'07 Jupiter Wood Bat Tourney

quote:

Just wanted to say the IL boys showed really well against some of the best teams there. My only agenda in this post is to encourage ALL our boys here in IL to work hard because you can compete against anyone out there.

Well said, nc...I couldn't agree more. Congrats.

My son was at Jupiter with the Midwest Blazers . He said he never saw so many talented , hard throwing ( 90's ) pitchers gathered at one tournament like this before . It must have been something .

Word on the street is that Illinois entrants to the WWWB tournament is limited to only a few "select" teams. For example, why did the team from McHenry have to register as a Wisconsin team. (i have no connection to said team). The tournament looks like a great forum for the Illinois kids to demonstrate their skills. However with only one or two teams going down the available rosters spots would seem to be limited. Some will say that is all the spots that we can competitively roster. I am not so sure that is true, does 30-40 roster spots saturate the Illinois talent pool?

To me it is the same old same old, the connected will go or be asked to attend.

I have no connection to the McHenry team.

Tralpaz,my son played in the Cangelosi fall league last year and had the oppurtunity to attend the wwwb tourney , due to the exposure he recieved. Alot of the players were from the Illinois Orioles team, and many werent.Coach Copp and Cangelosi gave my son alot of playing time, due to his baseball abilities on the field.Im sure theres alot of organizations that field a team with players that have parents "connected" with the coaches.For us , it was all-good!

Nick Skala from St Viator HS played with the Texas Scout Team. Did an outstanding job -- great kid, too. Good catcher, good stick, great athlete!!

The WI teams, Hitters and Blazers, have been programs for a while. So which of these WI teams, was actually the McHenry team?

Sometimes I wonder why I ever post anything cause someone always has to turn a positive into a negative.

Our team was not representing only IL and I never said it was. Not every talented kid from every State goes to this tournament. Some people can't afford it, or get the time off from school/work, not to mention many kids play football and cannot go for that reason. Our guys competed well - nuff said and I would pull for any of the IL kids who are there regardless of what team they are on. Some people just don't get it.

As for this "word on the street" stuff I would be very cautious of what you hear because it many times is nothing more than gossip. A certain local scout made an announcement at a pre-event meeting that my kid was not going to the university he was committed to last June. It was an outright fabrication that did nothing but cause us a lot of grief that was totally uncalled for. So be cautious what you hear because that was totally bogus info.

I've said enough. Here is to ALL the IL kids and continued success on the diamond - everyone!!!

I dont want to cause a big stink. My missive was in reponse to:

quote:

Just wanted to say the IL boys showed really well against some of the best teams there. My only agenda in this post is to encourage ALL our boys here in IL to work hard because you can compete against anyone out there.

You must mean that the illinois kids should go find out who is putting a WWWB team in place and go try out. Fair Enough. Your right there are a lot of Il kids on other teams so i guess this isnt an illinois thing. Its get on a roster and play.

With respect to the McHenry thing, let me clarify, i spoke to a current parent that played last two years and that is the assetion presented to me. One can go back and cross reference the rosters from the last two years to see the overlap and draw you conclusions from there. Let me ask the question this way, will PG accept another rostered team from Illinois next year or in the future?

There is no hidden agenda here tral. My Fall team has for the last few years been involved with some of the PG events being held. In fact my entire Fall this year was spent with a few other teams that have relationships with PG. We play against the Andys Wis Blazer team and the PG Iowa team and the St Louis Pirates team. We played at U of Louisville, U of Illinois, U of Iowa, among some others. Call it what you may, I call it playing the very best compeition I can get our guys, in very good venues.

As a coach, I want my players to compete against the best possible talent available for them. I also would hope to put the guys in front of College guys and for the very few, the Pro guys. At the same time if I were by luck possibly teach them something about the game, I will do that as well. I've been doing this for a while now and have tried many different avenues. I can say this without hesitation, I am real comfortable with where and who the guys on my team compete against.
I can also say that having seen players progress and mature I wont be changing a whole lot of what we are doing now.

