Mack - Random Thoughts - High School Baseball

 

Morning.

Got my cane, headache power, and wooden chair out (can’t climb those steps anymore), had my granddaughter pick me up, and went out to see her boyfriend pitch in a good time ole high school game. Brought back a bunch of memories from my amateur scouting days about covering HS games, so I though I would jot down some things I came to learn doing this,

 

1. High school games are greatly determined by the manager who doubles as pitching coach. In my opinion, most of them don’t give a hoot about the pitch counts and pitch mixes their starters throw. This is what I feel is the real culprit for all the TJS candidates that turn out later on in these young man’s careers. College coaches may be no better…but HS managers are the worst when it comes to this.

 

2. I asked someone, with knowledge, if my granddaughter’s boyfriend’s team does well. He said, “only when he pitchers”. There’s good and bad news here. The good is that the kid may have some talent that, if brought along properly by the right staff, in the right school, could be, at least, successful in college. The bad news is he may be playing for a sub-par team, possibly also playing in a sub-par league.

 This happens a lot in small, rural, communities where the greater amount of the student base concentrate more on sports like football and basketball. The managers literally are nothing more than one of the parents of the “starters”.

 Case in point… back in the early 2000s, I was asked by a coach to come see his ‘star pitcher” that was leading their league in wins, strikeouts, and ERA. There was no other scout or writer there, which was the first troubling sight. The next was, yes, he had talent, but my radar gun only had his fastball topping in the mid-80 range, which quickly dropped to the low 80s as the game went on. But the real problem was the complete lack of talent the team he played had.

 This was a private Christian school that players in a private Christian league, in general not being a good sign to a scout. The team he pitched against was so bad, they threw the white flag out and called the game at 10-0 at the end of the third inning.

 I talked to the “star pitcher” at the end of the game (he had the 6-4 height) and he asked me if he could sit down with me “confidentially” to discuss something. I said sure and told him to meet me at a local lunch joint after he finishes up.

 I met him at the hash house and he made me swear I wouldn’t tell anybody about what we were going to discuss. I did. He went on to tell that his pitching arm has been killing him, but (being a senior) his coach told him the only way a college was going to offer him a free ride was to “pitch through” the pain and make it to the end of the season.

 He showed me where the pain was and, to me, it screamed on a TJS problem. 

I didn't know if his coach gave this kind of advise, but I gave him the proper advise… go see a doctor and ask for an MRI.

 I did some research on his team and I found that his coach had recruited the best of the home school talent in the area. This was a no-no for public schools but his school could do this. 

The world was new to Home Schooling then and this coach came up with this idea. There were around five great players on that team which created a team that had won the Conference Championship for four straight years.

 It didn’t make them a great team. It only made them great against poor teams.

 I lost track of that player but ran into his parents in a restaurant a few years later. They told me their son finished his high school senior team’s season, got a college to offer his a ride, but never pitched for them because he had arm surgery before his freshman season was going to start. He wound up quitting both the team and college, and was then working locally in some manufacturer plant doing something.

 He was good, not great, in a bad program, facing baseball hitters that probably should have taken up knitting instead, and playing for a coach that just wanted another trophy on his shelf.

 

 3. There is a solution here if the player has talent, but it is going to cost the parents new money as well as isolation from their son. They would need to try out for an “Academy” school that is well known for the talent on their team. A top example of one is the IMG Academy, in Bradenton, Florida. (there are many other great academy schools… check Google). 

Here’s the rub. The cost to attend IMG ranges from $66,400 to $88,900 a year. The range includes boarding costs, but varies on the age of the student that attends.

 There are many cheaper versions of this kind of academy, but this approach is the best way to go if you want a future in professional baseball.

 4. The next step would be to check with your parents. If they say look into it, do the research and pick three of these academies to try and be accepted there. They all have a different approach here but you are going to have to tryout for them. If they like what they see and offer you a spot on their roster, tell your parents to pay the tab, pack your bags, and kiss your girlfriend adieu.

5.     You may be excited, but your girlfriend won’t be.