How important is Perfect Game ?

FastGame;

please open our web site <www.areacodebaseball.org> then complete
the player profile and we will discuss with the Chicago White Sox scouts a possible invitation to the June 30 tryout at Butler University.

There is no cost for the tryout for the Area Code Teams.

Bob Williams

Thank's Mr Williams

My son already got the invitation from the White Sox and he's going to be there. His summer team schedule gets hectic after that.

I'll go to the PG site and fill out the player profile.

Once again thanks.

FG,

There are some better PG events than others, so you need to research more before you spend your dollars. Area Code is also a very good choice. I have met several Area Code people the past couple of years and they were very informative, open and frank. Important: Don't hurt yourself by feeling that you need to spend alot of $$$ to have your son looked at. If he is talented, his HS coach should be in the process and again do yor research first, mpst of it can be done by asking questions here. PG is an excellent organization, I have yet to be disappointed by them.

fast...Do the TeamONe...best for your son if he's a potential college player.

PG is arguably the best scouting service for amateur baseball, but it is definitely geared towards professional pitching prospects.

FastGame,

I have no idea who your son is, but if you care to discuss his situation feel free to call Perfect Game 319-298-2923 ask for Don Walser. The people who can help you are on the road, but Don will give you a cell number.

I think you will find the top colleges and most everyone else in baseball are always going to be very interested in the best pitchers. However, just for information purposes, of the top 100 picks in the draft this week were the following PG players… 12 PG infielders/1st baseman including the #1 and #9 overall picks. 9 PG outfielders including the first outfielder picked. 10 PG catchers including the first 3 catchers picked. 28 of the 41 first round and supplemental 1st rounders were pitchers. Of the 13 position players 10 were PG players (77%). Of the 28 pitchers 21 were PG players (75%).

Pitching will always dominate the draft. Pitching will also dominate the early recruiting period at top colleges. We can’t change that, but the top position players over the past several years have been at PG events and the National is the top event. Matt Bush, Delmon Young, Chris Lubanski, BJ Upton, Chris Nelson, etc. etc.

Players are free to do as they please, but there were 94 PG players on the 8 division I teams that were in Omaha (College World Series) last year. We don’t know who the teams are this year, but we expect another big number of former PG players to be in Omaha.

This said, there is absolutely no reason you should feel it is a must for your son to attend any PG event. Just do the research and determine what is best for your son. The very first pick a few years ago never attended a PG event. However, we did have him ranked #1 before the draft.

It sounds like you have a talented son, if so you probably have nothing to worry about. Things have a way of working out in most cases. Best of luck

I want to thank all for your help and support.

My son gave me a panic attack so I guess I didn't word things right. I know PG is tops, I went around with two of the top Mi. kids last summer to PG events, one of them payed my way to Area Code(nice people)so I experienced that also.

As far as school he has major intrest from many of the top D1's but who knows how that pans out, some of the top JUCO's let him know that if D1 doesn't work he still has a BB home.

Guess I was worried about how important the Baseball America ranking was not PG or TeamOne, sorry.

Once again thanks! Hope we meet some day, if nothing else I'd have meet some nice people and have nice memories.

Bump...

Realities in recruiting.

Baseball recruiting, except for the top programs in the nation, the Ivy's and the service academies is pretty much a regional affair.

What I mean by that is every region and/or state in the country is a little different. The availability of programs, local flavor, propensity for coaches to look in-state first, etc means that your BEST SOURCE for recruiting advice MAY be from players in your region who have gone on to the next level.

You can't go wrong with Perfect Game. It's the premier outfit in the nation, but there are some other extremely qualified programs of a national flavor out there. There is also a major place for the regional showcase providers. In our area, you see the need for the regional showcases particularly for the D2 and D3 colleges.

The reality is that the recruiting budget of a lot of colleges is very tight. They have to work smart. A small D3 college in Pennsylvania may never go to a showcase in Florida.

So, how do outfits like Perfect Game help these players? By attending one of these showcases, you will get a good indication of the level of baseball you should be looking at. Don't close your eyes to other options ... the school of your dreams might have a great need at your position. Use these showcase to get your name in front of the colleges. Attend the one that is nearest to where you want to go to school (not where you necessarily live). You'll have a better chance of having the colleges in that area see you.

Talk to players/parents in your area that have completed the search process successfully and others who didn't. Find out what they did right and, just as importantly, what they did wrong. Don't be afraid to ask questions. Even if you've never attended a PG showcase, those people are great. You can call them with a question and they will take the time to help you. The same is true of a lot of other places. Some are more helpful than others.

Once you identify a few "target colleges", call the coaching staff and ask them where they go to look at players. It may be a showcase that is purely local and you've never heard of it. It may be that they travel down/up to an event that is near to you .... and it may be that the coaches have ties in your area already.

Read the article on the HSBaseballWeb on using the roster in recruiting. Read everything you can find and get prepared. Build a list of the 5 most important things about college to you and RANK THEM in importance. Then let that be your guide. Finding a great baseball program might not be the best deal if the college doesn't offer the major you want. Then again, you may be flexible or undecided about your major.

Get your academic house in order. It will increase your options. Ask questions here too. Even though we sometimes "bite" on this site, it's usually not very hard.

Like everything in life. There are exceptions. It's up to you to learn to recognize what's an exception to the rules in your area and figure out why it's an exception.

Believe it or not, people really DO want to help each other. It's a pretty natural thing. Most people really are good folks. PGStaff, RCW and TRHit are excellent examples of that.

Due to scheduling conflicts, we never made it to a PG event. We did make it to some WWBA events. I have talked with the people there at Perfect Game several times and I've talked with TRHit quite a bit. They are all just nice people.

I'd say Perfect Game is very important because of their audience (college and pro scouts) and the respect that audience has of their opinions.

I will tell anyone that in my opinion the best showcase for any player is the PG National. If you get invited to that showcase then you need to go...it's that simple. The other PG showcases they run are very good, but the national has the best of the best.

Several teams like mine are not scheduling games the weekend of June 17-19 so our player's that make the national have no conflicts. We will actually play a game on June 17th, but be shorthanded. We hope that we have several players going to national. To me that is an honor in itself.

Another must is the WWBA Wood Bat championships. If PG was not a great organization, why would there be 500 to 600 scouts and agents at each of these tournaments? PG gets the best talent in the country and the scouts know this.

IMHO