Waaaaay back when I first found hsbaseballweb, "Going Pro" was not a topic that received much thread time, the main info that I was fortunate enough to gain through this site, was the college-as-next-level sort...pro ball seemed like a distant possiblity.
Actually seeing my son by-pass college to play pro ball was the LAST thing I was expecting. After being drafted #595, my son shocked his family by choosing to by-pass his full-ride at a JC. That was the day that I had to tell myself that my son(at 18 years of age) would be making his own decisions from that point on.
It was his decision to succeed or fail, his decision to adjust to his ever-changing environments and his decision to do what it took to make himself a valuable asset within his organization... of course all of this process took way more than just "deciding" to make it happen.
Every step of the way he has worked harder than before, every step of the way he has had more distractions to avoid, every step of the way he has had to grow into a more mature young man than many of his contemporaries may have chosen.
I guess my son was fortunate... he came from a very working class family with a raised-on-the farm work ethic. He was also fortunate to experience "winning" through hard work at a very young age while others around him experienced winning because of who's son they were or what their family name was....
Lots of folks have given great advice in this thread, but there is no reason for any person to feel that any of the advice is universal or "ultimate".... different strokes for different folks!
Play ball and those that combine their talents best with a work ethic to maximize those talents will experience the level of success they deserve, and ultimately each individual player will judge themself... that is what matters-.... and after playing baseball ends, they will get on with the rest of their life....Just like a real human being!
Hope I am still around in years to come to read threads about baseball-playing sons that are posts written by the folks that we have been writing posts about!
