Baseball America story on travel ball, showcases and invitation-only tournaments

I found both articles to be fairly balanced.  Frankly more balanced than a lot of articles that I have seen related to this topic.

I would say in my experience that the attitude that "if you are good enough they will find you" is a dangerous one to put out there.  Remember your husband, his brother, Ripken, etc. are all biased by their own life experience.  

You may not see it this way but your husband and the others were elite players in their day. This statement may hold true for the elite player, but there are lots of kids in the step below elite that this statement simply is not true in my opinion. 

You can be better than average and good enough to play in college in places like CA, TX, FL, and GA and if you simply play for your high school or a local summer team no one will know who you are.  For these players the tournaments, showcases put on by PG and others are vital to them getting the exposure necessary for them to pursue their dream of playing baseball in college.

Again I think both articles are well written and I agree with most, but I don't think it is wise advice by the baseball elite to say "if you are good enough they will find you".  It isn't that simple for most.

my son's played AAU, the infant of travel ball. we played more games,but the reason they got better was better practice. to much clout is given to the more games the better. in the course of a game you may get 3 or 4 AB's, 4 or 5 grounders not really earth shattering . more practice and that doesn't cost it pays.

 nice article in ba haven't read the other one yet.

BackStop-

I do agree that if you are good enough, they will find you.   What you might want to clarify is what "good enough" is.  If you are good enough to be drafted, scouts found you.  If you are good enough to play in college, coaches found you.   There are more players that are found or "seen", but may not get drafted or make a college team.   

My guess is if the baseball elite are talking about being good enough, they are talking about being drafted.  Not too many draft worthy kids are missed.  There are even more that are not be drafted, but they were still "found" or seen.

Smitty28- Big league teams invest a lot of time and money into scouting and the individuals that call that their profession are extremely good at what they do. I'd bet someone would be hard pressed to find anyone who truly possesses a draft-worthy skillset who was COMPLETELY overlooked by every MLB team.

The truth is players are missed every year.  The scouting community has two things that determine success.  

1. Present ability - this is somewhat easy and if they see it, they know it.

2. Projection - how good will this player be 4 or 5 years down the road.  This is the tough part and is often missed badly. It requires a prediction based on many things. The more you see a player the more likely you will make an accurate prediction.  Often these  type players are not seen enough to make a good prediction.  Often they end up at small colleges or even out of the game.  

A good example pitched in the All Star game last night.  A tall skinny lefty who threw low to mid 80s most often in hgh school.  He went to a small DI only because he was seen in their hometown at a showcase.  No big scholarship, but got his chance to further develop. Chris Sale!

another example... Chris Lambert was a legion player in the NE.  He was an excellent athlete and a hockey player.  He also had a mid 90s fastball that was unfounded by the scouting community.  He had finished his senior year in high school without a single baseball offer. He was going to play college hockey.  In August after his senior year he showed up at a showcase in Wareham, Mass. He then became one of the most sought after prospects in the country. LSU, Clemson, North Carolina all went after him and he committed to Boston College his dream school. He quickly became a first team freshman All American and was drafted in the first round after his junior year. The entire scouting world missed him until that showcase after his senior year.  The story is probably still out there on google.

I could give many examples.  It only requires a little common sense to believe thereare people  out there who never got that last chance with scouts and recruiters. There are many who just didn't get seen enough or at the right time.  There is no way to prove this, but I truly believe there are people out there that could have become Major League All Stars had they just been found.  

All that said, I do believe the scouting community does a great job.  They actually do find "most" of those with unusual ability. They also find some of that talent late in the process every year. And some they don't find in time.  

So for anyone to say, If you're good enough they will find you, it's not totally accurate. Without Tommy Lasorda's connection, they would have missed Mike Piazza. Not everyone has those kind of connections. Nearly every player drafted each year is someone we have a file on.  I'm absolutely positive that we miss several players every year. I don't know how to say it any other way, we see more players than any organization in baseball. And we still miss a lot of them! A lot of them are missed by everyone, every year. They get missed in most every state including California, Florida, and Texas, let alone other states. Sometimes they are missed despite being seen. It's impossible to find them all.