Let me also say that I dont do this for my programs sake. I do it for the kids sake. I do this like many of the coaches on this site. I am a baseball guy who pretty much lives this game. That has never changed with me since I was a kid.

Many people are a bit sceptical and have made some harsh and sometimes offensive remarks on the "Travel Teams" , I personally hate the term. I beleive in the system that has been put in place many many moons ago. The HS program is the foundation of every kids ball career. Having played in a HS State Tournament and having played for two Hall of Fame HS coaches I am aware of the importance. I am also aware of the importance to be pushed to a level that forces you to get better. Sometimes without even knowing it. I was sitting recapping this past weekend and couldnt help but think how much my younger players gained in experience. I had a Soph playing Center field and leading off agianst the ABD team out of Cali. They started a kid going to UCLA next season bumping 93 and sitting 91-92, then they closed with another guy going to UCLA bumping 94. Now., I may be out of line but in my opinion, every single one of my players are better off having faced this. I am also proud of the fact that my guys never at any point backed down. Had another Jr pitcher face a Scout team with a handful of high round guys. He went 4plus and more then showed well for himself, congrats to yours NCdad.

It really sad that all these good baseball people cant get on the same page and work for the same goal rather then the cut throat BS that is always going on ..

PG Staff most likley wont like the press from this because thats how he is, but when you've had the chance to see how special Jupiter really is, you cant help it. It is without question the best thing out there and no matter what , I am grateful to have had the oppurtunity to have coached HIGH SCHOOL PLAYERS(NOT TRAVEL BALL PLAYERS) at this tournament.
NOW you all can take your shots!

Deuce,

No shots necessary, you sound like the type of coach that most parents would love to have their son play for. Keep up the good work, I am sure that the players on your teams really appreciate it as do their parents!!

The truth of the matter is this fellas: If the kids do not play against the best players in the country, do not expect to be anything better than a high school league in Chicago. Plain and simple. Scout league this, scout league that. The scout league is a sub par high school recreational league. I am a former MLB scout, division I college coach and played at DI and 7 years in professional baseball.

Parents do not understand that the scout league is not full of scouts. An associate scout is not a scout, just a bird dog. So if some jimbob gets slapped with an "associate scout" label and coaches a team, you still get some slappy coaching your kids. I do not care about the high school vs. travel ball ****. The kids are the reason why this is being brought up. How it gets skewed is by morons whose egos are so big and think that if they win their high school summer league that they are going to get offered more money or that everyone will know that they are the worlds greatest coach.

The kids are the most important and if you dont put the players in the best position to succeed and to get better, then you are doing them a disservice.

McHenry didnt go disquised as a wisonsin team. Some of their players were picked up to play in it. McHenry didnt make the tourney because they got beat in Iowa by Cangelosi's 2009s. Now not a knock on McHenry, but that is just what happened.

I dont think you people understand the concept of the Jupiter Tournament or whether or not PG will let another team in from illinois. Certain teams have automatic bids to their because of their established performance on that stage of competition.

Think about it this way. The WWBA in Jupiter features the best players in the country. I will say it again, THE BEST PLAYERS IN THE COUNTRY. The east cobb astros and Braves scout team between them probably have 25 top 3 round picks in this upcoming draft that are competing year round against other great teams. Not only that but are staffed by professional coaches, not high school coaches. So to offer whether or not illinois will have another team at the world championships is mind boggling seeing that the baseball culture here is to get rid of travel ball and to promote high school summer ball.

Well the problem with that is this. The players are not getting better there or at showcases. The get better by playing against great competition in great venues with wood bats. Duece should be commended for his plan for his players and should not have to fight with scouts or high school coaches about taking players and playing them against this competition. If the highschools and scouts wanted the best for these kids, they would hand them off to Top Tier, mchenry, cangelosi, sparks, downers grove, norwood, and etc.

Better competition with professional coaches will make them better. And here is the crazy thing.... get ready for this cause this is nuts. THIS COSTS MONEY. I can assure you that the East Cobb Astros or the Braves scout team or the Texas rangers scout team do not go for free so whether or not the kids pay for it some one else does.

