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I Should Have Quit This Morning: Adventures in Minor League Baseball
The road to Major League baseball goes through the minor leagues. Every year there are over 5,500 players trying to work their way to the top of the tiered minor league system. Very few people know what life is really like for these aspiring players -- until now. This collection of stories from actual minor league players is a hilarious, heartbreaking and honest account of the struggle to make it to the big leagues. In this book, you will How it feels to be the first pick in the MLB draft (“everyone started screaming”) and how it feels for a player to not hear his name called at all (“Three days came and went and I didn’t get picked.”) * Why some players don’t sign a minor league contract (“It was an unbelievably tough decision.”) * Who the players meet when they show up as a rookie on day one (“It’s a very rude awakening.”) * Where players go in the off season (“You can make some serious dough in the Dominican and Venezuelan leagues.”) *What Spring Training is like for minor leaguers (“The difference between big league camp and minor league camp is night and day.”) * Where players live and how they eat (“I became a pro at cooking in the ‘kitchen bathroom’ in the hotel.”) * Which minor league ballpark promotions the players enjoy the most (“It’s time for Cowboy Monkey Rodeo!”) * What really happens during road trips (“It was straight out of a horror movie.”) * Why crazy things happen on the field (“Our manager stormed out there and just started unloading on the umpire.”) * What it’s like to get promoted, demoted and traded (“It was the first time I actually cried when someone got moved or traded.”) * How players get released and how they make the decision to retire (“I remember everything about that last game.”) * What it’s like when players get the ultimate call up to the Major Leagues (“It was still during the game and everyone was like, ‘Dude, go call your parents or something.”)And so much more! Kathy Diekroeger has watched her three sons play over 2,100 baseball games. She stopped counting when two of them made it to professional baseball. After hearing stories about minor league life for four years, she felt compelled to document and share those experiences with anyone who considers themselves a fan of baseball. This is her first book.
- GenresBaseballSportsNonfiction
319 pages, Paperback
Published April 8, 2019
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69 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
January 14, 2021
I have enjoyed a number of books on the minor leagues of baseball over the years. I find the hopes and promise of lightly tested players matched against each other to learn while competing for limited openings at a higher level leads to many compelling stories. I also appreciate that the minors often are played in towns and villages that are not your well-known metropolises, but are often held in third tier towns, the ones people have heard of, but might not know where they are on a map. Minor league teams have an outsized importance to their towns, compared to the majors where there are plenty of entertainment offerings on a typical summer day or night. I found “I Should Have Quit This Morning” to be an excellent review of the first perspective I mentioned, but not so much on the second.
The book is an edited compilation of interviews of a number of (former) minor league players. The author has gathered together interview snippets based on topics, but loosely based on a baseball season. The book begins with players telling of how they are drafted and came to be on their team. There is a lot of variety here, with highly ranked players as well as “just barely made it” players who tell their stories and explain how this process works. I found this a very interesting beginning. The book then focuses on spring training, and continues the a minor league season and, in some cases, the call up or the letting go. There is a lot of anecdotal detail here. You understand the things that are important to the players after you read this, including things you might not have thought players would spend much time thinking about. For me, learning about the differences in food between the minors and majors was interesting, as was the constant issue of short-term apartment leases and revolving roommate issues. You really get a feel for what a modern minor leaguer deals with on a day to day basis in this book. Well done.
Given that this book was focused on players, you don’t get much about the teams. There’s not really much baseball action, and you don’t hear from the managers (although you hear about them and other staff, especially the stadium attendants). And you don’t hear about the fans or the towns, much, outside of some glowing description of host families. I missed this, mostly because a number of the players played for the team of my hometown, the Quad Cities River Bandits, and I enjoy reading about the area. But given how detailed the player stories are, I can’t complain. I found this a very good book on the player’s perspective on a minor league team, and I would look favorably to more books on the topic by this author.
