A day in the life of a Professional Baseball Player

I know the typical thought that professional players of any sport make way too much money; however, their lifestyles aren’t all about making money and being the headline of the sports page.  In this article, I hope to inform you about the day in the life of a professional baseball player. Describing the season, a typical day, and what their career consists of.
First, you must understand that the season of baseball is long. Spring training starts in early March, when all players report to the Spring Training location for their pre-season try-outs and workouts.  Coaches evaluate every player, every year to see where and if they would fit on the team that the coach is trying to build.  Players are evaluated on their skills, and sorted out to play in the majors and minor leagues.  The baseball season usually begins in April, when players travel back to their teams state and start the long 162 singular game season.  In many cases, players will have games more than half the days of the week.  Travelling is a large part of the season as 82 of the games are played on the road.  Players may start the season on one team, but they could be traded during the season at any point.  Generally, you are not playing in the state or city you grew up in, making the experience of moving all of your belongings and your family a familiar one as your career progresses.  The typical season ends in late September or October depending on how your team does.  As you can see, you are playing baseball for almost 7-8 months straight, 7 days a week.  It is a long season.
A typical day during the season would start early.  Players usually have to report to the stadium for practice or games before noon.  If it is a game day, the players will stretch, watch film, have a meeting, and prepare for the game.  If it is a practice day a player will have batting practice, run drills, lift weights and meet with different coaches to help them improve their game.  Practices can last hours.  The players easily spend at least 8 hours at the ballpark.  If it is game day, and there are extra innings, games can run past 10 or 11 pm, and then the players shower and change not leaving the stadium until past midnight.  Their day is full of baseball.  It must be their passion.
The actual career of a professional baseball player starts between the age of 18-25.  A typical major league players career usually only lasts about 2-5 seasons.  Once a player approaches their 30’s their career is typically over, as they are replaced by younger and faster players.  If a player wishes to remain in the league longer, they must give 110% everyday of the year.  They must lift weights, run sprints, be in the cage improving their batting and watch all the film possible.  A player will typically play for about 4 teams during their career.  Getting traded is part of the job.  You must know and expect that you will move several times, sometimes across the country, during your career.  There is a player, Octavio Dotel, who has been on 13 different teams in his career.  When you think about it that is a lot of baseball in different cities, different fans, different teammates and houses!
So, I ask you if you think a player's’ typical 2 million dollar salary is still outrageous?  Maybe yes, but when you take into consideration all of the challenges: the long season, playing ball everyday for up to 12 hours a day for 7-8 months straight, and all the travelling and being away from your family it might seem less outrageous.  Players face injuries that can devastate their career in seconds, the fact they are away from home and the physical demands of the sport take its toll on them.  Some are willing to take that chance for their shot at fame.  To hear the crowd, and play the game they love.