Well, I for one really enjoyed the BA article!     

if you are good enough, they will find you

They will find pitchers.

The position players needs to be seen. 

They have to do their homework to get noticed.

They have to play more to stand out.

They don't always "get found"

When I created the Area Code games, the scouts missed a few players and therefore I created the 900 Area Code team for players from the tryout who I believed worthy of the 6 day Area Code competitive event.

One player who all scouts missed except an agent in Kansas City who called me to recommend this player.

When my son Rob visited the St Louis Cardinals locker room, Albert says "tell your father I thank him" "he found me"!

Bob

Goodwill Series Inc and Area Code Games

The "if you're good they'll find you" line has been flogged many times on these boards.  I have posted many times in opposition and won't repeat myself here.

Suffice it to say, college recruiting is a competition.  If you don't show up to compete, don't expect to win.

You may as well expect to get a job without attending the interview.  "Shouldn't the employer have come to see ME right here where I live?  Why do I have to go to him?"

The competition is extremely fierce in California, and the west coast for that matter.  Several of the top-notch baseball schools receive commitments well before the early signing period, and in some cases prior to junior year of HS.  If you're not a pitcher throwing with upper echelon velocity, you need to be seen.  Actually, that holds true with them as well...fortunately those kids only need to be seen a couple times before they receive the love, sometimes they'll receive offers on the spot.

I agree with Everyday Dad in regards to position players, it's more difficult to stand out...a strong HS team is generally not enough.  A good showcase/scout team that plays in leagues/tournaments with good exposure is the key.  That holds true in whatever area of the country you live in.

The HS players that want to attend a good baseball university in Southern California, whether it's a D1 or lower, are finding that there just isn't enough roster spots for the amount of talent in the area.  One of my son's former HS teammates who was a part-time player had nowhere to go in our area, but a school in Indiana saw him play in a tournament and offered a scholarship...He started their as a freshman this past season.  Had he not been seen in the showcase tourney, his baseball career would likely be done.

are some parents of players who are less talented being sold a bill of goods? 

Sad to say in some cases yes. I have talked to some parents who said they paid x amount to have their son on a travel team and they went to a tournament paid to travel and motel etc etc . son only got 2 abs did not play etc etc .

I was glad to see props go out to Tyler Allen and Rich Graham (VA Cardinals).  All 3 of my kids have learned pitching from Rich going back some 10+ years.  For those that don't know, MIdlo Dad is also very active in the VA Cardinals who run a high quality, high character organization.

I guess I was looking to learn something new from the article.  It was a quick read and great to see people I know mentioned, but it left me wanting more. 

Maybe, but it depends on what they are in it for.  I've found that a lot of learning, discovery and misunderstandings occur during a family's first season in travel ball. It's very different than local rec ball. Sometimes there are unrealistic expectations about their kid or the program.  Sometimes the parents aren't happy with the role their kid has on the team (playing time, position, line up slot).  Sometimes the coach really doesn't give a new kid a fair shot.  Whatever the reasons, people stick around, move around, or drop out.

I've seen kids play two innings and bat last but had the best time during these travel ball tournaments.  These kids aren't going very far in baseball, but they are great kids, good friends and have good families that are fun to be around.  And yes, they pay a lot of money to be part of this experience.  And they know exactly where they stand on the team and aren't in it for the exposure.  But what's wrong with that if they enjoy the experience?

I've also seen kids play two innings and bat last that happened to be terrific ball players, but they were on a team with even better ball players, and they are in it for the exposure (and development).  To me, this is a tougher call - are you better off getting more time on a lesser team, or less time on an elite team that gets a lot of attention?

Here is the best solution. Have tryouts for a team. I mean real open tryouts. 40 kids show up. You pick the best 15. then mom and dad forks over the dough.

I agree with that but where do the remaining 25 spend their money? Wouldn't you quickly add a "B" or even "C" team to hold on to that money?

 where do the remaining 25 spend their money?

soccer camp piano lessons!!!!  sorry for the sarcasm

Wouldn't you quickly add a "B" or even "C" team to hold on to that money?

So it is about money????