Baseball Factory

louisiana09

A quick look at their website didn't reveal much. A lot has been posted here about them, including negative stuff about their costs. I think they are working to improve their image. They had a legitimate All American game at Wrigley Field this summer.

I've worked with Baseball Factory for over 14 years. They have a quality group of instructors and evaluators.

Baseball Factory has used the FungoMan Automated Baseball Practice Machine for years at their events. We will be at LSUS this Sunday to help with the defensive workout.

I would recommend Baseball Factory as not only as reputable company, but as a good choice for evaluation, showcases, developmental camps, and college placement.

Romy Cucjen
FungoMan LLC

You are recommending Baseball Factory. Since they use your product and have for 14 years, do you think you have objectivity in this discussion? I would rather hear from parents and players who have experiences with the company and not with a longtime vendor with a financial interest.

Skies, that's a little harsh. There might be some bias but I don't think FungoMan_LLC was trying anything shady. He did mention his relationship with BF. Heck, he even put his name at the bottom. (I try to remain anonymous.)

infidel_son has not had any showcases with BF that I know of, so I can't be more helpful. Sorry.

Baseball Factory has been discussed many times here on the HSBBW. I personally feel that if you have the money. Go for it. I don't feel it is the best bang for your buck, however it is a venue to be seen. Here is a link to find all the different discussions on this website.
http://hsbaseballweb.com/eve/forums?a=search&reqWords=b...rum_scope=6616002781

Infidel read the post again. Questioning objectivity because there is a financial motive involved is not implying or expressing anything "shady" going on. He might be 100 percent correct and the Baseball Factory could be the Berkshire-Hathaway of baseball organizations. But I would rather hear from people who will not benefit financially from the success of the company from enrollment dollars.

Skies,
I think everyone here is smart enough to see that there's a link between the two companies.

It's inappropriate for you to suggest that anyones post is not welcome here, regardless of affiliation.

CPLZ,

I challenge you to demonstrate that I said anyone was "unwelcome" in any discussion or was in the slightest way disrespectful to anyone. I stated that the poster's objectivity was in question because of a financial stake in the Baseball Factory's success. I stated simply that I would prefer to hear from players and parents who have experiences with Baseball Factory and not a vendor to the company. Before you deem something inappropriate, I respectfully recommend that you read it well and understand it before pontificating on it.

Skies - I respectfully ask you let it go. I happen to agree with CPLZ and infidel_08. We can all make our own judgements as to the objectivity of a given poster.

quote:

Originally posted by Skiesthelimit:
Infidel read the post again. Questioning objectivity because there is a financial motive involved is not implying or expressing anything "shady" going on. He might be 100 percent correct and the Baseball Factory could be the Berkshire-Hathaway of baseball organizations. But I would rather hear from people who will not benefit financially from the success of the company from enrollment dollars.

Water is wet. The sky is blue, also. I think anyone with the smarts to turn on the computer and find their way to teh thread understands the poster has a business relationship, as he stated such. (Most)People have filters to weigh the relevence of a post. Regardless of the relationship, the guy could be 100% correct, as he was completely upfront and watched them up close for a long time.

I think you handled his post with the touch of a blacksmith, but that's just me. There are alot of posts. If you blow a gasket on each one you don't like, well, thats alot of gaskets.

quote:

Originally posted by Skiesthelimit:
CPLZ,

I challenge you to demonstrate that I said anyone was "unwelcome"...

Challenge accepted...

quote:

Originally posted by Skiesthelimit:
I would rather hear from parents and players who have experiences with the company and not with a longtime vendor with a financial interest.

Are you all so grand that your opinions rate higher than mine? I take nothing from the original poster other than to state that I would rather hear from parents and players with Baseball Factory experience. It's great that he has a baseball relationship with BF and I hope the person is rich and happy from it.

Infidel suggested that I inferred something was "shady". I did not. But I have to respect your opinion.

CPLZ - I questioned no one's intelligence. But I have to respect your opinion.

ClevelandDad - you "respectfully" ask me to let it go and then agree with the two mentioned above. But I have to respect your opinion.

