Back In Ohio

Well, those of you who were hoping for another crazy story (and good laugh) in regard to my return trip, I am sorry to say you will all be very disappointed. Much to my surprise, my return trip to Ohio went very well. Amazing too, considering I flew to Las Vegas for the day on Sunday and returned bright and early to Ohio on Monday. That all said, I will NEVER forget what a crazy trip down it was to Arizona for me which seems like months ago now.

In any case, I did have to laugh when I touched down at Cleveland Hopkins Airport and saw snow blowing around and starting to accumulate on the ground. As I type this late at night on Monday we have a snow warning for most of NE Ohio, and snow advisories everywhere else it seems. Gotta love Cleveland weather at this time of the year. Tomorrow I will probably wake up and it will be 70 degrees and sunny, followed by the next day with a blizzard rolling through town.

I have to say, it IS nice to be home. When out on the road for almost two weeks, you don’t realize how much you miss home, even if you are in sunny Arizona and home is gloomy Cleveland. It sort of gave me a little perspective what it is like for the players as they travel all around and are really away from “home” for about seven to eight months a year.

Anyway, now that I am back and settled in, I will be posting team previews for the four full season affiliates over the span of the next two to three days. Also, I will be organizing all the photos I took in Goodyear and once completed I will be forwarding on many of the pictures to family of the players as requested.

The players all arrived at their full season destinations on Sunday afternoon, and since then have been shopping for housing. One of the little known things behind the scenes not known about is the Indians give all players a three day hotel stay upon being assigned to a new affiliate. After those three days, the players are on their own as all housing costs are assumed by the player. The Indians only pay a monthly salary of roughly $800 to $2200 depending on the level they play at, and they are only paid in-season. In addition, they get $20 a day for meal money while on the road. So, over the course of the next few days the players will not only be getting acquainted with the surroundings and getting their bearings straight in their new minor league city, but they also are apartment shopping for places that rent month-to-month.

On top of that, they are holding workouts at the stadium getting ready for Opening Day which is Thursday for all the teams, except Akron who opens on Wednesday. And, they also have to go through media day which happens for each of the affiliates sometime over the next two days where all the photos are taken that you see on baseball cards, stock photos used on MiLB.com, team photos, and other promotional material. In addition, it gives a chance for the local media to come in and get to know some of the players before the season gets under way.

Minor league opening day is less than two days away. What an exciting time, especially for Indians fans because all four teams should be loaded with major league potential talent.

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