YOU PAY FOR WHAT YOU GET. This non sense of playing for free is ludacris. It costs money to be good. It costs time to be good. It takes coaches that have proball experience to take kids to another level, not the high school coaches. They should be ecstatic that their kids can go play at that level. If the scout league grabbed a team and went to Jupiter it would be embarrased. Plain and simple.

"IF YOU DO WHAT EVERYONE ELSE DOES, EXPECT TO GET WHAT EVERYONE ELSE GETS!!"

the great truth, i understand how many of the tems get to jupiter, but why are there so many pg iowa teams there do they get automatic bids? Is the illinois team picked just because of the kernals tournament? If so then it must have changed from last year.

The pg teams in Iowa are just assembled teams to help fill that tournament. The Illinois teams that have automatic bids, like Cangelosi, are given that because PG knows that the will bring down a team that will compete in that environment. Just like Racine hitters and midwest blazers. Racine had to win an a bid from the iowa tourny

nc42dad,

Your last post... !

Outstanding!

Just so I have it straight the great truth, I am slow at times. This tournament would rather have pg teams to "fill" it out, I think they went 3 and 24 during the tournament. Those team go instead of top tier or hurricanes or any number of teams that have proven themselves over the last 5 years or so?

are you talking about the Iowa Kernals Tournament or the Jupiter tournament?

2 bagger,

I cannot speak for perfect game. But mchenry and top tier were both in the Kernals tournament. As far as the perfect game teams in the Jupiter tournament, they were comprised of players from all over the US and other places to make teams and it is their tournament.

2 bagger,

Just to clarify

There were not very many Iowa players in Jupiter last week. There were exactly 17 players in Jupiter who are from the state of Iowa, 16 of them were on one team and one on the championship Braves Scout team.. On the WWBA site the teams are listed from Cedar Rapids, Iowa only because that is where PG is headquartered, not because the players are from Iowa. The players on all but one of those PG teams are from 40 different states or countries.

BTW, There were about 50 players in Jupiter from the state of Illinois. That is 30+ more players than Iowa had in Jupiter. That’s because Illinois has many more talented players than Iowa does. And yes, there are a few other Illinois teams that could have competed in this tournament, but there just wasn’t enough room for all of them. Top Tier and McHenry and others are outstanding programs.

BTW, the overall record of the PG teams was 8-34 with 4 ties. Some would say that is bad, others would say WOW they won 8 games, tied 4 others, and beat or tied some of the best teams in the tournament. Truth is… There were many DI and future draft picks on those teams.

Here is an example of the PG rosters.

