Here's a great article by the Indianapolis Indians' Scott McCauley on Erik Kratz, the minor league catcher who made his major league debut and had his first hit, run and RBI with the Pirates last night.
↵↵↵The news broke on Wednesday during the Triple-A All-Star game that the 30 year-old was going to the Major Leagues. When the Indians reconvened on Thursday morning the entire team had nothing but love for Erik Kratz. RHP Jeremy Powell was beaming from ear to ear knowing that Kratz gets the shot and he had his entire family there with him. "That's just awesome to have his wife and parents there. Man, that what's it all about, living your dream and having your family right there with you."
↵Frank Kremblas was still smiling when I saw him on Thursday. "I love when I tell a guy he's going up and they just stare at you like you are lying. Now why would I lie about that? It's just the shock of realizing your dream and for Kratzy it was a dream that I'm sure faded away from time to time."
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I do think there's a risk of overstating what Kratz has been through; it's worth keeping in mind that he's made his living, or a lot of his living, playing baseball. While the salaries at the low levels of the minors are awful, Class AAA salaries are okay. Still, it has to be hard to constantly be passed over, to see so many of your peers called up to live the dream while you stay in the bushes for year after year. It's great to see Kratz finally make it to the bigs after eight years of trying to get there, and McCauley's article really captures a lot of what must have been going through Kratz's head as he did.