Pittsburgh Pirates farm director John Baker recalls his playing days in Triple-A, where he lived with four players, two player wives, a baby, and a dog all crammed into a three bedroom apartment.
"I will say, although I wouldn’t wish that upon today’s player in my position now – you want to be able to take care of all of those things, so they can focus on the game and competing – but I wouldn’t trade the experience I had for anything," Baker told me when we spoke last week. "Through adversity and through struggle, you really do make lifelong friends.