In the summer of 2016, when the high school season was in hibernation, I would venture off from Enid, OK, to the cities of Tulsa and Oklahoma City to cover the top prospects of the Los Angeles Dodgers. 

I wasn’t merely talking to players who are on the way to future life in the big leagues, but also got stories of many players who found themselves in the crossroads of success and surrender. 

“Most of these guys are living on couches and just scraping to get by,” Former MLB outfielder Joey Gallo said on Sept. 14, 2026. “It’s tough for these guys and people don’t understand that and that’s really frustrating. When you hear people bash minor leaguers and say ‘it’s your choice,’ it’s tough for these minor leaguers. We’re not living in luxury like people think. A lot of people are grinding to get their next meal.”

One guy who came to mind was Rob Segedin, who played 53 games in Los Angeles from 2016-17, including the Dodgers squad that earned their first National League pennant since 1988. He also played for Italy in the 2017 World Baseball Classic. 

In 2016, he was one of the best hitters on the OKC Dodgers and he told me that he was close to giving up after being demoted on the Fourth of July in 2015. Segedin said he “was actually debating whether to retire or not” when the New York Yankees demoted him from Triple-A to Double-A and he “had to drive to (Trenton) on our anniversary and pack up everything.”

“It was one of those crossroad things,” Segedin said on July 6, 2016. “Do you continue to make no money and grind it out for an extra year and a half, or is it time (to leave) if they don’t grant you a release and you have no shot you’re just wasting time?”

The biggest future star was in Tulsa. The Dodgers’ Double-A affiliate saw over 20 players make their way to the Major Leagues, most notably Cody Bellinger, who won a World Series with the Dodgers in 2020 and is currently with the Yankees. 

Baseball is in his blood. With his father playing for the Yankees during their late 1990’s dynasty run, Bellinger grew up around the legendary “Core Four” of the Bronx Bombers. 

“Ever since I was little, I was around baseball, in a baseball clubhouse around all the big leaguers,” Bellinger said on Aug. 19, 2026. “I took it for granted as a kid. I look back at it now, I was pretty fortunate to hang out with Jeter, Posada and Pettitte, go to their houses and hang out. I didn’t know how lucky I was back then.”

Another player I encountered in Tulsa with a story to tell was Drew Maggi. He started his professional career in 2010 and didn’t make it to the Major Leagues until 2023. 

It took Maggi 13 years of minor league baseball just to play three games with the Pittsburgh Pirates, a team who released him nine years prior when he was in Double-A Altoona batting .280 with 37 stolen bases. 

13 years of playing for low pay and living in apartments with as high as seven roommates coming in and out throughout the season. It was business on the field and “Big Brother” at home. 

“There were tough situations but that has made me the player I am today,” Maggi said on July 13, 2016.“The experiences and the stuff that I been through made me a better player and a better guy.”

These are all stories on the journey to the big leagues. These players work to the ends of their abilities to get that first call-up. 

Zach Walters earned one last call-up in 2016, good for three more games with the Dodgers. He made his big league debut in 2013 with the Washington Nationals and his first career hit broke up a no-hitter. 

“No matter how many times you heard it or when you hear it, it’s everything you worked for,” Walters said on July 20, 2016. It’s fun taking that first class ticket flight going to some big city and these beautiful ballparks. They’re like cathedrals.”

2016 was Lars Anderson’s final season in the minor leagues but his first call-up came in 2010 with the Boston Red Sox. He saw his MLB debut on the horizon but with that call-up came with his life instantly changing overnight. 

“I had so much adrenaline that I was thinking, ‘I’m not going to sleep tonight.’ I packed my whole life up and drove to Boston and into the team hotel to try to get some sleep that night,” Anderson said on July 20, 2016.

Every year in baseball is full of stories like these. One of my favorite things to ask a big leaguer is about their journey through the minor leagues. I made a podcast back in the winter of 2021-22 focusing on life as a minor leaguer called “Road Most Travelled.” 

These stories were compiled during my time as a sports editor with the Enid News & Eagle (2015-17).