1st perfect game showcase

msdoc,

Don't worry, you didn't ruin your son's baseball career by sending him! My 04 RHP son had an experience similar to your son's. However, I was relieved to realize when the PG evals were posted that Perfect Game does not focus only on a player's performance at a specific event, but on the potential or projectability they can see in the player, because of their years of experience scouting HS players and watching them progress. This may turn out to be a more positive thing for your son than it seems right now. Feel free to send me a private message if you want to discuss in more detail.

msdoc-
As MN-Mom said, it depends on what "did far from his best" means. At a showcase, things like strike-outs or hits which are important in a regular game are NOT what counts at a showcase. So don't worry about it. He'll get some great feedback from PG, which is the reason to go.

As for which event to pick ..... well, that is a topic all on its own with no one-size-fits-all answer. Games/tournaments against top-level competition is what you do to perfect your skills. A showcase is for evaluating those skills. You really can't compare the two venues.

I have stressed about my son's performances (or lack of) at various places and events, but I truly believe that it's all just part of the journey that is going to lead them to what will be best for them. All we can ever ask of them is to do their best but never stop asking that. Never give up on them. Just pick them up when they fall so they can prepare for their next event. It will all work out as long as they leave it all on the field. As a parent, all you can do is continue to encourage them to always give 110% and to respect the game.
My husband tells my son that every day is an audition or interview and he needs to leave the house prepared to have someone evaluating him from the way he wears his hat to the language that he uses from the minute he steps out the door.

alexdog ...

quote:

...every day is an audition or interview and he needs to leave the house prepared to have someone evaluating him from the way he wears his hat to the language that he uses from the minute he steps out the door.

I like your husband's advice ... it demonstrates the importance of the inttangibles that coaches and scouts look for in players.

msdoc- One of the most valuable things we gained from a PG showcase was determining just how good our son was.

He came to baseball later than most- really only played little league and JV school ball until his junior year of hs- basketball had been his sport.

We knew he was one of the better players from those experiences, but really didn't know if he was college material or not- and if he was college material what level are we talking about- we just didn't have the feedback from reliable sources.

The PG showcase (and others) let us know that he was indeed college material and we then devoted ourselves to learning all we could and ended up with a fair number of good offers. (We learned most of what we did from this wonderful website btw!!! But we were given an unbiased assesment of his abilities and his potential by qualified baseball people.

That alone was a good guide on how to proceed. I agree with MN Mom- they weren't just looking at how many hits he had- I think they cared more about his form and demeanor when he was up.

My son is a pitcher. I think they cared more about his mechanics and reaction to the batters than how many K's he chalked up.

I found PG to be very valuable - hope all works out well for your son and he gets a good report- but if he doesn't get what he wanted, try again- the first time can be pretty nerve-wracking!

I have to agree with the solid advice of others. Don't let one experience cloud your judgement or think that it will "make/ruin" your sons opportunities in the future.

Baseball isn't only a one-shot deal and I can count on both hands and feet the number of kids who have had negative and positive outings and still moved along.

Just a few weeks ago, I saw a young man who was injured for nearly all of his senior year get a call during the professional draft... basically he's done nothing for a year, yet the pro's see his potential.

I've sat with some scouts during games -- all I can say is these gentlemen all see much more than I do -- they note things that go over my head. If your young man has potential and a desire to go farther (which is one of the items that the pro's see), he'll be fine.

I think as parents, we have a tendency to see every game, every outing as make or break. The best advice I received was to look at baseball like a year-long class in school - there will be some "A's", some "B" and maybe lower scores -- it's the end of the year grade that matters.

Personally, our oldest was never on anyone's radar screen; he got a few D1 and NAIA looks and a couple of scholarship offers, but frankly, nothing that would turn heads. He's now playing college ball at a school that perfectly matches his interests and enjoying it to the max.

Another close friend of ours didn't have many offers, but one that he did receive was from an Ivy League school -- who looked at his grades, SAT's and baseball skills. Baseball was the factor that got him into this school, but without the academics and SAT's they wouldn't have looked at him. The combination made the difference and in a few years he'll graduate with an Ivy League diploma and the experience of playing college baseball -- who can complain? He had one great showcase experience, although he went to several, and it caught the eye of the college coach. Who knows what will happen to help your player find his place.