And Dad04 - What can I say? But I have to respect your opinion.

I wonder why none of you chose to take on Fanofgame, who actually said something negative about Baseball Factory.

Interesting.

CPLZ I just saw your response to my challenge. I think I'll just let that go.

My impression is that out of a host of showcase providers that sprung up starting maybe 15 years ago, PG has sort of emerged as the dominant market force. Many others have faded, or simply not been able to keep up. Baseball Factory is one that has survived as a fairly reputable, fairly sizeable PG competitor.

Their involvement with the Under Armour winter event has been discussed here ad nauseam and I'll leave that at that. But I have seen BF involved in many positive and productive ventures as well. I think you have to check out each event for yourself and see what's what.

I will say this, until they get a prospect database on line where college coaches can get objective data to help cull the sea of potential recruits down to a manageable number to follow, they will still be second banana. I do understand that there is some talk between them and Baseball America to head in that direction over time. But it seems to me that'll be hard to pull off when they are clearly behind the PG curve on that.

I know of a family here in California that has a Junior in College and a Junior in high school. They are both middle of the road students, 3.0 in easy classes; and middle of the road players, starters on varsity as juniors, but not top players at the school. They both want to play baseball for as long as they can. They would have had a tough time at finding a match here in CA.

The older attended the Omaha weeklong event during the CWS as a senior and was able to find placement at a DII college in the Great Plains area. They were happy enough with the results that they sent their younger son to the same event as a junior.

For this family, the kids would have had trouble getting onto a California summer team for a look, and their grades were not much of a positive for college coaches to look at. The baseball factory was perfect for them.

I can see where it would be a waste of money for some and a good value for others.

Skies,

No harm done. This obviously ain't rocket science, but I wouldn't "misunderestimate" the capacity of folks here, excluding myself, of course. there are some extremely bright, thoughtful posters I learn from all the time. BTW, welcome.

.

Hey Blprkfrnks...you need an avatar.

May I suggest...

Hey Gotwood,
Will he plump if we roast him?

.

I guess we'll have to ask Dean...

louisiana09,
I would advice you as others have, to do your homework/research about this company. Read past posts/discussions.
If you have questions for BF, contact them directly and ask for SPECIFIC answers, not generalities.
Dont assume anything. Get the facts.

I would also advise that once you have done your homework on BF, compare them with others who are in the showcase/tournament business.

deleted my post. A poster asks a question you answer as truthfully as you can. Then its taken as a negative remark and then the poster is told dont listen to anyones post do your own homework????I am confused. Why bother askng questions if you can just do your own research. This is counter productive.

quote:

then the poster is told dont listen to anyones post do your own homework????

Who said dont listen to anyone's post?

Isnt part of being a smart consumer to gather as much information as one can?
Now I'm confused.
Since I think I am the only one who used the word " homework " are you referring to my post fanofgame?

I hope you put your original post back up. And just for the record,..my post was not written to counter your post. Just the opposite.

No shortstop mom, its the entire post. Louiana 09 comes on and ask a question about a Particular company. About 2 responses out of 19 actually address the question asked. Some of the back and forth gets annoying at times. I post an actual factual comment about the company. The a poster says why doesnt every one attack my post since I said something negative.
So as to not be negative I just removed the post. As you said he needs to go back and read the past posts for himself and educate himself.
If I were a new poster and asked the question I would think this post is ?????

SSmom,

I sent you a PM.fan

quote:

Some of the back and forth gets annoying at times.

Everyone has different opinions, different needs, and different experiences, thus it is predictible that not everyone is going to agree, thus in my opinion, there is bound to be some going back and forth.

I hope Louisiana09 is not annoyed,... but rather now aware that there are mixed reviews on this company. I hope they are able to come to their own conclusions and make the best judgement for what is best for them.

Fanofgame, if contributed to your annoyance, I want you to now that was not my intention. Your opinion is needed because Louisiana09 did indeed ask:

quote:

I did a search but would like to know if anyone else has an opinion

fanofgame, just got it. You have one too.

ssmom, got it. The back and forth just has nothing to do with original question. I love a great discussion on this web and you and I and many others have had some great ones, and I have learned a lot. Just dont think Louisiana 09 got much out of this.

