"Why I Quit Major League Baseball"

[Jake]

http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/spor...l.html?mobify=0

 

After I made it to the major leagues, I often would recall my years in the minors warmly: the twelve-hour bus rides spent trying to fall asleep on a foam egg crate on the floor only to be thwarted by the bus breaking down (and, once, catching fire), or by the aspiring singer, rapper, or guitarist who thought it best to practice while others slept, or—worst of all—by the thick stream of dip juice from a failed attempt at spitting into the garbage. But my teammates weren’t the only reason I couldn’t fall asleep. Sometimes I stayed awake because I liked the sounds of the tires rolling as the driver steered, at questionable speeds, through California, Oregon, Nevada, Kentucky, Nebraska—the whole country, really. I liked the feeling that came to me in the middle of the night, a haughty confidence that the players on this bus—my brothers and me—were the only people awake in the world.

 

When you lose yourself in the game, as you must, it’s all too easy to lose your sense of home. It didn’t take long for me to see how it happens, as I became friends with players and heard about the relationships and marriages that broke up, the relatives and close friends who faded from view, the parents or grandparents whose funerals were missed because of an expected call up to the majors. Sometimes I’d stay awake through the night, almost laughing to myself, mentally weighing the small fraction of success against the overshadowing personal and professional failure that comes with being a ballplayer.

 

...

 

 

I quit after trying to balance my life as a professional baseball player with my life as a student during the last three years of my career. In the spring and summer, I played ball. In the fall, I studied creative writing and philosophy at New York University. But with every semester that passed, I loved school more than I loved baseball, and eventually I knew I had to choose one over the other. As I submerged myself into an academic environment, I thought often of my parents, who knew nothing about baseball but raised me with a passion for music and language so great that sports seemed irrelevant by comparison.

 

I quit because baseball was sacred to me until I started getting paid for it. The more that “baseball” became synonymous with “business,” the less it meant to me, and I saw less of myself in the game every time I got a check from the Philadelphia Phillies Organization, the Oakland Athletic Company, or the Chicago Cubs, L.L.C. To put it simply, other players were much better than I was at separating the game of baseball from the job of baseball. They could enjoy the thrill of a win—as it should be enjoyed—without thinking of what it meant to the owners’ bottom lines. These players, at once the objects of my envy and my admiration, are the resilient ones, still in the game. I am no longer one of them.

 

Definitely give this a read. Not some crazy, reality-shaking content, but an interesting reflection on what it's like to be a pro ballplayer.

[witesoxfan]

That's neat. You think of baseball as almost an easier game because of all the players quitting due to the violence in football, but it's just as hard, if not harder, on the body as a whole. Cardenas is definitely not the first guy to walk away.

 

This piece reminds me of Grant Desme too. He was looking like a monster power prospect for the A's before he retired to become a priest.

[Jake]

I'm much less interesting, but I had a similar experience on a smaller scale playing college ball. I was falling in love with my studies and other new interests while injuries and a massive time commitment was making me resent playing the game I love. It was hard to go through. I eventually quit; in hindsight, my injuries were worse than I originally knew but I know that some of my teammates probably would have tried to come back or pull off a position change (I was converted to pitcher-only as a freshman when it was clear I was more advanced on the hill than at the plate).

 

I realized that I could still love baseball and have it play a pretty huge role in my life and identity without playing it. It had never really occurred to me until then how much White Sox baseball was an important thing that brings my dad and I together. I'm glad I've been able to appreciate that instead of coming to that realization too late.

[southsider2k5]

Nice write up. I love the personal side of baseball. It is an amazing game, and a culture all its own.

[ChiliIrishHammock24]

That's neat. You think of baseball as almost an easier game because of all the players quitting due to the violence in football, but it's just as hard, if not harder, on the body as a whole. Cardenas is definitely not the first guy to walk away.

 

This piece reminds me of Grant Desme too. He was looking like a monster power prospect for the A's before he retired to become a priest.

 

That's exactly who I thought this article was going to be about when I saw the thread.