Best wishes.

Mays

Thanks for everyone's support-great answers I really appreciate-
My son actually used the PG showcase to adjust his pitching back to a 3/4 arm slot, got back to a more comfortable position for him and threw a great game today in Birmingham- 7 K's, 1 hit in 4 innings and pitched his best game ever according to his coaches-he is happy and smiling again (and so is Mom)
I like
"The best advice I received was to look at baseball like a year-long class in school - there will be some "A's", some "B" and maybe lower scores -- it's the end of the year grade that matters"
This will help me get through the tough games
Thanks again
MsDoc

An oft' quoted truism:

Baseball is a marathon, not a sprint.

I'm anxious about my son's first PG event, coming in August (more on that posted elsewhere). I am glad to read the perspectives here about it not being all about performance that day.

I want to support the other posters here who say don't be discouraged by one poor performance at a showcase. At the risk of boring people with a long post, I will tell my son's story.

I posted on this board about my anxiety taking my son to his first showcase, but never posted about the results until now. I took my '06 to a PG underclass showcase last January, his first experience with showcasing. I took him mainly so he could gauge himself against his peers in a broader setting than he had experienced before, and to accustom him to "performing on demand". We really had no good idea how good he was as his speeds and so on had never been quantified. But we knew that his strengths were his hitting, his power, and his arm. His weaknesses were his speed (or lack thereof). He has been a position player all through high school. He had been a pitcher in Little League but he stopped pitching as a 13 yo, a victim of Daddyball. In any case, he went off the showcase and although he showed some flashes of ability here and there, he made some really uncharacteristic mistakes, too. He'd never played a night game before, and lost a high popup in the lights. He dropped a bullet strike from right field (he was at 3B) that is normally a routine catch for him. His hitting was so-so, not the best but not the worst. Sure enough, his 60 was slow. But the biggest shock was his arm speed--PG had him at 67 across the infield. He (and I) thought his arm was stronger than that, although he did tell me afterwards that he wasn't throwing his hardest in the assessment, as he had stood in line for almost an hour by the time his turn came and his arm wasn't warm anymore--he was afraid of hurting it, he said. I actually think he took something off because he was afraid of overthrowing--he had struggled with his accuracy recently. Anyway, that 67 really disappointed him and kind of shook his confidence in himself.

Meanwhile, his summer coach and his high school pitching coach started bugging him to pitch. He resisted as he was still struggling with accuracy--one day he would be lights out and the next day he'd walk seven and hit four. The high school pitching coach wanted him to go into games last season but the head coach wouldn't put him in. His summer coach used him a few times this summer. But mostly he stuck to playing the corners and hitting, where he had good success. But the pitching thing kept nibbling at him and finally his summer coach recommended a pitching coach who has worked with a number of our area's top prospects, including this years' and last years' high-round draft picks. I brought Jon into him a few weeks ago for an evaluation, just to see whether pitching was really something he should even be pursuing, as he is a senior in high school this year and, well, it's a little late to start learning how to pitch. Anyway, the guy had Jon throw a little, and I could see he was interested. He went and got the radar gun. Turns out Jon's throwing 83-84 mph right now, even with raw and unpolished mechanics. He's started working with the pitching coach and we will see what happens next.

Where did that 67 come from? I have no idea, though I have no doubt it was accurate. But certainly it played a part in PG's assessment of Jon, and just as certainly it was not an accurate assessment of his true arm strength. PG can only assess what it sees in one particular moment, and baseball is far more complex than that.

I have thought about taking him to another PG showcase, just to "erase" that number, and to let him pitch (he did not pitch at the showcase). But his plans are for JUCO and he seems to have enough connections to be able to find a team to play on next year without the showcase route, so really the PG thing would just be for ego, and 400-odd dollars is a lot to spend on ego. We will see how he does pitching this fall and winter, and maybe he'll showcase again before the high school season starts, if there's a good reason to do so. But the main thing to keep in mind is, PG is a fine organization but it's just one little piece of a very complicated puzzle.

Beepers,

Nice post. Best of luck to your son.