It's hard times out there right now. Something like 6.6 million Americans have filed for unemployment due to the coronavirus. And while it may seem trivial to say, no industry has been hit harder than the industry of sports. No, we're not talking about the Tigers and Toms of the world. They will be fine. MORE than fine. But it's the service workers, the arena security guards, and, of course, the lowest guys on the totem pole—the minor leaguers—who will be hurting the most as the COVID-19 pandemic stretches on.
Thankfully, while the aforementioned Tom's settle down in their new mega mansions in income-tax-free states, Texas Rangers outfielder Shin-Soo Choo is, er, stepping to the plate, pledging to pay all 190 minor leaguers currently in the Texas Rangers system $1,000 . . . each.
Now, $1,000 may not seem like much, but in times like these, it can be a couple weeks worth of groceries or a month's rent that you're still expected to pay despite your landlord's mortgage being frozen. That goes a long way, especially for a guy struggling to make The Show. Plus, Choo's reasoning is simple, un-showy, and, quite frankly, perfect:
Even without the the coronavirus, the plight of the MLB minor leaguer has become increasingly dire in recent months, with Rob Manfred's widely maligned plan to prune the MiLB of 42 franchises only exacerbating the issue. In February, when former Mets minor leaguer Ty Kelly outed the team's spring training road lunches as a single piece of folded-over ham with a slice of American cheese between two pieces of white bread, it felt like proof that things couldn't get any worse. Days later, the world plunged into lockdown and, per Murphy's Law, they did.
That said, if Soo Choo's act of understanding and kindness proves to be the rule not the exception, not only in sports but across the broader scope of our species, then we'll all—major leaguers, minor leaguers, the people who pour your beer at the ballpark—be just fine