Mike Hessman ties minor league home run record


He isn't anywhere as famous as Barry Bonds, but Mike Hessman will soon join the former Giants slugger in the ranks of career home run kings.

Hessman, who plays for the Triple-A Toledo Mud Hens, tied the all-time minor league record Wednesday, hitting his 432nd home run in a 9-3 win for Toledo.

The real-life Crash Davis, 36, is now tied with Buzz Arlett for the record. Hessman has spent half his life in the minors since being drafted by the Braves in 1996.

"I'm just grateful and thankful to keep playing," Hessman told radio reporters after the game.

Cool that a guy has made a career out of playing minor league baseball. There are worse fates.

Cool that a guy has made a career out of playing minor league baseball. There are worse fates.

Cool that a guy has made a career out of playing minor league baseball. There are worse fates.

oh no doubt. I would do it in a heartbeat.

But hard to believe teams would keep a guy around that long.

Most guys figure that's what they are by mid to late 20s and retire since minor leaguers make less than 20k per year.

I looked up this scrubs stats , he's had 5 major league stints from 03-14 .... The league minimum is like 500k right now .


So let's say the league minimum was averaged out @ 300 k in his stints ...that's 5 years @ 300k = 1.5 million ...not to mention the 12 or so years he made 25 k ....Dude has made well over a million dollars in his career.

I could be wrong ..Keyser probably knows ..I always assumed if ya got ONE major league at bat..you get the mininum .

Here is the financial breakdown from what I have learned:

First let's discuss the situation for when a player is in the minor leagues.

Minor league players are payed a salary which depends on the level they are currently playing in. For example: Rookie ball players can make around $1200 per month while most players in AAA (the highest level of the minor league) can make around $2000-2500 per month.

For major league players, the minimum salary in 2011 is $414,000 per season. If a minor league player is called up to the majors, he will receive a prorated salary of the $414,000 minimum during his tenure on the MLB team.

Cool that a guy has made a career out of playing minor league baseball. There are worse fates.

How in the hell are you still playing in the minors at the age of 36... ?

I don't see a problem with that. What do they make? 70 or 80k a year? What's wrong with playing ball if you can make that? Maybe I'm high, but even if it's 50k a year, that's more than the average American income.

oh no doubt. I would do it in a heartbeat.

But hard to believe teams would keep a guy around that long.

How does that league minimum thing work for those guys that come up for a few games and go back?

Do they make more money for those specific games and then go back down to the minor league salary when he goes back down?

Prorated for days on the 25-man roster, I'm sure. That's the way the NHL does it on entry-level and veteran two-way contracts, except there are no hard-cap considerations for it in baseball, of course.

You make big league money for being on the 40 man roster. Technically he could have been in the minors for 3 years....never gotten called up and still made 900k or so. The only difference with being on the 25 is the meal money...which is probably a few bills a day.

Minor league free agents also make decent money comparable to having a real job. He is 36 which means he has been signing free agent deals for probably 10 years. Those can range from 40-75K per year if not more.

What do these guys make per diem on the road ? C note ? Per nite ? That count to "salary" ?


This guy should have been in Japan the last decade n been living large .