PG Navy
No. Name Position Ht Wt B/T Yr. High School Hometown State College
1 Colon, Marcus P OF 5-10 180 R/R 2008 Trinity Christian Academy Lake Worth FL
2 Rodriguez, Ryan OF 5-11 160 R/R 2008 Home school Sunrise FL
3 Sanchez, Alejandro MIF 5-10 170 R/R 2008 Flanagan Pembroke Pines FL
4 Hollnagel, John P 1B 6-1 175 R/R 2009 Pembroke Pines Charter Pembroke Pines FL
5 Neal, R J OF 6-0 170 R/R 2008 Park Vista Community Wellington FL
6 Perez, Erik OF MIF 5-9 145 R/R 2008 Cypress Bay Davie FL
7 Acevedo, Jairo 3B P 6-0 175 R/R 2008 Miami Christian Miami FL
8 Spradling, Stephen OF MIF 5-11 186 R/R 2008 American Heritage Boynton Beach FL
9 Garcilazo, Anthony P OF 6-2 180 L/R 2008 Everglades Pembroke Pines FL
10 Nieves, Brandon 3B MIF 5-10 185 R/R 2008 American Heritage West Palm Beach FL
11 Bondarenko, Anthony P OF 5-11 185 R/R 2008 Pembroke Pines Charter Pembroke Pines FL
13 Patron, Adrian C 3B 5-10 205 R/R 2008 St Thomas Aquinas Pembroke Pines FL
14 Ewart, Peter P Util 6-3 190 R/R 2009 Piper Sunrise FL
15 Fraser, William C 5-9 205 R/R 2008 The Benjamin School Lake Worth FL
16 Smith, Robert P OF 5-10 205 R/R 2008 Royal Palm Royal Palm Beach FL
17 Doby, Rennie "Keith" P 1B 6-2 210 R/R 2009 William T. Dwyer Palm Beach Gardens FL
18 Matos, Jeramy 3B P 6-3 225 R/R 2008 American Heritage Delray Lake Worth FL
19 Wolfe, Kyle P OF 6-1 220 R/R 2008 Dwyer Palm Beach Gardens FL
20 Frias, Justin 1B OF 6-4 210 R/R 2009 Flanagan Pembroke Pines FL
21 Reno, Bryan C 3B 6-2 195 R/R 2008 American Heritage Wellington FL
22 Smith, Donald C 5-10 189 R/R 2008 William Dwyer West Palm Beach FL
23 Roselli, Scott P 3B 6-1 185 R/R 2009 Wellington Christian Wellington FL
PG Purple
No. Name Position Ht Wt B/T Yr. High School Hometown State College
1 Holland, Timothy SS P 6-1 174 R/R 2008 Georgetown Georgetown MA
2 Towey, Calvin SS 3B 6-0 185 L/R 2008 Eastside Catholic Kirkland WA
3 Burmester, Brad OF P 5-10 180 L/L 2008 East Side Catholic Kirkland WA
4 Kimsey, James P 3B 6-3 170 R/R 2008 The Heritage School Newnan GA
5 Boyd, Josh OF 6-2 165 L/L 2008 West Morris Central Port Murray NJ
6 Turner, David OF 6-1 170 R/R 2009 Severna Park Millersville MD
7 Hudson, Blake MIF 6-0 165 R/R 2008 Woodward Academy Douglasville GA
8 Beiser, Justin OF 2B 5-11 175 R/R 2008 Morton Ranch Katy TX
12 Krepps, Richard P 5-11 183 R/R 2008 Thomson Thomson GA
13 Self, Logan P 3B 6-2 185 R/R 2009 NW Guilford Summerfield NC
14 Robinson, Patrick P 6-2 185 R/R 2008 Goshen Central Goshen NY
15 Castellano, Nicholas P 1B 6-3 210 L/L 2008 IMG Academy Westport CT
16 Stinson, Ryan P 6-2 185 R/R 2008 Cardinal Mooney Sarasota FL
17 Russo, Michael C 5-11 190 R/R 2009 Douglas Boca Raton FL
18 Payne, Spenser 3B 6-0 190 R/R 2008 Eastside Catholic Kirkland WA
19 Boyd, Matt 1B P 6-3 200 L/L 2009 Eastside Catholic Mercer Island WA
20 Fink, Joshua P 6-5 195 R/R 2008 Coronado Coronado CA
21 Keller, Steven C 3B 6-1 190 S/R 2008 Agoura Agoura Hills CA
PG Black
No. Name Position Ht Wt B/T Yr. High School Hometown State College
1 Brunty, Kameron OF MIF 6-1 175 L/R 2008 Gulf Breeze Gulf Breeze FL
2 Snyder, Blake OF P 6-1 165 R/R 2008 Peachtree Ridge Lawrenceville GA
3 Anzalone, Paul P OF 6-0 175 R/R 2009 El Dorado El Dorado AR
4 George, Zach P MIF 6-2 165 R/R 2010 Rivercrist Luxora AR
5 Quesada, Michael C OF 6-1 170 R/R 2008 Folsom Folsom CA
6 Gonzalez, Nelson OF Util 6-0 160 R/R 2009 Freedom Orlando FL
7 Edyne, Evan MIF OF 5-9 175 R/R 2009 Wolfson High Shcool Jacksonville FL
8 Bergquist, Matt MIF 5-11 180 R/R 2009 Eagle's View Academy Jacksonville FL
9 McCain, Shane P 6-2 170 S/L 2009 John Carroll Fort Pierce FL
10 Puluso, Joey C 5-9 145 R/R 2009 Lake Brantley Altamonte Springs FL
13 Maddox, Austin C P 6-3 190 R/R 2009 Eagle's View Academy Jacksonville FL
14 Baggett, Paul P MIF/OF 6-2 190 R/R 2009 Central Jay FL
15 Dotson, Zach P 6-2 205 L/L 2009 Effingham County Springfield GA
16 Gale, Ryan 1B OF 5-11 190 R/R 2008 Pope Roswell GA
17 Carpenter, Andrew 3B SS 6-0 190 R/R 2008 Oakwood Dayton OH
18 Sitz, Scott P 5-11 200 R/R 2009 Fletcher Jacksonville FL
19 Sadler, Ryan P 6-5 185 R/R 2009 Naples Naples FL

