Join us at More Than Baseball #standwithmilb
Donation protected
Our mission is to empower every minor leaguer with opportunities to live a better life during and after their careers.
Minor league ballplayers are subject to a system that takes advantage of their dreams and builds a lucrative market around their cheap labor. Most work a minimum of seven months a year, earning between $3,000 and $10,000 per season, or $45 to $75 per game depending on the level they're assigned (not including travel time, practice time, or time spent working out).
During these seven months, players work 70-plus hours a week, 29-30 days a month. However, they are still classified as “seasonal apprentices” under the law. Players do not receive a salary for spring training, extended spring training, instructional league, offseason camps, or the Arizona Fall League. All the while, most minor leaguers are responsible for providing their own equipment and housing. On many occasions, there is not enough high-quality food for players before or after games in the clubhouse despite contractual provisions promising two meals a day.
More Than Baseball was formed to provide support and guidance to all minor league ballplayers to alleviate some of the hardships of the lifestyle.
Through our network, players will have access to discounted equipment and healthy food options, wealth management advice, job counseling and career services, a network of attorneys, brand partnerships with companies, assistance with housing both in-season and in the offseason, offseason work opportunities, and discounted access to training facilities. Down the road, we hope to provide cheap vision and dental care and paid appearances at local events.
Join us as we create a better future for the game of baseball.
Your generous gifts will go to supporting our programs
Services
Housing
Many minor league ballplayers are currently forced to locate and pay for their own housing during the season. Your gift will allow More Than Baseball to help players access affordable housing and purchase basic living essentials like a mattress and cooking accessories.
Food
Players require optimal nutrition to perform at their best and a gift to More Than Baseball will allow players access to free and discounted meals, snacks, and supplements for before and after games.
Equipment
Many minor leaguers have to buy their own bats, batting gloves, fielding gloves, and cleats during the season. Funds raised by More Than Baseball will go to providing stipends and discounted gear to these ballplayers.
Career Development
For minor leaguers, a career after baseball is seen as an afterthought. Many of these players retire with nothing on their resume and no skills to help them find or maintain work. This community will take great pride in helping players succeed in the real world by providing career development resources like resume building and startup incubation.
Education
For players eager to take the next step in their personal development, More Than Baseball has partnered with universities nationwide to provide online undergraduate and graduate degrees to accommodate a minor leaguers grueling schedule.
Events
Events are our way of bringing the community together around these players and we want to put on events with you during the year.
Bring your friends, families, and coworkers out to a night at the ballpark to raise money for minor leaguers. Want to have a clinic instead? How about a golf tournament?
More Than Baseball will help you host an event in your minor league community with all the proceeds going to getting players housing, food, and equipment throughout the season.
Documentary
More Than Baseball has partnered with Nineforty Media to create a documentary on the issues surrounding minor league baseball; the who, what, where, and why that has gotten us to this point.
To tell this story properly, a portion of the funds raised in this campaign will go towards producing this film.
Emergency Relief
Many players struggle to make ends meet during the season and a portion of the funds raised will be for players to access support in dire circumstances.
One such example is being released from a team during the season and still having to pay for one's own rent. Teams are not obligated to, and often don't, help players offset these costs; player's are then on the hook for fees associated with breaking their lease.
Community
More Than Baseball's mission is not only to provide a sustainable future for minor league ballplayers but also to create an infrastructure of support for communities hungry for the game of baseball. Funds raised will go to providing field renovations and equipment to youth teams both internationally and in the United States and beach cleanups in Florida and the Domincan Republic.
Community support will also go towards individual projects as well:
Last year, Luis Vasquez successfully beat cancer after being diagnosed with an osteosarcoma in his left leg. A pitcher in the New York Mets farm system, he was injured during practice one day, which lead to the discovery of a tumor in his knee. He and his mom, Juana, relocated to New York City where he underwent surgery to remove the tumor (a full knee/tibia replacement) and chemotherapy.
Now, he is back in the Dominican Republic where he is focusing on finishing High School and learning English while he continues his physical therapy.
Luis lives in Yamasa, Monte Plata, Dominican Republic, a poor, rural area north of Santo Domingo. Over 20% of the country lives in extreme poverty, mostly in rural areas, without access to clean water, indoor plumbing, and proper healthcare. He lives with his mom, two sisters, two brothers, and two nephews. While he and his mom (the primary breadwinners) were in New York last year, his house began to fall into disrepair.
Recently, Luis mentioned that he wants to buy his mom a new house, and was stressed that he couldn't work to save the money while he was finishing up school.
A portion of funds raised in this campaign will go to supporting Luis and his family's quest for a new home and a better quality of life.
Why support More Than Baseball?
We now have the opportunity to enhance and protect the game of baseball both in our own backyard and across the world.
You now have the power to use baseball to create a better life for athletes everywhere. The future of the game we love depends on it.
Thank you!
From our family to yours, we want to sincerely thank you for your gift to More Than Baseball. We look forward to building the game's future with you. If there is anything we can do for you or your community, please do not hesitate to reach out.
Text MTB1 to 31996 for updates!
