Mack Ade - Mack On Baseball - Chapter 7 – Do The Math

Mack On Baseball - Chapter 7 – Do The Math 

The toughest baseball question I was ever asked was by a mother of a New York Met minor leaguer. We were in the stands around five hours before game time and she asked me if she had made the right decision in letting her son play baseball instead of accepting a full scholarship to a major university.

For the record, her son was playing A-ball, in his third professional year and, doing fairly well.  He played a field position, and, oh yeah, his father was standing there too but never said a word. We know what his vote was.

So, how was I supposed to answer this?

Let’s see…

·        Your son plays third base.

·        There are only 30 third basemen in major league baseball

·        An average of only three are replaced each year

·        Every baseball team (30) has at least eight minor league teams

·        Nine total teams x 30 = 270 starting third basemen

·        David Wright was the current Mets third baseman, at the age of 26

We haven’t even taken into consideration how many new third basemen are drafted every year, plus the international free agents that also jump into the pool.

I never answered the question. I told her something like, if your son keeps playing well, he’ll go up the poll and someday, you just never know. I then pulled my phone out of my pocket, looked at it as if it was buzzing, and told her I had to take that call.

The father could care what the hell I said. He never got off the bench in college and now he was the Dad of a professional baseball player. To hell with college.

Playing baseball is a lot of fun in high school and being the star of your team is the bomb. The teachers are probably giving you a break on the grades after your coach read them the riot act. You probably get laid on a regular basis. And, every sports reporter in your county has written a feature about you in their newspaper. Then, you get a tweet on your phone that you were just drafted on day two of the MLB draft.

It takes a little while, but the team gets through to you and, eventually, you are offered a contract. If you were a “day one” pick, there’s decent bonus involved, but the big money is gone.

Your mother is on the phone with her sister and doesn’t look too happy with the news, but your Dad has a boner and is looking for his old baseball glove.

                                      --------

I never advise a player, or their parents, to ‘do the math’ after they have already put the uniform on.  It’s player relationship suicide. The first thing that can happen is I help create a family feud which does no one any good at this time. Then the player tells his teammates that old Mack busted him out with his Ma and I don’t get another interview until the following season.

The math never works, but tell that to Mike Piazza.

                                               --------

The exception to this rule would be decent bonus money.

I got to know the parents of SP Matt Durkin, who was a 2^nd round draft pick in 2004, just behind Phillip Humber. Matt came out of San Jose State, signed with Scott Boras, and got himself an $800,000 signing bonus.

Durkin started out well for A-Hagerstown (2005: 4-5, 3.77), but developed arm problems in 2006. He went under the knife, but returned in 2007 for a full season in Savannah.

Matt was having a hard time getting his velocity back up and I spent some time with his father watching his son warm-up before the game. We talked about our mutual concern, especially the chance that  Matt’s future might be outside the game. The father assured me that the bonus money was conservatively invested. Matt was a particular favorite of mine and we got to know each other pretty well that season. Manager Tim Teufel had granted me full access to the clubhouse and I would show up every home game at least five hours before game time. Heck, my wife even sent food (Tuff’s favorite… oatmeal raisin cookies).

Durkin had his head on straight, though his arm never did come around. He was cut after that season (4-8, 4.00, 1.42, 25-G, 18-ST, 71-K 56-BB, 114.2-IP) and he played three fun years of independent ball back home in California.

Players that sign big bonuses never regret leaving college early for baseball.  They can easily finish that degree in between Indy trips to Maui for playoff games.

                                                -------

I happen to be writing this on the same day that the Mets resigned 40-year old Miquel Batista to a minor league contract. This is the same Batista that joined Buffalo last season (2011) and produced statistics of 3-0, 4.24, in 10-G, 8-starts. He was called up to Queens where he finished pitching: 5-2, 3.60, 35-G, 5-ST.

Batista continued his relief role in winter ball, just finishing up for Aguilas Cibaenas of the DWL: 1-2, 2.79, 10-G, 0-ST.

On paper, today’s signing looks like a move to strengthen the Mets pen, but don’t tell that to Dillon Gee, who must feel like Mitt Romney.  Every minor league signing must seem like another candidate for the SP5 slot to the Gee household.

The numbers never stop working against you, but that doesn’t mean the cream doesn’t rise to the top.

We’re going to spend an awful lot of time  here separating the players that have made it, to the majority that didn’t, and the one trait all winners have is the power of determination and confidence.

You can’t get lost in the math, though you do have to respect its results in the past.

Focus is everything. Herb Cohen, wrote a book a million years ago, entitled “How To Negotiate Everything”. In it, he talked about the old saying about knowing the difference from “the forest and the trees”. He then went on to warn his readers that there are some people out there that never see the forest or the trees, because they remain stuck on the knot hole.

Dillon Gee was never stuck on the knot hole.

Neither was Lucas Duda, who everybody (including me) said would not only not make it in the majors, but would never get a chance to prove he could either.

The equivalent in football this month would be the New York Giants’ wide receiver Victor Cruz. Cruz isn’t a better receiver than Mario Manningham, but don’t tell him that.

You beat the math by respecting the odds, focusing on the job at hand, and excelling at what you do above others that are doing the same job.

You play third base in A-ball? Fine, go out and be one of the top five players on your team in OBP and defense, and be one of the top third basemen in the league in both categories. There will be no more math discussions until your next job, probably at the AA level.

In baseball, you need to do your job, to receive the next one.