The book is an edited compilation of interviews of a number of (former) minor league players. The author has gathered together interview snippets based on topics, but loosely based on a baseball season. The book begins with players telling of how they are drafted and came to be on their team. There is a lot of variety here, with highly ranked players as well as “just barely made it” players who tell their stories and explain how this process works. I found this a very interesting beginning. The book then focuses on spring training, and continues the a minor league season and, in some cases, the call up or the letting go. There is a lot of anecdotal detail here. You understand the things that are important to the players after you read this, including things you might not have thought players would spend much time thinking about. For me, learning about the differences in food between the minors and majors was interesting, as was the constant issue of short-term apartment leases and revolving roommate issues. You really get a feel for what a modern minor leaguer deals with on a day to day basis in this book. Well done.
Given that this book was focused on players, you don’t get much about the teams. There’s not really much baseball action, and you don’t hear from the managers (although you hear about them and other staff, especially the stadium attendants). And you don’t hear about the fans or the towns, much, outside of some glowing description of host families. I missed this, mostly because a number of the players played for the team of my hometown, the Quad Cities River Bandits, and I enjoy reading about the area. But given how detailed the player stories are, I can’t complain. I found this a very good book on the player’s perspective on a minor league team, and I would look favorably to more books on the topic by this author.
February 13, 2022
An entertaining and insightful look at the MLB draft, the life of a minor leaguer, cuts, promotions, and long bus rides with cramped living quarters and bad food. Diekroeger does a good job letting the players speak for themselves and splits the book into nicely defined chapters dealing with a different element of the MiLB life. Things I learned or at least got more info on:
- Almost everyone drafted in the top 10 rounds signs, and players have way more negotiating power as a HS senior or collegiate junior than as a collegiate senior. If a player gets offered half a mil coming out of high school, but has a scholarship to Stanford, then, well, there's no bad play here. But if you just graduated from college there is no 'next time' in the draft and if all you're offered is $1K and a bus ticket what choice do you have if you wish to play pro baseball?
- Really have to wonder about the awareness levels with some MLB personnel. Texting a guy who you can see on your TV is standing in the outfield of a college world series game he is playing in and expecting to get a quick answer on whether he'll sign for X dollars if drafted in the Y round. Honestly ...
- More awareness level issues - one guy relays how he would drive his truck to the field with a lot of his teammates in the bed. He estimated they had signed for $6.5M collectively. Really, MLB? Think it's a good idea to pay that much for talent and then have that level of risk b/c they don't have team transport or a team-paid Uber account?
- A third awareness level issue - gonna go out on a limb and say it's a good idea for professional athletes to eat healthy food. Leaving these guys on less than a grand a month to fund food, rent, etc. and then expecting anything other than fast food and Wal-Mart fare is unrealistic. Looks like Gabe Kapler and the Dodgers are funding some changes here, but I cannot believe that it would not be worth the team's $ to be throwing grilled chicken, brown rice, and vegetables at these guys twice a day every day.
- My one issue with the book is that almost every player is an affluent kid who went to Stanford. I understand the low round picks amongst them were not making a lot, but it's a very different story when your backup plan is on Wall St. versus a life of poverty in the DR or a career at Target in the Midwest. Would have liked to see more socioeconomic diversity in the book.
- Why don't teams just buy a dozen mediocre apartments and have the players live in them, especially in low rent places like upstate NY, Iowa, and Eastern NC? If the players are living in closets and crashing on couches because someone got moved up a level then they're not going to have the bandwidth needed for total focus on getting better at playing.
- Didn't realize how little MiLB teams practice.
- Apparently AAA has some of the worst attitudes because it's full of guys one step away from living the dream and other guys who had it and couldn't perform well enough to stay. It reminded me of taking a tour at Busch Stadium and the tour guide showed us the area behind the dugout where he would here inhuman screams sometimes after a guy struck out or popped one up. You do well and you get $500k, team chefs, and private jets. You don't, and you're making $40K, riding the bus or coach, and eating Wal-Mart food. Yeah, that's some motivation.
- It is neat to read about the excitement levels for players and their families when they get called up to the show.
- But 90% of the guys who play in the minors never make it to the majors. However, it seems like almost no one regrets giving it a shot. From another era it reminds me of guys who went out west to strike gold, did not meet with success, and then headed back to Cincinnati or Roanoke or wherever else and enjoyed a good run in another profession, never having to look back and wonder 'what if'?
