SG, you certainly touched(eloquently I might add) on a major aspect of my post. We have all seen the very tall kid who never had to work at basketball because of his height advantage. Some of those eventually learn to work at it to excel and others get frustrated because they're not use to working and just quit. There is also the poor kid in South America who has nothing but a glove and a ball and enough talent to give him hope, that if he works hard enough, that one day he just might be able to buy his family a house with something other than a dirt floor. This compared to a kid with the same physical attributes but is brought up in a upper-middle class environment who has every electronic gadget invented and given a new car on his 16th birthday. As a parent all four of the above mentioned kids could be MLB material but each has their own hang-ups to deal with. Some might call it motivation, some might call it love of the game, and some might call it the need for a good kick in the seat of the pants. The art of parenting is really in the knowing and implementation of how to best manage. When it comes down to it I think having a close friend that will you keep, objective and balanced is priceless. (And of course an objective third party like perfect game)