McKay pitching for the Detroit Tigers in 2019.
David McKay was drafted by the Kansas City Royals in the 14th round of the 2016 MLB Draft from Florida Atlantic University. McKay spent parts of four seasons in the Minor Leaguers before making his MLB debut with the Detroit Tigers in 2019. McKay shared one of his stories from his experience in rookie ball with the Royals organization. We have heard that the life of an MiLB player is difficult. However, the living conditions that McKay described to us go far beyond difficult and enter the hazardous, shocking territory.
"In 2016, I just got drafted and I was in Rookie ball. We pull up to a Days Inn motel on a road trip. My roommate and I go to open our door with the key card and the door opens up without even having to use the handle. It just pushed open. So we closed the door and tried again to see what would happen. Without using the key card, we tried to open the door and it flew open again. So we called the front desk and they said no one would be able to fix it until the next day. We’re in Princeton, West Virginia, not a place you want to sleep with an unlocked door to an outside motel. Side story: as we left for the game that day there was an ambulance taking someone away with the sheet covering them completely (they were dead). So we came back that night and asked for a new room but they were fully booked besides having an early vacancy (the room where the guy died). They claimed the guy got bit by a spider and was fine but we all saw the sheet covering his head. So that night we took all the furniture and blocked the door and took our chances until maintenance could come and fix our door."
- David McKay