The Joy of Going Broke

Ever feel like you're running out of money, poor, or going broke? Well, I'm totally feeling it. Thankfully though, Tyler and I are nowhere near that point because we’ve been saving and saving money! Not to mention all the gift cards from the wedding…so great! Sometimes however, we just can't help but be more aware of our expenses during certain periods of time. Example: Spring Training.

For the month of spring training, I will pretty much be the moneymaker. Tyler and I will still get money from the Phillies to help pay for our "living out" expenses, which means we’ll get just enough money to where we won't have to live in a tiny hotel room for the month. :) Unfortunately however, it’s not going to be enough to cover the $1,700.00 bill we just received to get our car fixed. :( Oh joy! Turns out cross-country driving took its toll on "my baby." So much for our tax return!

I'm sure you can tell now how thankful we are that I got the job at the cafe. Work is going pretty well for me at the moment; it's not hard, it's just not exactly the place I want to spend my time while in Florida. I know I’m blessed to have gotten the job so easily, and on top of that, conveniently, while Tyler isn’t in season yet, aka: not getting paid yet, so I definitely won’t be taking the income for granted. Here’s why…

The inside scoop is revealed: minor league baseball players don’t make much money. In fact, the biggest paycheck they will most likely see, unless they make it to the big leagues, is their signing bonus. That being the amount of money they sign for when they are drafted. It's true, some guys sign for five, six, even seven figures, but the majority of them do not. When it comes to the rest of the season, the players will, for the most part, make less than you yourself make every month. Pretty crazy knowing they are at the field sometimes more than twelve hours a day, seven days a week!

This is only one of the sacrifices they make for the chance to "make it" in baseball. People really envy Tyler because he gets paid to play a game. It makes sense and I completely understand because baseball is a game, but in our case, it is also his profession. There are many business decisions to be made along the way, and quite a few levels of baseball to advance from. Most people think there are only three levels in the minors: A, AA, and AAA. The real deal is as follows:

Rookie Ball

Short Season A

Low A

High A

AA

AAA

Majors

On top of these levels, there’s also spring training, fall instructional league, and winter ball; all places where a players’ every move on the field is on radar. Although hard work from these players is important, it doesn’t always ensure success or advancement, and it definitely does not ensure millions of dollars. What is does ensure for us however, is the opportunity to travel the country and experience different cities most people do not, to meet other wives, fiancés, girlfriends, families, coaches, and players (big league guys too) along the way that can relate to our lifestyle, to actually know what the inside world of baseball life is really like, and most importantly… to be able to watch a baseball game every night. :) I love the fact that I get to watch my husband do what he loves to do and share his dreams with him of making it to the big leagues. This lifestyle takes a lot of faith and a lot of sacrifice with no guarantee of making it, but at the end of the day, and no matter what our future holds, we will always have each other.

Spring Training or Bust!

We're here! We made it! All 1461.73 miles are now behind us! The 23 hour and 2 minute drive that MapQuest navigated out for us, only managed to take us five days. Ha! Not to worry, we chose that time frame. We stopped to visit family and friends along the way as we made our drive through eight states: Nebraska, Iowa, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, and finally Florida! Not just anywhere in Florida though, but the beautiful Clearwater, Florida... home to the Philadelphia Phillies Spring Training!

What a joy it was to step out of the car! Sure there was warm weather, ocean views, palm trees, and baseball, but the best part was being able to get more than two feet away from Tyler! Ok so maybe I should admit, Tyler is a much better road trip buddy than I am, as I only drove three hours of the entire trip! Not to mention, I am also a big time passenger seat driver! (I'm sure you can imagine how much fun that must have been for him.) :) In all seriousness however, we really had such a fun time together! We drove through a bit of snow, hit some rush hour traffic here and there, but managed to safely pass by the runaway truck ramps in the mountains...scary! The only other problem we really encountered was, let me think now, how would the American Idol judges put it? Oh that's right...the "You're so NOT going to Hollywood" voices that Tyler and I have, along with some dance moves that would make for a total fail in the auditions as well! Yeah, it was definitely a fun five days in the car together.

