Peach State Diamond Sports

"It's personal commitment that separates Excellence from Mediocrity"
-Gary Buzard
 

 YOU NEVER KNOW WHO'S WATCHING

This is a letter that was found on the San Diego Cobras web site by a fellow eteamz member. There are several examples of what we are teaching our players and proof colleges and pro scouts look at the same things we are trying to teach. The letter is entitled "You Never Know Who's Watching."

Please share this letter with your son or daughter as I did.

This past weekend I was fortunate enough to be allowed to sit with several college coaches as they evaluated talent at a very good high school baseball tournament. This was a small tournament with only six invited teams, held at a major division one college. A "showcase" tournament.

No players names are being used, no teams are being mentioned and I will try to stay as generic as possible with the description of these players. The focus of this article is to make a point, not to embarrass any particular player.

The following are some of the comments and discussions that I was allowed to listen in on:
The first involved the player with a "national reputation" listed as a top prospect in several sources that I am familiar with. He is a position player. The coaches were in aggreement that this player had several nice tools...good arm strength, good glove and good speed. The question that each of them had was his ability to hit at the upper end of college baseball. Some coaches told me that the solid tools that the player had would make him a prospect to them even without "plus" hitting abilities.

What happened next amazed me. The player was struggling with his bat but showed flashes of an "upside." However on defense the player did not move well, did not show good anticipation, did not follow foul balls,(showing a jump). More often than not he only moved from his position if he was involved in the play.

Some of the coaches REALLY did not like the "lazy" (their words, not mine) attitude shown. On a couple of stolen base attempts (where the player was covering the bag) he did not make an attempt to stop a "less than perfect" throw. Basically he flagged at the ball and got out of the way.

One coach told me that he wanted players that were interested in "sticking their nose in there and getting dirty." This coach is with a team that would be considered a "national power."

Some of the coaches told me that they would have to see the player again later this summer before making any decision regarding a scholarship offer. Other coaches told me they probably would not pursue this player any further.

Next up, a right-handed pitcher that was throwing solidly in the upper 80's. He has a slight movement on his fastball, an OK breaking ball and fair change-up. This player did however impress many of the coaches. WHY????

He did not have the best control at times. At times was getting penalized by a "moving" and small stike zone, and had five errors made behind him by his defense.

What caught the coaches attention was his ability to battle and keep challenging the hitter. He did not drop his head or slump his shoulders when things went against him. He showed no expression when a ball was called on an obvious strike.

He went so far as to walk over and speak to his second baseman, after a costly error and then patted him on the back as he walked away. The coaches I was sitting near did not miss this!
Each of the coaches that I spoke to admitted that they did not have the player on their list of their potential recruits. Each also said that they would be making a point to see the player pitch again this summer.

This player became a prospect with several "big time" schools on a day when he was a losing pitcher and did not have his best stuff because of the attitude and the heart he showed.
Third example is a big first baseman. This young man does not run like a gazelle, does not have a great arm. "Average at best." He is not what you would term "athletic" but he is not fat. However he made points with several of the coaches in attendance. Of course you guessed it by now... the young man can hit with the best of them. There is a little more to the story though. He can hit to all fields with power. He displayed a good ability to "go with a pitch." He showed a good knowledge of the strike zone. I personally did not see him chase a bad pitch. With runners on second and third and no outs, in a one run game, this young man hit a ground ball to the right side of the infield. He did this with a two strike count. He made an out and the run scored. He did his job for the team.

He hit a homerun or two over the weekend, a double or two to the spacious gaps, had several "screaming" singles, but more importantly, he hustled!

This player ran hard on and off the field every inning. He did not quit as most of his teammates did in a blowout loss at one point in the tournament. As one pro scout commented to me...A "player" never changes his game, no matter what the score. A "player" plays as hard if his team is behind seven runs or ahead seven runs, or if his team is in a one run ball game.

If you think that college coaches and pro scouts do not notice the "little things" you are mistaken. As one coach told me..."We have to pay attention to each of the intangibles, it is the only real separator between some of these guys." He went on to explain that each recruiting year they will have several players on their board that are essentially equal in athletic skills and ability. What then makes the difference is the "little things."
So the next time you think that it doesn't matter how you hustle or present yourself maybe you should revisit that part of your game.

As another coach told me..." A player can hustle and give his maximum effort even on a day when he and/or his team is not playing their best game. It doesn't take any athletic ability to hustle."

You never know who is watching.



 

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