Wow!!!


louisiana09, I hope you are still around. You can see there are a lot of emotions that have been generated by BF. It is a very touchy subject.

As I said in my first post in this thread, they may be turning things around. I read the comments by Bighit15 and fanofgame (now deleted). I wondered if they were current perspectives or residual sentiments. There wasn't much to help me determine if they have seen an improvement at BF lately.

I have been a BF basher for their lax All-American title that could be purchased instead of earned. They did send worthy players to their Wrigley tournament this summer. So, in that regard, I see a change. I would like to think other aspects of their operations are improving as well. It seems to me that it is in our best interests that they succeed if they get it right. For whatever reasons, not everyone can make it to a PG event.

It's too bad that you will be unable to attend this event. I invite anyone who attends a Baseball Factory showcase to report back with their current impressions.


fanofgame, please repost your comments, negative or not. It would be helpful to know a little more about what you experienced and when. Thanks.

infidel_08,

I think your last post is perfect. Maybe BF is improving. My experiences were from the past. I didnt say they were a bad company. I said they evaluated my son, it was a decent little afternoon of some skills,I think it was 90.00 , then they send an evaluation, and they have someone call you. They are nice and the eval is decent. Then they invited my son to various tourneys,events that we couldnt afford. I know players who went to AZ fall classic with them and it was pricey and they had a lot of kids on the roster. This was 2 years ago. we chose to play fro a travel team and went to those types of tourneys for a lot cheaper. Maybe they have changed the way they run the business. I am out of the loop my son is playing college ball at JC.(and very happy).

My view is that bighit15 got it just about right. My son did a try out a couple weeks ago. It was well run and the instructors were enthusiastic and knowledgeable. The cost of the tryout was $99 and worth the money. If there is a problem it is that the tryout was a bit of a loss leader. I called in after the tryout as instructed to get my son's evaluation and learned he had "made the team". I am not sure this is a distinct honor. Making the team in this case meant that he was invited to a 5 day tournament/clinic in June at a cost of $3,700! Reasonable minds can differ on this but my personal view is that 5 days playing for the Yankees would not justify that kind of investment.

quote:

Reasonable minds can differ on this but my personal view is that 5 days playing for the Yankees would not justify that kind of investment.

My reasonable mind does not differ.

There you go, original posters question answered. People can form their opinions from that.

$3,700 ??? Wow!

For $150 I'll form my own BF-like company and dish out All-American certificates like candy. Any takers?

Now I just gotta figure out what college or pro scouts would actually be impressed by those credentials. I'll get back to you on that.

BF's winter event has been the problem. The summer event, which was in Wrigley last year as noted, trails the AFLAC game in prestige but is still a pretty reputable and decent event in its own right. I think an AA label from the summer event is to be taken seriously. An AA label from the winter event I guess is OK but you shouldn't kid yourself about it. It's offered to hundreds, it's given only to those who pay, and if you don't pay you don't end up on the final list while they skip to the next guy down the list.

"misunderestimate"--- thats a riot!! I almost misremembered how to type I was laughing so hard!!!

quote:

I invite anyone who attends a Baseball Factory showcase to report back with their current impressions.

I'm kind of with infidel_08 on this one. I'd like to hear report(s) back on how some of these upcoming events go, as opposed to reports based on a few years ago. (I have no firsthand experience or knowledge of this company).

Its rather amazing to me how much has (in general) already changed in just the past 5 short years.

Same experience as Leroy. My son attended a showcase back in the spring, had a very good day, and soon they phoned with a flattering report and several tournament offers in the $3000 neighborhood. We didn't bite, and just last week got a letter inviting him to their Under Armour pre-season all-America event in Arizona. At $800 it seemed a bargain compared to the other offers, and we're considering attending. I posted a question about it in the showcase forum, and although a lot of displeasure was expressed regarding the "all-American" term that only applies to those who pay and attend, everyone who had first hand knowledge said it was well ran and a good experience.