I feel ya here. Kinda like how it pisses me off when something negative about a player comes out and he’s either referenced as Ex-Yankee so and so or pictured wearing a Yankee uniform even if he only played for a few years in the Bronx.

Tresh Fan wrote:

Can any one here remember the last time you played in an organized league? How old were you?

Senior year of high school (1993)…part-time catcher, part-time DH.

@ Tresh Fan:
I hear what you’re saying – and I did write: “being a professional baseball player, at any level, for any period of time, is a tremendous feat – and one that commands my respect.”

Now, that said, in 1958, there were 43 full-season Class-D ball teams and 29 Class-B ball teams connected to 16 major league teams. Whereas today, you have 30 major league teams each having one team at AAA, AA, A, etc.

This meant there were more guys playing in those days who were no where close to being near a major league game.

Tresh Fan wrote:

Can any one here remember the last time you played in an organized league?

Last summer, NYCMBL. I was 34

@ Corey:
It had to do with reorganization at the MiL level. Teams @ the lower levels couldn’t sustain operations. If you look at league histories you’ll see teams existing in places you never thought would’ve had a minor league team.

Tresh Fan wrote:

How about you…how good did you have to be to make your Little League team?

There was no tryouts by me, it wasn’t really a very serious league, and more of a day care for parents in the summer. There were 4 teams and everyone “made” the playoffs (cause there was only 4 teams).

I sure do miss it though…

Of course you must realize that playing in the minor leagues was a lot different back in the 1950s. In those days Baseball was by far the most popular sport in America. Everyone played it. Everyone. You listed the 7 minor league levels back then (and some teams had more than one affiliate at each level) but that doesn’t include the scores of semi-pro leagues and even more amateur leagues around the country. Can any one here remember the last time you played in an organized league? How old were you? My dad was in his 20s. Later on, after he was married and had children, he coached a Little League team. It was a very small town. Less than 4000 people. But it had a vibrant Little League organization. I tried out when I was 9. And I didn’t make it. My own dad wouldn’t pick me. And do you know why? Because I wasn’t good enough and it wouldn’t have been fair to all the kids who were better than me. So I went back to the sandlots with some of my friends and played played and played for the whole summer and fall, and by the next year I was “good enough” to make Little League. How about you…how good did you have to be to make your Little League team?
So Mr. Nowakowski made it to Class C ball? Awesome! That means he was one of the best players in the country; probably the best player in his county. And, when you consider that the sport was pretty much intergrated by then and only 400 players at any time could call themselves Major Leaguers, Class C is pretty damn high.

For those not aware, back in those days, the minor league ladder worked like this: AAA, AA, A, B, C, D, and short-season D. So, anyone playing below “Class C” was really at the bottom of the chain.
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Out of curiosity, why did they switch it? This seems like it makes more sense than having to explain the difference in competition between the DSL, short season, rookie, A and A Advanced leagues.

@ Jeb:
Fair points and great tie into that CYE “beloved aunt” riot!

Steve I agree with you in theory, but there are two things that might be at play here:

1. He probably didn’t do the announcement. I bet it was a grandkid who heard him say he played in the Yanks system for years and years and screwed up the announcement or maybe it was the newspaper. Remember the screwup with cheryl’s “beloved aunt” in that curb your enthusiasm episode?

2. Maybe he wore a Yankee uniform and pitched in a spring training game. If I was wearing a Yankee uniform, Ellie or Yogi was catching me and I was facing – let’s say for grins – Larry Doby, I might say to myself, “holy shit I’m a Yankee!”.

Have you read Joe Pos’ book about a year with Buck O’Neill? There’s a part where and older black gentleman is angry because another black gentleman is lying about playing in the Negro leagues. I can’t quote what Buck said but it was something like, let him make the claim, we know the truth and so does he.