- Almost everyone drafted in the top 10 rounds signs, and players have way more negotiating power as a HS senior or collegiate junior than as a collegiate senior. If a player gets offered half a mil coming out of high school, but has a scholarship to Stanford, then, well, there's no bad play here. But if you just graduated from college there is no 'next time' in the draft and if all you're offered is $1K and a bus ticket what choice do you have if you wish to play pro baseball?
- Really have to wonder about the awareness levels with some MLB personnel. Texting a guy who you can see on your TV is standing in the outfield of a college world series game he is playing in and expecting to get a quick answer on whether he'll sign for X dollars if drafted in the Y round. Honestly ...
- More awareness level issues - one guy relays how he would drive his truck to the field with a lot of his teammates in the bed. He estimated they had signed for $6.5M collectively. Really, MLB? Think it's a good idea to pay that much for talent and then have that level of risk b/c they don't have team transport or a team-paid Uber account?
- A third awareness level issue - gonna go out on a limb and say it's a good idea for professional athletes to eat healthy food. Leaving these guys on less than a grand a month to fund food, rent, etc. and then expecting anything other than fast food and Wal-Mart fare is unrealistic. Looks like Gabe Kapler and the Dodgers are funding some changes here, but I cannot believe that it would not be worth the team's $ to be throwing grilled chicken, brown rice, and vegetables at these guys twice a day every day.
- My one issue with the book is that almost every player is an affluent kid who went to Stanford. I understand the low round picks amongst them were not making a lot, but it's a very different story when your backup plan is on Wall St. versus a life of poverty in the DR or a career at Target in the Midwest. Would have liked to see more socioeconomic diversity in the book.
- Why don't teams just buy a dozen mediocre apartments and have the players live in them, especially in low rent places like upstate NY, Iowa, and Eastern NC? If the players are living in closets and crashing on couches because someone got moved up a level then they're not going to have the bandwidth needed for total focus on getting better at playing.
- Didn't realize how little MiLB teams practice.
- Apparently AAA has some of the worst attitudes because it's full of guys one step away from living the dream and other guys who had it and couldn't perform well enough to stay. It reminded me of taking a tour at Busch Stadium and the tour guide showed us the area behind the dugout where he would here inhuman screams sometimes after a guy struck out or popped one up. You do well and you get $500k, team chefs, and private jets. You don't, and you're making $40K, riding the bus or coach, and eating Wal-Mart food. Yeah, that's some motivation.
- It is neat to read about the excitement levels for players and their families when they get called up to the show.
- But 90% of the guys who play in the minors never make it to the majors. However, it seems like almost no one regrets giving it a shot. From another era it reminds me of guys who went out west to strike gold, did not meet with success, and then headed back to Cincinnati or Roanoke or wherever else and enjoyed a good run in another profession, never having to look back and wonder 'what if'?
January 2, 2021
Many of these stories are ones that baseball fans have heard for years. What made this book different was getting multiple players to tell their own unique stories about these experiences, from the draft (the beginning of their careers) to their release or retirement (the end of their careers). Reading about how their common struggles mirrored each other while being part of different organizations was fascinating.
What I found very interesting was on page 352, where a couple of the players were lamenting the size of the minor league system and teams signing players as filler, giving sone of these marginal players false hope. These players advocated for a smaller, more streamlined system, which is exactly what baseball implemented in late 2020, a year after this book was released.
Very much enjoyed this book!
What I found very interesting was on page 352, where a couple of the players were lamenting the size of the minor league system and teams signing players as filler, giving sone of these marginal players false hope. These players advocated for a smaller, more streamlined system, which is exactly what baseball implemented in late 2020, a year after this book was released.
Very much enjoyed this book!