[max power]

Huge ego. Don't care for anything he said to be perfectly honest. I don't believe him, either, regarding his statement regarding the game as a business. Too much time passed and it doesnt make sense. Give the money back if that is the case, or to a charity. To me, it sounds like he is happy with the money he has, afraid of the challenges ahead, and comfortable making excuses. If what he said were true, he thinks so highly of himself, and of his ideas of baseball, instead of the reality of baseball today (the same as the year he signed), that the only option would be to quit to remain the special type of person he thinks he is. He is most likely a coward, hiding behind all of that nonsense.

Edited November 3, 2013 by MAX

[Jake]

I don't think he was trying to send any kind of message like that. I think he was just saying that he couldn't love the game anymore when it was his occupation. He had other passions pulling him away, as well. He said he envies the guys that can go out there and really love every moment. He found that he had developed a love for another job (in academia) and that his current job (baseball) made him lose his passion for his greatest non-occupational passion (baseball). I don't think he intended it to be some kind of indictment on baseball at all

[Texsox]

Thanks for posting the link. It was a nice read.

[witesoxfan]

Huge ego. Don't care for anything he said to be perfectly honest. I don't believe him, either, regarding his statement regarding the game as a business. Too much time passed and it doesnt make sense. Give the money back if that is the case, or to a charity. To me, it sounds like he is happy with the money he has, afraid of the challenges ahead, and comfortable making excuses. If what he said were true, he thinks so highly of himself, and of his ideas of baseball, instead of the reality of baseball today (the same as the year he signed), that the only option would be to quit to remain the special type of person he thinks he is. He is most likely a coward, hiding behind all of that nonsense.

 

 

I don't think he was trying to send any kind of message like that. I think he was just saying that he couldn't love the game anymore when it was his occupation. He had other passions pulling him away, as well. He said he envies the guys that can go out there and really love every moment. He found that he had developed a love for another job (in academia) and that his current job (baseball) made him lose his passion for his greatest non-occupational passion (baseball). I don't think he intended it to be some kind of indictment on baseball at all

 

The idea that you lose passion for the thing you love once it becomes your job is absolutely nothing new. There are people who get into sports and working within the industry and they grow to resent it simply because it's work and no longer play. There are some who can handle it and still love it for what it is. Cardenas was obviously not one. I have no problem being cynical of everything, but I don't think this was for attention and a failure to deal with the struggle at all.

[max power]

I guess I wouldn't have a problem doing something I love for money, because the idea that it would change somehow seems foolish to me, personally. I get that other people are different. It seems strange that throughout my life I've heard so many people say "Do something you love for a living; you'll never work a day in your life."

[Jake]

There's a truism in psychology that basically says if you're paid to do something that you would normally do for free (well, you know, without being paid) that you will suddenly become far less inclined to do that thing just for its intrinsic rewards. I feel like that is related to this issue.

[LittleHurt05]

I wonder if Cardenas would think differently if he was actually good at baseball.

[caulfield12]

http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/spor...l.html?mobify=0

 

 

 

Definitely give this a read. Not some crazy, reality-shaking content, but an interesting reflection on what it's like to be a pro ballplayer.

 

 

The problem is the same thing can happen if you jump into an academic life.

 

The profits of the school/university always come before "pure" teaching.

 

So much politics, gossiping, backbiting.

 

I would say baseball is much more of a meritocracy than anything have to do with teaching/academics.

Edited November 10, 2013 by caulfield12

[Jake]

The problem is the same thing can happen if you jump into an academic life.

 

The profits of the school/university always come before "pure" teaching.

 

So much politics, gossiping, backbiting.

 

I would say baseball is much more of a meritocracy than anything have to do with teaching/academics.

 

This is a good point. The only thing I might add or consider is that while there are some troubling aspects of academia, I'm not sure that one's "love of the game" so to speak is all that likely to change as you move into the professional aspect of it. It is always competitive and there is always an aspect of being motivated by external rewards. The majority of people that play baseball never are really doing it with the thought that it will earn them money in one way or another.

[witesoxfan]

I wonder if Cardenas would think differently if he was actually good at baseball.

 

He was good. Like a .300/.360/.425 hitter in the minors and a 1st round pick. Probably would have been a league average 2B.