The great truth, I was referencing the amount of pg teams at Jupiter and their record at this tournament. Again it is their tournament and yes it is a good tournament but if you are just 'filling "out a tournament I thought they might do a little better. I know Deuce and I know he does a great job but their are other teams around that could have gone with them. One last comment when I read your original post it seemed that you were knocking high school coaches, I don't think you or this site should lump them together. I know a couple that had a lot to do with some of Illinois's draft picks last year and they do a great job with many players. Yes they also played on travel teams which I totally think they should, but quite a bit of their training, the part that improved them so they could perform at the showcases was done with high school coaches. Many of these top players work very hard both inside and outside of their high school program with a variety of coaches which I think helps to propel them to the top of the heap.

"So if some jimbob gets slapped with an "associate scout" label and coaches a team, you still get some slappy coaching your kids. ...If the highschools and scouts wanted the best for these kids, they would hand them off to Top Tier, mchenry, cangelosi, sparks, downers grove, norwood, and etc....It takes coaches that have proball experience to take kids to another level, not the high school coaches."


TheGreatTruth, thanks for the number of generalizations, just as Duece Doc attempted to associate the two harmoniously, you have decided to drive the wedge between the levels of play. You may want read Duece Doc's post again. I like Duece believe there is a common ground. Of my many experiences as a player and coach at the Division One level, Junior College Level and now the High School level along with my association to two professional teams, the one thing I have learned most is how to evaluate and develop talent. I am not sure why you feel as though high school coaches, associate scouts are anything less than professionals and can't provide the proper instruction necessary to take players to the next level. However, how would you know, I noticed the one thing missing on your resume is high school coaching. Fortunately, a number of my players have had the opportunity to play with the travel programs you highlighted. They are quality programs who are fully vested in their players however, the reality is that not every kid can play for those teams. The problem becomes when playing at the travel level becomes more about prestige than development. God forbid that a player stay with his HS summer program work his tail off for six weeks (take 200 swings, play long toss, field GB's of FB's) and become fundamentally sound so he can be a major contributor to his team success in the spring. Much like our CF who will sign early in November. Oh and by the way it didn't cost him anything, except time and effort (fortunately, this has been a common occurence throughout my HS coaching career) Personally, I am offended by your comments no matter your level of expertise.

PG, I read pg ia and that is why I questioned the teams. Thanks for the clarrification. I would assume you would have more players from illinois just in the population difference.

quote:

Originally posted by deucedoc:
NOW you all can take your shots!

Ok...where the heck did you bury Sparky?

CPLZ,
Not sure. But almost an old timer again. Kind of missed him anyway. Congrats to Kirk , Spoke with Joe down in Jupiter and he couldnt say enough good things about him. Great to hear his velo is up. Great things ahead for him, as a ballplayer and with that education.

To say a pro guy needs to take a player to the next level is about the silliest thing I have heard.
There are good and bad coaches at every level of the game. Some of my best were not my pro guys.
Last I saw their are a bunch of HS coaches with pro experience.

