Fixing the Issues within Minor League Baseball
In briefAI summary — tap to read
Jeremy Wolf discusses More Than Baseball, a nonprofit he founded to address systemic issues in minor league baseball by providing players access to affordable housing, food, equipment, career services, and mental health coaching. He advocates for better treatment of minor league players, who earn $5,000–$12,000 annually while working 70+ hours weekly, arguing that proper support directly improves player development and benefits entire baseball communities.
Key takeaways
- Minor league players are severely underpaid and lack basic necessities like housing and food, making it difficult to focus on development despite being future assets to MLB organizations.
- More Than Baseball has distributed over $1.6 million in support across housing grants, equipment, nutrition, career guidance, and mental health services funded largely by major league players and donors.
- Player development through minor league support is economically valuable—late-round draft picks can become major leaguers of significant value, making investment in their welfare a sound business strategy.
- The 1938 Fair Labor Standards Act exempts minor league players from minimum wage and overtime protections, a loophole MLB has actively lobbied to preserve.
- Baseball risks losing popularity, especially among youth, if it continues to be expensive and inaccessible, making grassroots minor league player support critical to the sport's future.
About Jeremy WolfJeremy Wolf is a former minor league baseball player drafted by the New York Mets in 2016 and founder of More Than Baseball, a nonprofit supporting minor league players' welfare and development. He is a Trinity University alumnus and member of Team Israel for the Olympics.
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Meeting for the week of September 20, 2021 - September 26, 2021
This Meeting at a Glance:
Program: Fixing the Issues within Minor League Baseball
Speaker: Jeremy Wolf
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Welcome to the Rotary eClub of Silicon Valley!
Here’s a message from our Club President.
Hi everyone,
Welcome to this week’s meeting of the Rotary eClub of Silicon Valley.
A reminder that this week (20 to 26 September) is the inaugural Rotary - Peace Corps Week, and that there will be 3 webinars during the week focusing on the partnership between Rotary and Peace Corps, including one on 22 September that will feature club member Cal Mann as a panelist.
Our club is also once again encouraging club members to support Relay for Life, as it has over many years. You should have received an email from Charter President Rushton a couple of weeks ago outlining how you can get involved and join in the fight against cancer. If you did not receive the email, or if you have any questions or would like to get involved, please reach out to Rushton.
The District Avenues of Service event is also coming up soon - with a Zoom event on the evening of 30 September, and an in person event at the Alameda County Fairgrounds on Saturday 2 October. There is a registration fee, however the District has kindly offered to provide a capped reimbursement to clubs for registrations, so if you are interested in attending, please let me know.
Brett Sham
President, Rotary eClub of Silicon Valley
president@siliconvalleyrotary.com
Guests, we are happy to have you join us this week!
As we see it, our flexibility as an online, asynchronous club allows a special type of service to Rotarians around the world: we make it easier for anyone to strive for and maintain 100% attendance. That keeps you engaged with Rotary's events and ideas, and provides a moment of inspiration for devoting your creativity, talents, and resources to good causes.
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Of the things we think, say or do
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Is it the TRUTH?
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Is it FAIR to all concerned?
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Will it build GOODWILL and BETTER FRIENDSHIPS?
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Weekly Funny with Shags
We believe laughter is an important part of life, and we should all make time to laugh a little. This segment of our meeting is meant to tickle you just enough. These funnies are curated by member Steven "Shags" Shagrin !
The Perfect Husband!
A young lady visited a computer dating service and requested, "I'm looking for a spouse. Can you please help me to find a suitable one?"
The matchmaker said, "What exactly are you looking for?"
"Well, let me see. Needs to be good looking, polite, humorous, sporty, knowledgeable, good at singing and dancing. Willing to accompany me the whole day at home during my leisure hour if I don't go out. Be able to tell me interesting stories when I need a companion for conversation and be silent when I want to rest."
The matchmaker entered the information into the computer and, in a matter of moments, handed the results to the woman: "Buy a television."
Weekly inspiration
Every week we start our meetings with a short video highlighting innovation, inspiration, entrepreneurship, or social change.
