Nostalgia is just another thing they use to exploit us. Most of the owners are complete scumbags who would slit your throat for a nickel and not think twice about it.
Baseball Buddha- If I remember correctly, you have LA connections. I have lived here for 40 years. This is the LA Story just told in baseball terms. The actors, the screenwriters, the set designers, the want to be directors- all chasing the dream. Some make it. Many do not. Years ago I had a former actor come to work for me. He had been chasing the dream all his life, had some small roles in movies like Cannonball Run, but never broke through. He always said he would keep at it until he was 30. When he was 30, he quit, changed careers and worked for me in the law.
One difference nowadays is the kids who spend $50-300k on film school degrees, just to get a chance to break in. That is another layer of tough to see.
Chasing a dream. Ain't that America, for better and often for worse?
Appreciate this a lot, it’s a sharp take and you're absolutely right that this is the LA story just told through a different lens. The overlap between the ballplayer grinding it out in Single-A and the actor waiting tables between auditions is undeniable. Both chasing something that only a sliver ever actually grab.
Where I see a bit of a difference is how baseball makes its play for you early. They sign you at 17 or 21, maybe give you five grand and a plane ticket, and from that moment, the clock is ticking. You’re cheap labor in a billion-dollar system with no real runway. You either make it quick or get left behind. It's finite. Baseball doesn’t let you chase the dream on your own timeline. You don’t get to come back at 35 and try again. Once the game decides you’re done, that’s it.
In acting, as brutal as it is, there’s at least the illusion that you can break through later, evolve, change lanes. Baseball doesn’t offer that grace. It’s rigid. When it ends, it ends.
Still, I agree with you, chasing the dream, in any form, is part of the American condition. It’s just that some dreams are more merciless than others.
Another key difference is that in baseball, there’s only one pinnacle, the Major Leagues. That’s the mountaintop, and anything short of it, no matter how good you are, is seen as falling short. In film, the dream is more fluid. You can build a career in independent cinema, online platforms, even local theater and still find artistic or commercial success. There are alternate paths to recognition. Baseball doesn’t really have that. You either make The Show or you don’t, and the system isn’t built to celebrate anything less.
Yeah, I guess. "Career in independent cinema" is a bit of a slim reed, as are the other types of "success." Talk to a screenwriter in his 50's about the age discrimination in that field. Or to the actress who can no longer get work because she is over 25. And with the current crash of film making in LA right now, more and more people are starting to opt out and look for other ways to make a living- real estate, teaching, carpentry, you name it.
I am not trying to make the baseball model more palatable. Minor Leaguers should be paid a living wage, at a minimum. They need a strong union.
I see the more significant difference being that many of those going into baseball are from less prosperous, more working class or even poor backgrounds. Once those early years of your athletic life are gone, you go back to working in your family's auto body shop or restaurant.
Of course, the biggest piece of this story is what happens to those young people in the Dominican Republic and elsewhere, washed out at 15 years old.
I thought of this analogy as well. Also, I was a college football coach for 20 plus years and it reminds me of that too. They used to say getting to the top was about who could be poor the longest.
That’s all you, but I’ll read it. I barely have time to write about space wizards with laser swords. I can’t get into writing about baseball even if I wanted to.
I unfortunately had to experience it firsthand in order to figure this out. How disgusting the industry truly is and how it exploits the dreams of so many. Luckily, I ran out just as quickly as I ran in.
The final straw for me was an opportunity to work for the Red Sox. I had a connection through my uncle, whose friend was a lower-level staffer. Days later, we got word back that they gave the job to one of upper management’s kids. I interviewed nearly five times for that role. I didn’t even get an email saying I didn’t get the job. I’m real sure the well-connected kid who got the job went through all the hurdles I had to.
Honestly, it makes me wonder if it’s all a big “fuck you” to those outside of the upper echelons of these organizations. I even wonder if they look at the players themselves with the same level of contempt.
Anyway, it’s stuff like this that makes me question why I even give my attention to such a mind-numbingly hyper-commercialized product. But I guess you could say the same about Coca-Cola or McDonald’s. I don’t know. It’s tiresome. The financialization and commodification of America really knows how to suck the life out of a good thing.
This is excellent. MLB’s minor league takeover in 2021 didn’t help. Consolidation + monopoly are bad for everyone except the MLB team owners.
Nostalgia is just another thing they use to exploit us. Most of the owners are complete scumbags who would slit your throat for a nickel and not think twice about it.
