Opinion: Life in the minor leagues is not as glamorous as it may seem

In America, many things embody summertime: vacation, grilling, fireworks and most of all, baseball.

From tee-ball to the majors, if there is a diamond with four bases, it can be expected that there are spectators watching.

One level of the game that is often overlooked, but yet so vital to the sport, is the minor league level.

Of all developmental leagues in sports, minor league baseball is by far the most demanding.

Many minor league players were college standouts, high school phenoms or foreigners whose only connection to America is the ability to play baseball.

Minor league has three main stages: Class A, AA and AAA.

Of the thousands of aspiring athletes, only those who show the ability to perform are given a chance. More often than not, the players at the highest caliber begin their journey to the big show at the Single-A level.

Each level of the minor league system filters out those who cannot improve their game any longer, while also refining the talent of those who have not reached the boiling point of their potential.

Life as a minor league player is quite the opposite of the Bentley driving, Armani suit-wearing rock stars that many of today's MLB top names portray themselves as.

The road to the top is filled with long bus rides, longer summers and the constant competition of other teams as well as their peers.

Simply put, minor leaguers are forced to play a team game, while also showing their own personal ability.

When a player reaches it to the Triple-A level, they have nearly reached the Majors and could be expected to fill in for injured professionals at any given time.

Often times, so called no-names are brought up to play in place of Major League Baseball's finest. Never experiencing this myself, I would imagine this to be a humbling and daunting task for a young player.

Of all the athletes who begin the journey toward becoming a full-fledged professional baseball player, unfortunately many do not succeed.

The realm of sports is truly a Darwinist system, in which only the strong survive.

Once an athlete reaches the major league level, the journey is not over. Each player still must perform for his position or they could be sent back to the minors.

MLB clubs are made up of a 40-man roster, in which only 25 of those 40 are allowed to be active during the regular season.

The remaining 15 athletes are placed within the minor league affiliates of each ball club.

With the odds stacked greatly against them, young players still prevail.

Each year, the MLB brings in impressive young talent and, of those players who do become mainstays on one of the 30 professional teams roster, all were at one time in the same situation as the young men who make up the 240 teams of the minor league baseball farm system.