Ever wanted a flying car? Turns out that the first inter-city flight by an actual flying car took place in Slovakia this summer. Meet AirCar by Klein.
Through a Rotarian's Lens
Sometimes a photo can capture an amazing moment. In this section Member Keith Marsh shares his incredible photography!
If you'd like to submit a photo for this section please contact Keith.
While photographing one evening in 2018 at Kirby Cove under the Golden Gate Bridge, I noticed this strange light in the sky to the south. I turned my camera to take a photo of what I thought were lights from a helicopter. Turns out it was the launch of a SpaceX rocket from Vandenberg SFB some 250 miles to the South. Our daughter saw the same lights all the way from Reno. This proves the point that 95% of a successful photo is being in the right place at the right time.
Learn something new
This section is curated by members Shags Shagrin and aims to teach our members and guests something new, fun, and useful! If you have any ideas on a fun trick or skill you'd like to share please contact Shags.
The Funk Brothers!
These guys were the music behind many Motown hits. Enjoy!
Relay for Life
Hello, everyone!
This month we are working together to raise funds to fight cancer. These funds will help support research, educational materials, and programs for survivors and caregivers.
There are many ways you can take part. In addition to donating here, you can also send me (Rushton) a message (rushton at gmail) that we post as encouragement for those fighting cancer, or in memory of those we've lost.
Here's a thank-you to everyone who's already jumped in to help:
If I've forgotten anyone, please contact me directly so I can fix it.
If you have questions, let me know, and thanks for taking part. We want everyone to join in as a club!
If I've forgotten anyone, please contact me directly so I can fix it.
If you have questions, let me know, and thanks for taking part. We want everyone to join in as a club!
Service report
Tell us about service you’ve done recently in your community.
Click here to fill out The Rotary eClub of Silicon Valley Service Survey
Our events & projects
We hold our meetings online, but we do regular service projects and social events in the Silicon Valley! The section is updated every week with our upcoming events. We welcome guests to all of the events and service projects listed here.
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Happy Dollars: do good by sharing something good
Each week we ask our members to share stories with the club and toss in a few dollars to support our efforts. The primary goal of this section is to provide a fun way of getting to know each fellow members and guests, while giving back to a good cause.
Happy dollars is an opportunity to share something positive that has happened in your life whether it is personal or business. Think of it as your opportunity to brag a little, but also put a little bit into a karma jar. The money donated through happy dollars is put to charitable use, and the message that you leave for happy dollars will be posted in our online meeting the following week for the entire week for folks to see! (Pending that it’s appropriate!)
Here are the happy dollars contributions from last week!
This section is usually updated in the early hours of Saturday, so contributions made over the weekend may not be listed here.
Anonymous? made a $15 donation.
Polio Plus
Rory Olsen made a $20 donation.
Survived the rain. Jazzy and the other cats are fine. All is well.
Rory Olsen made a $20 donation.
Survived the rain. Jazzy and the other two cats are fine. All is well.
Program: Fixing the Issues within Minor League Baseball
Speaker: Jeremy Wolf
Every week we bring to you a new program on innovation, entrepreneurship, and education, and how those contribute to service to others.
The Rotary eClub of Silicon Valley seeks to explore perspectives on service from across the world. The views of the speakers in our programs are their own, and unless stated otherwise, are not necessarily reflective of the views of our eClub nor Rotary International.
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Jeremy Wolf is the co-founder and Director of Outreach for More Than Baseball, a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping minor league baseball players access affordable housing, food, equipment, career services and mental health coaching. This includes a new telehealth company called MindReady that supports athletes with direct 1:1 coaching.
More Than Baseball is an organization dedicated to working within the system to fix decades-long issues affecting minor league athletes.
Members and guests, please welcome Jeremy Wolf!
To learn more:
Website: http://morethanbaseball.org
Follow on social media (@mtb_org)
All donations to More Than Baseball support the growth and sustainability of baseball around the world.
Upcoming program recording schedule
All of our guest speakers and programs are recorded live online over Zoom video conference. We welcome members and guests to join us in one of these upcoming recordings. Recordings are approximately 30 minutes long and are subject to change without notice.
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