To me , your either know the game or you dont. Doesnt mean you had to experience the game at the high level. My greatest teacher in my career worked a sales job in Aurora and we played out of Joliet. Never played Pro ball, had two kids in the Big leagues, he later went into d2 coaching , then inducted into the Cape Hall of Fame as the winniest coach in Cape History. Just so happens he is now down in the Tampa area coaching HS. Bobby Thigpen is his assistant, but never the less HS. Head coach at Harvard coached ten yrs with him and Cal down at Southern started his career with him in the Cape. So dont tell me about the pro coaching thing. If I didnt know better the whole post is to start an uprising and show just how crazy us TRAVEL GUYS ARE. Fact is , most are not. If my job allowed I would be coaching HS ball. It just doesnt work for me.

Your either a baseball guy or your not. Your either in it for the kids or your not. The phonies expose themselves. Funny thing is, kids know who can and who cant.
I hope for the day that all these good people get on the same page for the sake of the kids.. It cant hurt..

Sometimes we don't see the forest because the trees get in the way.

quote:

Originally posted by nc42dad:
Sometimes we don't see the forest because the trees get in the way.

I just got off of the phone with a parent who spoke so highly of Duece Doc as a coach it was unbelievable..This parent I had known for a long time is generally noted for his outspoken attitudes..
He was talking about how his son admired Copp and his willingness to help kids; his knowledge and his ambition to get the kids to the next level... This kid just returned from Florida and he is a 09 grad...
Greatest experience he has ever had....
So some parents and fans eventurally see the forest even if the trees were in the way....Biggest turn around of an athlete and parent that i have seen in 15 years of baseball...
Thank you Bill and Cangelosi Baseball...Hopefully the kid takes what you have taught him the past 5 months and has a great Junior and Senior year...

Duece sees the forest - that is why I trust him with both my kids. Beware of people who don't see the forest because there are way too many of them out there.

Woodly, You and Duece want to be alone????

Best event there is! You can't explain it to someone who hasn't been there. More scouts than I've ever seen in one place including the Area Code stuff.

Some teams bring their whole scouting staff.

Congrats to Cangelosi and BC on winning their pool. We were 2 outs away from doing the same in ours a 3-3 tie ended up costing us.

It is a tremendous experience for Midwest kids to attend with any team. If you get asked you have to try and go.

To contribute to the lovefest.

I want to echo the statements of woodly and nc42 about the efforts of Copp and Stack, as well as the HS coaches (Belo). There would be plenty of kids that would be missing out on plenty of knowledge that they bring to the game. I feel gentleman like the ones mentioned should be thanked rather than questioned.

quote:

Originally posted by nc42dad:
Sometimes we don't see the forest because the trees get in the way.

All it takes sometimes is one tree...one solitary tree and BINGO...the forest is no longer in view!

quote:

Originally posted by HighHeat28:
Woodly, You and Duece want to be alone????

Praise those who need to be praised...Give them credit where credit is due....Just passing along a little information to those "Critics" but he nor I prefer to be alone with one another.....

Woodly, I hear you, its nice when people doing the right thing get their recognition, even though they are not doing it for that reason. All this talk about Travel vs HS ball and who gets credit and recognition. There are good HS and Travel coachs, just as there are bad apples to. Ultimately I would hope EVERYONE realizes it is the player who controls his destiny and how far he wants to travel the great baseball journey. The coaches are there to assist them in living the dream. No more or No less........

Going back to the origin of the topic:

Jupiter is a great event and experience with the best High School talent in the country, and the best exposure from numerous colleges at all levels from all over the country. For the truly elite players, the pro teams are out in force. If one is afforded the opportunity to be a part of it, do so by all means.

PG--you have a PM

I am have trouble reconciling:

quote:

Think about it this way. The WWBA in Jupiter features the best players in the country. I will say it again, THE BEST PLAYERS IN THE COUNTRY.

with:
The pg teams in Iowa are just assembled teams to help fill that tournament.

