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17 replies

Can it be done in baseball?

RJMRJMHSBaseballWeb member since 2007
A poster made a point of a player training on his own to develop into a high school player if his rec program is weak. It reminded me of a question I once meant to post.

There is a major college football QB who did not play any organized football until high school. His father had him training all the time to be a QB. He did not want him to be affected by mediocre or poor youth and middle school coaching. I don't know the dad's athletic background. But both brothers were major college football players. So there are some genetics and natural ability in play here.

The question: Do you think a position player could do nothing but train until high school and become a major college or pro prospect? I believe a pitcher can do it. That's why I specified position player since it involves the timing of hitting and adjusting to the curve ball. A programmable pitching device like Pro Batter might help in the hitting equation. If anyone doesn't know what Pro Batter is click here.

While curious as to anyone's responses, I'm very interested in knowing what the big dogs like PG, TR and others who place players in college ball think.

** The dream is free. Work ethic sold separately. **

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TRhitTRhit10,000+ posts
It will depend on how much Dad knows about the game and how good is he as a coach and instructor to his son.

The second aspect is the question of lack of game experience against good competition---that can hurt

I do not say it cannot happen but I think the player will be behind the 8 ball without solid game experience

Another thing is will the kid still stay interested with nothing but training while his peers are playing games--this may be more important than anything---can we recall the name Marinovich in football

Great topic
P PGStaff10,000+ posts
RJM,

In the interest of accuracy…. We do not place players in college ball. That would be a recruiting service. Players are the ones responsible for creating college interest.

Anyway, to answer your question... The older I get the more I realize that nearly anything, no matter how unlikely it might seem, is possible. I guess it would depend on the caliber of training and the ability of the athlete. It would be “almost” impossible if the player lacked outstanding athletic talent.

I do know at least one player who played rec type ball until about age 13, then didn't play at all through high school and he ended up playing a few years in the Pirates organization. The reason he didn't play in high school was because the coach cut him. He cut him because he didn't play before high school. Oddly enough, another player from the same exact high school (except some 25 years later and different coach) didn’t play in high school but was drafted and signed with the Mets. That one was a pitcher, though!

There are a lot of true stories that prove nearly anything is possible.
trojan-skippertrojan-skipper1,000+ posts
Yes I think it could be done. I think a catcher would be the hardest to do it with because catching is such an 'on the job trained' position.

Good athlete; lots of good coaching.. I'd say the kid could get a heck of a lot out of it. The boredom might be the only thing you'd really battle but some kids can shoot free throws for hours on end or look at what swimmers put themselves thru for very few meets.
BOFBOF10,000+ posts
In a purely theoretical answer to your question, yes. I have always felt that proper instruction caries more weight then, for example, playing a lots of travel ball. However, what is the point and who cares?

The whole baseball experience is part of developing fine young men as most kids are not going to play college ball and even fewer are going to play pro ball. Here in our little HSBBW world we get all tied up in knots over subjects like this, but in the end it matters little.

I would never trade the experiences my son has had playing T-ball, rec ball, all-stars, some travel ball, basketball, s****r, etc. He has learned so many of life’s lessons (not to mention the many many friends and acquaintances) through these activities that could not be learned by me teaching him how to pitch one on one for hours by ourselves for years. What a sterile existence…

Anyone remember Todd Marinovich the quarterback burn out who was trained like this by his dad? Is this what you want your son(s) to become?
B Blprkfrnks100+ posts
I believe that Sammy Sosa did something like this. I thought I read that he never played any baseball until the age of 14.

I think it could be done, but I also think that genetics, natural atheticism, and hand-eye coordination are much more of a factor than most people believe.

There is a kid at our school that plays 3 high school sports and none of them are baseball, and he doesn't play travel baseball. He played on the HS summer league team for about a month, and I am convinced he could play baseball in college. He could also play golf, basketball, track, socker, or football to some degree in college (maybe not a D1 star in all those sports). He does it with great speed and quickness, and great hand-eye coordination.

It looks like he is going to focus on golf (a good choice since he isn't a good "team" player).
D dbg_fan1,000+ posts
I would be concerned about the lack of development of game instincts and experiencing game situations. Knowing instinctively where to throw the ball on a defensive play is developed in game experience. Knowing instinctively what situation may develop and how to react on a pitch, or batted ball, or errant throw is developed in game experience.

It is similar to developing expertise on a musical instrument in the practice room. You may have great chops, and fantastic ears for harmony & improvisation. But if you don't put those skills into practice by performing with other musicians you are not fully developing your musicianship.
RD rain delay10+ posts
I guess anything is possible but I believe there is a big difference between baseball and football in being able to pick up the game after never playing it before. I would think baseball is more of a year after year process in which the player builds upon what he has learned before.Especially, being able to hit progressively faster pitches, picking off curve balls etc. It is almost like taking General Math before Geometry, Geometry before Algebra and Algebra before Calculus and Calculus before Differential Equations and so on....... Smile
Last edited by rain delay
P powertoallfields1,000+ posts
quote:
Another thing is will the kid still stay interested with nothing but training while his peers are playing games




I agree with TR on this one. I won't say it can't be done, but it would certainly depend on the level of competition his HS team faced and the level of Coaching on that team. Freshman HS ball is not really that competitive in our area and I could see how a well trained athlete could be taught to be one heck of a player in one year.

The only major stumbling blocks, IMO, would be the lack of "team" skills and the thrill of victory/agony of defeat instincts.
infidel_08infidel_081,000+ posts
I believe that in theory and maybe in practice, it can be accomplished. There are some very bright kids that are home-schooled. But I have to agree with dbg_fan's reservations about the lack of developing instincts in live action play. You illustrated my thoughts well.

quote:
Originally posted by dbg_fan:
I would be concerned about the lack of development of game instincts and experiencing game situations. Knowing instinctively where to throw the ball on a defensive play is developed in game experience. Knowing instinctively what situation may develop and how to react on a pitch, or batted ball, or errant throw is developed in game experience.

It is similar to developing expertise on a musical instrument in the practice room. You may have great chops, and fantastic ears for harmony & improvisation. But if you don't put those skills into practice by performing with other musicians you are not fully developing your musicianship.
Last edited by infidel_08
RJMRJMHSBaseballWeb member since 2007
I'm not agreeing or disagreeing with anything posted so far. I'll throw this in for debate. As far as game experience goes, the QB mentioned had to learn how to read defenses without playing before high school. While it's not the same as live action his father had him watch a lot of game film.

I wonder if a kid could do the same with baseball game film. I'll admit analyzing baseball game film would put me in a coma.
Last edited by RJM
D Doughnutman1,000+ posts
I am rarely a betting man, but I would bet that someone out there somewhere, could pull it off. The player would be a rare breed. I think that hitting would be the hardest thing to learn.
I see it like computer games. When I play against the toughest that the computer or Wii can do, I beat it everytime. When I go online or play against my son, I am a dead man. Live experience against live people is a heck of a lot harder than any simulation or training.

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