18 and it seems to be the end of the line

No, dont ever give up on it. Try to go to some pro or college showcases and show them you can play!! Try to find some individual showcases and go to them.

I'm not fully off my rehab throwing, so a showcase is out of the question. I don't like knowing that I'm close to giving up, but I don't want to fool myself into believing that I am capable of playing baseball at the schools I have gotten into

Hey man hows it going? Have you ever happen to look at some of the guys on this site?? D3,D1,Juco coaches ALL over the place!! Check it out, Essex CC and Baltimore City CC are 2 jucos I know right off the top of my head, contact them and see if they can help you out! Remember the game is never over until YOU say it is!

The best Speech I have ever received was from Virginia Tech's head basketball coach, Seth Greenberg."It doesn't matter what your college coach things, it doesn't matter what you think, the only thing that matters is if we like your play, our opinion is the only one that matterd."

Hi shppirate.
Just a mom here with a little hug and some suggestions...
My son is playing at a NAIA school and he competes against some very good schools and some not so good. After one of these latter series, he made the comment that if you want to keep playing baseball, you can find a place.

I'm not saying that you should sell yourself short but there are schools where you would be welcomed and you could rehab, press yourself and see how far you can go. There are small 4-year schools as well as D1, D2 D3 levels of JUCOS out there that have limited recruiting ability and depend on people coming their way.

Once you get in, spend a year playing and developing (and getting college credit basics out of the way), you can see where you might go next. Transfers are not that difficult at the JUCO, D2, D3 and NAIA level. My son's program had 2 new transfers this January.

You have to stop waiting for the phone to ring and start calling some of those programs that may not be the top of the heap. Some of the schools my son plays against have the coaches phone number listed on the web site inviting calls for interested players.

My son had shoulder surgery after his freshman year of college and coming out of his sophomore year at his JUCO, there was nothing on the table for him. He made calls and contacts...and once coaches realized he was not signed, some started calling him. In the end, he landed at the school he wanted to attend...but he made the first and second move before he was invited for a try-out. He didn't commit until July with classes starting in August.

At this point, it's really only over if you decide it's over. You may not get the dream school or the bells and whistles, but if you want to play baseball in college, there are places you can go...

Keep at it!!
I know it's an old saying, but
where there's a will, there's a way...

It's never over. Just keep e-mailing lower level coaches in your area and fill out their questionairres. That's how I got noticed. Coaches will sympathize with your injury situation. If you fail you fail. Don't look back on it ten years from now and think **** I didn't do nearly enough. Good luck.

"Glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall."

A Legion teammate of mine had a severe arm injury the summer before his freshman year of college. The major D1 told him it was unlikely they would offer any money after their one year obligation (NLI). He did a PG year of high school while rehabbing his injury. Then he walked on at a competitive D3. He led the nation in ERA. He transferred to a D1 the following year. The transfer rules have changed. But get the moral of the story. You don't lose when you fall down. You lose when you chose not to get up. Unfortunately his arm blew up again. But he got in two years of college ball.

quote:

Coaches will sympathize with your injury situation.

It's a business to the coach. It's how he learns his living. He's not going to be sympathetic enough to offer something.

Shippirate09
take all of these peoples encouragements and advice and get all of those negative thoughts out of your mind and get to thinking positive, remember,these words,"YOUR MIND LEADS YOUR BODY" there are absolutely no in betweens here,"NEGATIVE THOUGHTS IN YOUR MIND,"CREATES NEGATIVE BODY ACTIONS,"learn every thing you cannot control, and every thing you can control, as you go, immediately separate what you cannot control from what you can control and immediately eliminate what you cannot control, never let those negatives even enter your mind,"EVER" immediately take those things you can. control and run with them,focus intently on them,get them in your mind, You have your dobber down right now so focus and intensly dwell on my aforementioned comments as those in this pages have said, make some things happen contact some college coaches all over the country,"IF YOU THINK YOU CAN" "YOU CAN" "AND YOU WILL""IF YOU THINK YOU CANNOT""YOU CANNOT""AND YOU WILL NOT"
Get that rehab over and make things happen for yourself, Follow your dreams and never let any thing get in your way, you do have a temporary obstacle to be very patient with due to your arm problem and as soon as it recovers you will be fine, just give it the time necessary to heal. the best of luck to you, we will see you in the college world series, I had a dream of becoming a professional ball player and it came true, I went out and had what I consider a banner first season, 24 league record breaking home runs, still standing, 102 rbi'sa decent batting average etc. went to the army, came back, couldn't realize that with 2 yrs. off I would need some time to get back into the swing of things so I became negative like you are now and just walked away from the game,just flat out quit,the dumbest thing a person can ever do, "quit""THE MORAL OF MY STORY""NEVER QUIT""ALWAYS FINISH WHATEVER IT IS YOU START" I WILL ALWAYS WONDER HOW FAR I COULD HAVE GONE" Quitting never gets one any where.I did get something out of it all though, I have and still do intensely study all aspects of the game from the best teachers in baseball and sports in general and have acquired an enormous amount of teaching knowledge in the process.
Don Ervin
kom_ervin@yahoo.com

Great post, Don. Lots of life lessons there that apply not just to baseball. You've obviously walked the walk.
Shippirate09, you can do it! Re-read the post above, and then consider making your first commitment be to shed those negative thoughts. That's where it all begins.
You can do it!

You don't say how serious your shoulder problem is or what your timetable for recovery/return might be. But you seem to think you will be pitching again next spring.

First, I know we talk a lot about fall commitments here, and there are more and more of what are considered "early" commitments and more teams finishing most of their recruiting by fall. But that's not everyone. So don't get too disheartened.

Lots of folks will still be in the market over the winter and into the spring. PG runs some winter pitcher-catcher events and if you will be healthy by then, a trip to Cedar Rapids might not be a bad idea for you. If you can be ready in the fall, a fall showcase team might get you where you need to be. Worst case, there will still be people looking in the spring. Do your best, you never know who might be looking.

And that's D-1/D-2. Most D-3's do the bulk of their recruiting in the spring of HS senior year. And yes, there are still opportunities at all levels the following summer. Just at Wake, we've lost 2 kids to transferring, 2 to pro signs, and another incoming freshman was released from his NLI due to behavior issues. Meaning, our guys are (I suspect, I don't know for sure) probably looking at players who've just graduated high school even now.

It's tougher, no doubt. But not impossible. Ask yourself how good you think you are and how good you think you can be. If you believe in yourself, and if this is what you really want for yourself, now is not the time to quit.

Never give up.

Read this article about Ben Zobrist. He didnt even have an offer to play college baseball during his senior year, and now look what he is doing in the Majors.

http://www.tampabay.com/sports...s/article1018198.ece

Hey,
Shipparate09,
How are things going with you?
Is your re-hab ok?
Have you made some successful contacts?Did you get in contact with Sonny Maynard, former head baseball coach at Johnson County"Kansas"community college?
Here is his phone# again,
!-913-829-1509
He is a super guy and he will help you as much as he can.
I coached for him before he retired
Let us know how you are doing.
kom_ervin@yahoo.com

hey, shipparate,
Have you read the story above that MSTCKS posted on Ben Zobrist? click on MSTCKS post above, have you seen the movie, the "ROOKIE"? these are very true happenings so keep on pursuing your dream of playing college and professional ball, we all wish you the best of luck.
komErvin@yahoo.com