Tralpaz has a point. Add to that...the PG teams play as they would a showcase--meaning all players play equal amounts of time without regard for performance. Is it surprising that PG teams won so few games?
A question was hinted at earlier that was never really adressed. Which is why did PG have so many teams, when others had to win their spot? Could it be MONEY? Granted..this is PG's tournament and they can do as they see fit, but why is everyone so hesitant to state the obvious?
At $550 per individual invite, with approx 18 members per PG team, and I believe I counted 13 PG teams in the line-up....Is the picture clear?
I remember seeing a thread several months back where PG said something to the effect of they used to put together a scout team of sorts in an effort to win the tourney, and stated they no longer had that desire or focus, or something to that effect.
I'm sure there is much more profit to be made from having 13 teams rather than 1.
I also saw another post a couple of weeks ago where a poster asked how no one at a particular showcase was rated below a 7, and wanted to know if it was really feasible that everyone at that showcase could be a potential D1 prospect. PG posted with a response in defense of their ratings. By the way, those Top Prospect showcases also run $550 a pop these days. [edited to add: Many parents take their kid back to these showcases year after year, I personally know of 1 who attends several per year. Point is; could return business factor into any of those ratings?] Perfect Game has established a reputation of pretty accurately marking those that rise to the top and most everybody wishes their kid could make it to the big leagues.
I'm constantly seeing posters warn others about doing their homework before turning loose of their money. Anybody will step up and take it from you if you offer it, and I mean anybody.
Go ahead, fire away...bullet proof armour is strapped on.

I really have no handle on the economics of the tournament & I really don't have much desire to know the particulars. IMO the money that I spent to go (twice) was one of the best investments I ever made. The other terrific investment was the Wood Bat tourney in East Cobb (Georgia.) I hate to think what our outcome would have been had we not had that kind of exposure on a National stage.

I don't want to rag on high school around here but I do not see college coaches from very far away watching players up here in the spring & even less in the summer. I have said this on a few occasions to people I know here, but had my oldest not been at Jupiter last fall I doubt he would be playing for the Marlins right now. After that tournament, the spigot opened up. So if Perfect Game makes some money, that is what America is all about the last time I checked. If you have something that someone wants - consumers buy it. People will spend $600 on some stupid phone and don't think twice about it. I choose to spend my hard earned dollars on plane fair, hotel bills, food, team expenses. I would rather watch these young men play baseball than check my email on a cell phone.

So why not question how much money the City of Jupiter makes because of all the people coming in and dropping money. So what, who cares. If Jupiter is smart enough to realize that then good for them. Actually, I am not even sure who owns the complex we play on down there but my point is that it is really a great stage for kids to play. It is a great value/investment & personally I would not get too hung up on how much money Perfect Game is making or not making. It can't be cheap to run it & besides, you can get a cold beer to drink while the games are going on!!! That sounds like Wrigley.

nc42dad, I have always enjoyed your posts and appreciate your honest and straight for candor, however, I got to believe that your son got on the map due to his performance during the state baseball series. I have stated this before and will state it again, Tennessee, LSU, Florida, Miami do not recruit Illinois because they do not have to. Look at the rosters of these baseball powers and identify how many northern players exist. While there are some, they distinct and few and far between. Our CF (13th round to the Pirates)who finished his 1st pro season in rookie ball hit 305 and was told he was not good enough to play at those institutions. The irony of that is that LSU is formerly the staff of ND. Michigan State was the path your son's school of choice. In my opinion your son was chosen by the marlins not because of Jupiter but rather the because of the development of his third pitch the slider. Which he showcased very well against us to the toon of I believe 9 or 10 K's with the marlins scout present. Going into the game we were aware of his outstanding change piece, but when he busted out that breaking pitch it elevated him to another level. I knew that day he was a pro.

NC42Dad,
Comments were in no way directed to any of your input, at least not intentionally. I liked the content of your post. My problem is not neccessarily with PG making a profit, but maybe more so how it is addressed (or not, as the case may be). And yes, I would agree, the majority of the talent seen at Jupiter is amazing. I'm curious, I thought I derived from your posts that your son was there as part of a travel team. Did he play for a PG team? If not, I'm not sure you understood the intent of my post. What was the entry fee for a travel team?