More Than Baseball is a 501(c)3 approved by the state of Texas and can backdate tax deductions pending national approval (retroactive 18 months from the date of donation) | EIN: 83-2355576
Minor league ballplayers are subject to a system that takes advantage of their dreams and builds a lucrative market around their cheap labor. Most work a minimum of seven months a year, earning between $3,000 and $10,000 per season, or $45 to $75 per game depending on the level they're assigned (not including travel time, practice time, or time spent working out).
During these seven months, players work 70-plus hours a week, 29-30 days a month. However, they are still classified as “seasonal apprentices” under the law. Players do not receive a salary for spring training, extended spring training, instructional league, offseason camps, or the Arizona Fall League. All the while, most minor leaguers are responsible for providing their own equipment and housing. On many occasions, there is not enough high-quality food for players before or after games in the clubhouse despite contractual provisions promising two meals a day.
More Than Baseball was formed to provide support and guidance to all minor league ballplayers to alleviate some of the hardships of the lifestyle.
Through our network, players will have access to discounted equipment and healthy food options, wealth management advice, job counseling and career services, a network of attorneys, brand partnerships with companies, assistance with housing both in-season and in the offseason, offseason work opportunities, and discounted access to training facilities. Down the road, we hope to provide cheap vision and dental care and paid appearances at local events.
Join us as we create a better future for the game of baseball.
Your generous gifts will go to supporting our programs
Services
Housing
Many minor league ballplayers are currently forced to locate and pay for their own housing during the season. Your gift will allow More Than Baseball to help players access affordable housing and purchase basic living essentials like a mattress and cooking accessories.
Food
Players require optimal nutrition to perform at their best and a gift to More Than Baseball will allow players access to free and discounted meals, snacks, and supplements for before and after games.
Equipment
Many minor leaguers have to buy their own bats, batting gloves, fielding gloves, and cleats during the season. Funds raised by More Than Baseball will go to providing stipends and discounted gear to these ballplayers.
Career Development
For minor leaguers, a career after baseball is seen as an afterthought. Many of these players retire with nothing on their resume and no skills to help them find or maintain work. This community will take great pride in helping players succeed in the real world by providing career development resources like resume building and startup incubation.
Education
For players eager to take the next step in their personal development, More Than Baseball has partnered with universities nationwide to provide online undergraduate and graduate degrees to accommodate a minor leaguers grueling schedule.
Events
Events are our way of bringing the community together around these players and we want to put on events with you during the year.
Bring your friends, families, and coworkers out to a night at the ballpark to raise money for minor leaguers. Want to have a clinic instead? How about a golf tournament?
More Than Baseball will help you host an event in your minor league community with all the proceeds going to getting players housing, food, and equipment throughout the season.
Documentary
More Than Baseball has partnered with Nineforty Media to create a documentary on the issues surrounding minor league baseball; the who, what, where, and why that has gotten us to this point.
To tell this story properly, a portion of the funds raised in this campaign will go towards producing this film.
Emergency Relief
Many players struggle to make ends meet during the season and a portion of the funds raised will be for players to access support in dire circumstances.
One such example is being released from a team during the season and still having to pay for one's own rent. Teams are not obligated to, and often don't, help players offset these costs; player's are then on the hook for fees associated with breaking their lease.
Community
More Than Baseball's mission is not only to provide a sustainable future for minor league ballplayers but also to create an infrastructure of support for communities hungry for the game of baseball. Funds raised will go to providing field renovations and equipment to youth teams both internationally and in the United States and beach cleanups in Florida and the Domincan Republic.
Community support will also go towards individual projects as well:
Last year, Luis Vasquez successfully beat cancer after being diagnosed with an osteosarcoma in his left leg. A pitcher in the New York Mets farm system, he was injured during practice one day, which lead to the discovery of a tumor in his knee. He and his mom, Juana, relocated to New York City where he underwent surgery to remove the tumor (a full knee/tibia replacement) and chemotherapy.
Now, he is back in the Dominican Republic where he is focusing on finishing High School and learning English while he continues his physical therapy.
Luis lives in Yamasa, Monte Plata, Dominican Republic, a poor, rural area north of Santo Domingo. Over 20% of the country lives in extreme poverty, mostly in rural areas, without access to clean water, indoor plumbing, and proper healthcare. He lives with his mom, two sisters, two brothers, and two nephews. While he and his mom (the primary breadwinners) were in New York last year, his house began to fall into disrepair.
Recently, Luis mentioned that he wants to buy his mom a new house, and was stressed that he couldn't work to save the money while he was finishing up school.
A portion of funds raised in this campaign will go to supporting Luis and his family's quest for a new home and a better quality of life.
Why support More Than Baseball?
We now have the opportunity to enhance and protect the game of baseball both in our own backyard and across the world.
You now have the power to use baseball to create a better life for athletes everywhere. The future of the game we love depends on it.
Thank you!
From our family to yours, we want to sincerely thank you for your gift to More Than Baseball. We look forward to building the game's future with you. If there is anything we can do for you or your community, please do not hesitate to reach out.
Text MTB1 to 31996 for updates!
More Than Baseball is a 501(c)3 approved by the state of Texas and can backdate tax deductions pending national approval (retroactive 18 months from the date of donation) | EIN: 83-2355576
Organizer
Jeremy Wolf
Organizer
San Antonio, TX