November 3, 2019
More like a 2.5 stars but an often enjoyable but more often repetitive look at life in baseball's minor leagues. The author takes a look at the careers of 16 young men who played with her sons either at Stanford or the minor leagues. Starting with the draft to, in most cases, retirement or release, the book looks at all aspects of a very hard life. They make almost no money, live in crazy environments, travel on long, and often, agonizing bus trips. There are hundreds of stories about this life, its difficulties and rewards, its frustrations and successes. A lot are very similar-hence the feel of repetition. Many enjoyable, funny stories make this worth the read, especially for a baseball fan.
June 22, 2025
As a baseball fan, I was looking forward to reading about prospects who struggled in the minors while hoping to make the majors. I thought there had to be a million great stories about what the prospects experienced along the way. Unfortunately, the book rarely mentions those stories. I got the impression that the author was holding back on those stories, perhaps out of concern of upsetting people who may have been involved. Instead she told the stories in a very perfunctory way that was not nearly as interesting as those stories could have been.
July 14, 2021
A very interesting book. A must read for any former athlete/baseball player/baseball fan.
Quite a few unique stories that expanded on various blips that you read/hear about over the years.
It would be fun to create something like this at the high school football level in the area that I grew up.... Well that is if I even cared to talk to many of the former teammates/opponents.
It was a neat read. May the author rest in peace.
Quite a few unique stories that expanded on various blips that you read/hear about over the years.
It would be fun to create something like this at the high school football level in the area that I grew up.... Well that is if I even cared to talk to many of the former teammates/opponents.
It was a neat read. May the author rest in peace.
July 28, 2022
A thorough examination of life in minor-league baseball. Very enjoyable if you're a baseball fan, insightful if you're unaware of the challenges the players have to endure, and an exhaustive case for why some changes that billion-dollar organizations can easily afford will both improve the players' quality of life and play on the field. Recommended if you enjoy baseball in general; highly recommended if you can't get enough of it or if you own an MLB team.
May 26, 2019
As a huge fan of minor league baseball (and a writer of books about it, too) I was excited to read this book, and it did not disappoint. Great stories from career minor leaguers as well as the few who've gotten to The Show, and the honesty and funny stories from each player was amazing. It really gives you the peek inside what minor league baseball is about!
February 5, 2020
This is a great book for all sports fans and a MUST READ for any aspiring college or minor league baseball players! The candid anecdotes that the players share with the author provide insights into the hard work, triumphs, setbacks and laughs that make up the unique experience of the minor leagues. I highly recommend this book and hope that you will enjoy it as much as I did!
March 17, 2021
This baseball fan thoroughly enjoyed this inside look at the minor league lifestyle. What an adventure! In addition to being entertaining, it's well written. There's humor, emotion, drama and surprises.
Recommended for baseball fans and anyone interested in memoirs and a behind-the-scenes look at a unique experience.
Recommended for baseball fans and anyone interested in memoirs and a behind-the-scenes look at a unique experience.
March 20, 2021
This is an ethnography of minor league baseball players structured around the Stanford baseball team, with some familiar names (hi Tommy Edman) and some unknowns. It is, as far as I know, one of the only (and best) comprehensive studies of what life is like for players in the minors. It's required reading for anyone writing about baseball.
May 20, 2021
Fascinating book about life in the minor leagues of professional baseball. The draft process, bus rides, promotions, demotions, releases ... all wrapped in the emotions of primarily 18- to 22- year olds who been playing this game since about age 6. Living their dream until one it end for about 99% of them short of the major leagues. Excellent book for any baseball junkie.
May 5, 2024
I liked the behind-the-scenes glimpse of minor league baseball, from the 40 (?!) rounds of the draft, how some players never sign with a team even after being drafted, to what road trips are like and how the players have to pay for the daily meal at the clubhouse. It's a tough career where few make it to the major leagues.
October 31, 2019
Really interesting insight into the Minor Leagues. Well put together and a nice read
May 28, 2020
Another book for research. It was very insightful into the life of a minor leaguer. It's basically just a series of interviews of former Stanford baseball players, but it served it's purpose well.
March 30, 2022
As a big fan of baseball I knew the hardships that minor league players often face, but still very eye-opening to see minor league life from their eyes. Definitely recommend this one highly.
January 26, 2024
As a baseball fan, this is a MUST read. Loved it!
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews