribbons in hand. As a somewhat gangly youngster, it was an activity I wanted no part of. Unfortunately, my teacher and my parents did not share my rationale.

Annually for sports fans, May 1 provides a perspective opportunity to evaluate their favorite NFL team’s selection in the college draft extravaganza which in the past decade has morphed into its own industry with countless talking heads making a living with their own ‘mock draft’ predictions. It also provides baseball fans with an insight as to the fortunes of their favorite team after the first month of the season has been completed.

As sports fans, we all seem to be able to draw our own conclusions, rational or not, of the moves or lack of same made by the teams we root for. But after all the talking, complaining and rationalization have been done in reality fans most often end up rooting for uniforms, not the players who are wearing them. Think about it. Bryce Harper left the Washington Nationals, Manny Machado left both the Baltimore Orioles and the Los Angeles Dodgers, and Odell Beckham, Jr. departed the New York Football Giants among the many player moves in both sports in recent months. But the fans remaining behind in the cities these players once called home are still rooting for the home town team, regardless of what players were brought in to wear the home town garments.

The huge and seemingly senseless salaries commanded by some of sport’s biggest stars place them constantly in the public limelight. But sports are also played by lesser or relatively unknown players just trying to do their best to make it to the ‘show’ someday just as everyday workers dream of reaching the top of their profession.

In the same 24-hour period on April 20, the real-life journeys of three minor league baseball players provided a glimpse of what goes on behind the scenes of their aspirations to join a Major League team.

Twenty-eight-year-old Casey Sadler has spent the last ten years playing professional baseball, mostly in the minor leagues. Although he did briefly appear each of the past three seasons for the Pittsburgh Pirates Sadler began this season pitching in the Tampa Bay Rays system at AAA Durham.
On April 20 at 12:20 a.m. Sadler received a phone call from the Rays telling him to report to Tampa. He didn’t need much time to get ready. That’s because Sadler, wife Marin and 2-year old daughter Kayser, live during the season is a camper they pull behind their SUV which they had parked at a campground in Durham.

“We were in and out of there, unhooked and on the road in about 40 minutes,” Sadler told the Tampa Tribune.

Marin did the driving on the trip, which normally takes 10 hours but took 15 due to severe weather. Casey slept. They drove straight to Tropicana Field arriving in mid-afternoon. As Sadler prepped for his return to the Major Leagues, the girls slept in the camper in the stadium parking lot.

Sadler explained they started using the camper as their in-season home a year ago and enjoyed it as the family was able to come to many of his road games.

“I kind of feel a little redneck right now, but it’s fun. It gives us a little bit of a sense of home and normal. You’re not moving in and out of hotels and apartments. I wish I would have done it a long time ago; saves you a lot of money, too. Rent gets expensive in some of those upper-level minor league cities.”

That night Sadler pitched two scoreless innings against the Boston Red Sox. His 24-hour adventure was hectic but successful. His reward? The next day the Rays sent him back to Durham, so the Sadlers climbed back into the RV and headed back on the minor league road.

The same day Branden Kline, the Baltimore Orioles 2012 second-round pick got the call to the Birds to join the team for a doubleheader against Minnesota. Kline’s minor league years were anything but smooth. In 2013, a broken right fibula required surgery. In 2015 a platelet-rich plasma injection proceeded Tommy John surgery, and in 2017 two arthroscopic procedures on the back of his elbow followed.

Pitching this year at AAA Norfolk Kline was overwhelmed when he got the news.

“I cried for a solid 30 minutes. I just let my emotions go. It was obviously exciting, but at the same time, it was such a hard journey to get here with all the injuries I’ve had. I’m a little bit of a softie, but that phone call was overwhelming.”

Kline also pitched two innings in an Orioles loss, but his stay at Camden Yards was far shorter than his journey that brought him there. Like Sadler, he was sent back to AAA the next day.

Twenty-two year old Cole Tucker, the Pittsburgh Pirates 2014 first-round draft pick, also received a past midnight call to join the Pirates for their April 20 game against San Francisco. Tucker’s parents had journeyed from their Arizona home to watch him play at AAA Indianapolis when he received the welcomed news.

Tucker flew to Pittsburgh while his family rented a car headed for the Steel City. He was immediately inserted into the starting lineup replacing shortstop Erik Gonzalez who was injured during a game the previous evening. His Major League debut was like something out of a Hollywood movie as his first MLB hit was a game-winning two-run home run in the Pirates’ 3-1 victory.

Unlike Sadler and Kline, Tucker’s heroics may provide a long-term home in the Pirates infield for years to come.

So keep on rooting for those players wearing the uniform of your favorite team. You may not know much about them, but they’ve paid their dues to achieve their dream of playing in the Major Leagues.