Gary always cuts to the heart of it, I love you for that, thank you!
Baseball Buddha- If I remember correctly, you have LA connections. I have lived here for 40 years. This is the LA Story just told in baseball terms. The actors, the screenwriters, the set designers, the want to be directors- all chasing the dream. Some make it. Many do not. Years ago I had a former actor come to work for me. He had been chasing the dream all his life, had some small roles in movies like Cannonball Run, but never broke through. He always said he would keep at it until he was 30. When he was 30, he quit, changed careers and worked for me in the law.
One difference nowadays is the kids who spend $50-300k on film school degrees, just to get a chance to break in. That is another layer of tough to see.
Chasing a dream. Ain't that America, for better and often for worse?
Appreciate this a lot, it’s a sharp take and you're absolutely right that this is the LA story just told through a different lens. The overlap between the ballplayer grinding it out in Single-A and the actor waiting tables between auditions is undeniable. Both chasing something that only a sliver ever actually grab.
Where I see a bit of a difference is how baseball makes its play for you early. They sign you at 17 or 21, maybe give you five grand and a plane ticket, and from that moment, the clock is ticking. You’re cheap labor in a billion-dollar system with no real runway. You either make it quick or get left behind. It's finite. Baseball doesn’t let you chase the dream on your own timeline. You don’t get to come back at 35 and try again. Once the game decides you’re done, that’s it.
In acting, as brutal as it is, there’s at least the illusion that you can break through later, evolve, change lanes. Baseball doesn’t offer that grace. It’s rigid. When it ends, it ends.
Still, I agree with you, chasing the dream, in any form, is part of the American condition. It’s just that some dreams are more merciless than others.
Another key difference is that in baseball, there’s only one pinnacle, the Major Leagues. That’s the mountaintop, and anything short of it, no matter how good you are, is seen as falling short. In film, the dream is more fluid. You can build a career in independent cinema, online platforms, even local theater and still find artistic or commercial success. There are alternate paths to recognition. Baseball doesn’t really have that. You either make The Show or you don’t, and the system isn’t built to celebrate anything less.
Yeah, I guess. "Career in independent cinema" is a bit of a slim reed, as are the other types of "success." Talk to a screenwriter in his 50's about the age discrimination in that field. Or to the actress who can no longer get work because she is over 25. And with the current crash of film making in LA right now, more and more people are starting to opt out and look for other ways to make a living- real estate, teaching, carpentry, you name it.
I am not trying to make the baseball model more palatable. Minor Leaguers should be paid a living wage, at a minimum. They need a strong union.
I see the more significant difference being that many of those going into baseball are from less prosperous, more working class or even poor backgrounds. Once those early years of your athletic life are gone, you go back to working in your family's auto body shop or restaurant.
Of course, the biggest piece of this story is what happens to those young people in the Dominican Republic and elsewhere, washed out at 15 years old.
I thought of this analogy as well. Also, I was a college football coach for 20 plus years and it reminds me of that too. They used to say getting to the top was about who could be poor the longest.
Anyway, thanks, I enjoyed this article BB.
Just based on the title I thought this was going to be about mlb’s blackout rules.
That makes for a great post, you going to do something on it? Would love to read it, if not I will but don't want to steal your idea.
That’s all you, but I’ll read it. I barely have time to write about space wizards with laser swords. I can’t get into writing about baseball even if I wanted to.
Thanks Jeff, I am going reference you, if that is okay, it will take a couple of weeks.
Sounds good. I look forward to reading it.
I unfortunately had to experience it firsthand in order to figure this out. How disgusting the industry truly is and how it exploits the dreams of so many. Luckily, I ran out just as quickly as I ran in.
The final straw for me was an opportunity to work for the Red Sox. I had a connection through my uncle, whose friend was a lower-level staffer. Days later, we got word back that they gave the job to one of upper management’s kids. I interviewed nearly five times for that role. I didn’t even get an email saying I didn’t get the job. I’m real sure the well-connected kid who got the job went through all the hurdles I had to.
Honestly, it makes me wonder if it’s all a big “fuck you” to those outside of the upper echelons of these organizations. I even wonder if they look at the players themselves with the same level of contempt.
Anyway, it’s stuff like this that makes me question why I even give my attention to such a mind-numbingly hyper-commercialized product. But I guess you could say the same about Coca-Cola or McDonald’s. I don’t know. It’s tiresome. The financialization and commodification of America really knows how to suck the life out of a good thing.
Thanks for sharing!