Luckily, our road trip is now over and we are all moved into our new room! Yes, you read that correctly... room. We found an amazing house on the water to live in for the month of spring training! Only exception: we share it with the family that lives here. Um? Is that supposed to be a problem? Alright, I might have been a little worried at first, deciding to move in with a family before we actually met them, but it turns out we made a great decision. We absolutely love it here and the family is great! They have two kids in their 20's, three dogs, nine bedrooms, a 150ft dock, and the view of an incredible sunset every night from the front porch! Even cooler, dolphins swim by regularly! Sure, there's a little downfall... we all share one shower, which happens to be an old fashion tub with a curtain around it. It's not really a challenge, just something new and different for us. Besides that, all is great right now! We are so blessed to have found this place, as we know we won't always be so fortunate with this lifestyle. Tyler is already away at the field every day working out, and I just got a job at a cute little cafe in downtown Dunedin. I only have to work two days a week and it's in walking distance, just two blocks away. Perfect! I'll spend the rest of my time laying out and also going to Tyler's games here soon. This week has definitely been a high point for us. :)

Ever Wonder What the Life of a Professional Baseball Player Would Be Like?

My guess is your mind just went racing with ideas like a luxurious life style, first class travel/hotels, top of the line restaurants, finest products, girls galore, and of course...BIG $$$! But! Let me ask you something else: If I had added the words, "in the minor leagues" to the question, would your idea of this life style change? Most of you now might say yes because you can see where I'm going with this. However, if you never truly understood the difference, you are in for some great stories! :)

Hi all! My name is Tonya Cloyd, and I am the wife to Tyler Cloyd. Tyler is heading into his fourth year of professional baseball with the Philadelphia Phillies. In three years so far, he has progressed his way from Rookie Ball, all the way up to AA.(I’ll make sure to tell you about the levels in the minors soon.) He is a right-handed pitcher and has been both a starter and reliever in his professional career. Tyler and I have been together for four years now, but only married for three months! We just got married this past off-season on November 12, 2010. We are kind of old fashion and chose not to move in together until we were married, so this will be our first season living together! We are so excited! Since this is my first post, I figure I will at least catch you up on our lives, and start from the beginning...enjoy! :)

Tyler and I met back when I was 17 and he was 19. (Today we are 21 and 23.) I graduated high school early, just three months after my seventeenth birthday, and started working morning customer service hours at a grocery store. I had to be to work at 5am and it just so happened, this totally cute guy, Tyler, was working the overnight shift there. We would always pass each other when I was walking into work, and he was leaving. It took awhile for me to get out of my shy stage, but we finally managed to start talking. Then one day he asked me out on a date! We went out for ice cream and totally hit it off. Tyler was such a great guy and had everything going for him that I was looking for in a husband. It wasn’t until a few dates later that some people came up to our table and asked him, “Hey man! How ya been? How’s baseball going?” I sat there wondering what the heck these people were talking about. They left and Tyler decided to tell me he was a baseball player. In all honestly, I thought nothing of it, except that maybe my dad would like him even more now, haha. Besides that, I really didn’t care; I knew nothing about baseball because I hated it, especially watching it. I still ended up telling my parents about what had happened, and my mom decided to Google him! Embarrassing right? :) She informed me that this boy was playing for the University of Nebraska at Omaha and that he was their ace-starting pitcher. I had no clue what that even meant so I just shrugged it off thinking, “Whatever, should I be impressed or something?” Tyler loved and laughed at the fact that I didn’t know a thing about baseball and that it just didn’t phase me. I had such a crush on this grocery store employee I knew, that I just decided to ask him to be my boyfriend myself! Gutsy move I know, but he said yes! :)

We dated for a whole year before we had quite the eye opener happen to us. In the 2008 MLB draft, the Philadelphia Phillies selected my boyfriend as their eighteenth round pick. “What?” I thought in shock. That was the year I found out that Tyler didn’t just play baseball, he seriously played baseball, in fact, this was now becoming his career.

We made it through a lot of ups and downs over the past three years, as choosing to be long distance was not an easy path to take - especially when your newly drafted boyfriend goes through a stage I liked to call, “big head syndrome.” Luckily, that faded and things only looked up for us. I moved to Denver for school to become a massage therapist, and Tyler played baseball, it worked for us. He proposed two years later and we were married in November. (So yes, I might have asked him to be my boyfriend, fortunately, he asked me to be his wife.) ha!

It is already spring training time again, and although years prior I would dread having to say goodbye, this year we look forward to spring training because I get to go with my husband for the first season ever! I can’t wait to share all my stories and adventures with you guys! I will let you know what life is really like for these minor league players and also keep you updated on where our journey takes us this summer. Thanks so much for reading, and stay posted!!

*Also, if you are interested in reading more stories from baseball wives, go to:

http://www.baseballwifeblog.com/