Where are the Travs during Spring Training?
The weather is bitterly frigid outside, the holidays have passed and football stadiums are about to flip the lights off for the final time amidst midst falling snowflakes. Now what? Basketball? Hockey? The PGA Tour's Honda Classic? While I am a die-hard hockey fan (New York Islanders if you're keeping score at home), there's just something a little more soothing about the ever-popular "countdown to pitchers and catchers." What comes to mind when you hear the words "Spring Training?" Gleaming sunshine? Pleasant warmth to thaw out the chills of winter? Maybe even spending some time exploring with the kids or catching up with an old friend. Any way you slice it, it's hard to go wrong in Florida or Arizona from mid-February through early April. But while millions make travel arrangements for a long weekend to their favorite team's Spring Training destination, there are thousands of professional baseball players fighting for jobs and pouring their heart into making a club. Not just the Major League club, any club.
Major League Spring Training and Big League camp seem glamorous. Pitchers throw an inning or two, position players participate in half a game then hit the showers, thousands of fans swarm each park and practice facility in hopes of snapping a selfie with or getting an autograph from their hometown hero, and every sports station known to man broadcasts from different organizations' complexes. Sure, the major leaguers will still participate in drills and conditioning, but let's be real; it's not the worst life to live. But what about the 100-200 other professionals in each organization who don't get to experience Major League Spring Training? Where do they go? Are they out in Arizona and down in Florida too?
Close your eyes and picture a softball field. Actually, keep your eyes open so you can keep reading this, but now picture four softball fields with each of their home plate areas forming a square with the fields shooting out into different directions. Now, turn those softball fields into baseball fields. This area, or "the back fields," is where a majority of minor league camp is held. They're located within the Angels, or any other team's, Spring Training complex, but, well, in the back. The complexes also feature batting cages, pitching areas, and even a little mini field for infield drills, but it's all about work and getting better. Major League pitchers and catchers report to camp mid-February. Then it's the position players. And a week or two later, minor leaguers trickle in, many of whom having recently wrapped up an off-season job to put a little extra cash in their pockets to get them through the season, while maintaining rigorous workouts to stay in shape or to achieve new fitness goals. These minor leaguers are not reporting to Spring Training as "Travs," or any other affiliation aside from "Angels" or whatever organization they may belong to. Then the "fun" begins.
Like the first day back at high school, there are hugs exchanged and stories shared about various off-season trips taken, and maybe even the occasional "congrats" on getting married, but then it's all business from there. Well, I guess there weren't that many "congrats" on getting married back in high school, but you get the point. Maybe there were where you're from, who knows. I don't judge! Okay, back to minor league camp. It's early March and there are about 200 non-Major League players getting ready to embark on a month straight of intense training, workouts, and games, each dawning Angels garb, each one with the hope and determination to start a level higher than the previous season.
"We get to the complex anywhere from 5:30 to 7:30 on a given day," said 2015 Travs catcher Anthony Bemboom. "Some people have to get their gym workouts in earlier in the day and some have to see the training staff for various reasons, but either way, being out in the hot sun all day while it's go go go all the time definitely makes you sleep well at night."
For the first week or two of minor league camp, it's mostly an array of conditioning, drills, and various methods to get back into season shape. Baseball is unique with how many games compose a season (140 in the Texas League), so longevity and preservation is equally as important to building up to "mid-season form," especially with most of the games being played under sweltering conditions. Many of the players will have participated in various leagues around the world over the Winter as well, making safeguarding the body that much more critical.
After two-to-three weeks of nonstop work, organizations begin the minor league games. Let's go back to the "softball complex" vision. These minor leaguers, each sporting the halo on their chest, are broken up into different "Triple-A," "Double-A," "Advanced-A" teams and so on, to play against another organization's minor leaguers. It's essentially the entire Angels minor league personnel playing against the entire minor league system of another organization. Where a particular player is assigned does not have as much significance early in camp as it does a few days before the players report to their respective minor league cities in April. But even though these games take place every day from mind march through early April, there are still the daily "before-the-rooster-crows" wake-up calls and practices which can get monotonous, but they're essential.
"At least we have the live game action to look forward to," Bemboom said. "I love being able to work hard every morning to get better. It makes playing in the games more worth it. You do get used to going to bed around eight or nine, though."
When the Travs report to Arkansas on April 4th, they're officially the Arkansas Travelers. A roster comprised of 25 active players, a manager, pitching coach, hitting coach, athletic trainer and strength and conditioning coach. But it's not nearly as simple or organized when the players get broken down into squads during spring training games and here's why - Major League camp features about 60 different players early on in the spring. There are the guys on the 40-Man Roster and some non-roster invitees who are the players who will likely start the year in the minors, but get some Major League experience during the spring to better them down the road and add arms and bats when the bigger names get replaced mid-game. That number of 60 is eventually whittled down to 25 by Opening Day, but because there are so many minor leaguers at Major League camp, it has a domino effect on the rest of the system. And we're not just talking players here. Major League teams play "split squad" games from time-to-time, which means there are two games going on at once. One home and one away. And with two simultaneous games yields two coaching staffs needed. So a lot of times, Triple-A managers and coaches will hit the road with the second Major League club which causes every other level's coaching staff to be shaken up. It's really not a big deal since the minor league players don't know where they're going to be assigned anyway, but more so allows players to work with, play for and get to know different managers and coaches in the system. To put it simply, the players wake up in the morning with the same goals: get their work, at-bats and pitching in, improve, and stay healthy. No matter which "level" they're playing for, if they perform on the field they'll get noticed.
It's not until the very end of March when the Major League team is trimming its roster down to the 25 players who'll be featured as the "Opening Day" squad, that the minor league teams begin to take shape. There will still be some roster fluctuation until the teams actually break camp on April 2nd or 3rd, but managers get a few days to work with their assigned teams which, for the most part, will be the club they open the season with wherever they are managing throughout the minors. There are still games played over these few days, with a lot of the focus on signs and signals, organizational and coaching staff philosophies, last-minute mechanical tweaking and just mentally preparing themselves for the grind that is the looming 140 games over the next 152 days. It's not until then, that the season officially starts. No wonder the players are happy to see you!
So while the 240 different minor league ballparks are power washing, seeding, mowing, hanging signs, stocking the concession stands, selling that last-minute season ticket package and getting ready to open their gates for yet another summer of family fun, now you know the answer to the question "Where are the Travs" during Spring Training.