One of my favorite past times is listening to people in the stands who either know nothing about the minor leagues and guess or people who think they know everything about the minor leagues and explain it loudly to those around them. In both cases, the inaccuracies are usually hilarious.
Last night I was lucky enough to sit in front of the former. Two middle-aged women who knew nothing but didn't let that stop them from hazarding many [wildly incorrect] guesses. It started with the usual, how much money do they make? Not sure why people are always so interested in that but it's a common question. Lady 2 responded somewhere around $22,000 I think. I'm surprised I didn't laugh out loud. Lady 1 is that all? Oh, if you only knew.
Then things turned to slightly offensive. Lady 1, this is so different than a major league game. You can tell why those guys are in the majors and these aren't. Ouch. Let's remember every major leaguer was a minor leaguer once--geesh. And then the kicker. Lady 2, it must be such a hard life knowing that you're nothing. Just nothing. Wow! Beyond unnecessary. I might have actually mouthed Wow. I was very tempted to turn around and ask when the last time they had an autograph request was. (I do realize people asking for autographs isn't what takes people from nothing to something but you know what I mean).
I could talk forever about the implications of these ways of thinking and how harmful they are and how nobody wins but, you know, it's all part of the game I suppose.
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