Lying about Height

A couple of years ago my son played in a fall scout league. At the first workout someone from the MLB scouting bureau was there measureing hight, weight and checking eye sight. Height was done with shoes off. No fudging there.

Side note. Last year our area had an all state running back that broke all kids of state rushing records. Peaple wondered why he wasn't getting any D1 looks. He ended up at a D2 school being red shirted as a conerback. He was listed at 5-10 200 in the state championship program. He's now listed at 5-8 186 in college. Not sure if it hurt him but coaches and scouts can tell the difference.

Tim Lincecum
Weight 170 lbs.
Height 5-11
Bats Left
Throws Right


I wonder what he put down when he was going through the recruiting process?

I thought he was 5'9".

Prince Fielder was listed at 6'1 in High School back in 2001. Now going into 2010 he is listed at 5'11.

PG.
He was 6'1" in HS. Over the years, gravity has made him get shorter due to his size.

quote:

Why is lying about your height so prevalent in baseball?

I would prefer to think of it as telling a "good story." It doesn't hurt to think of yourself in terms that are "bigger than life." If you don't think of yourself as the "big, bad dude" how will anyone take you seriously?

My postive spin on a practice which has been commonplace for years.

This practice is not limited to amateurs. I am an honest 5'10" and I'm at least two inches taller than every MiLB player I've had come to the plate listed at 5'10" and 5'11" and equally as tall as some listed at 6'0".

Jerry:

Since you guys take a photo of everyone, I always wondered why you didn't have a marking in the photo showing 6' etc. Like you see on the door at 7 11...

08

We actually did that a couple years at our indoor events. Believe it or not, it was hard to get an accurate reading. If done correctly, I think it would work.

I suppose that there are a number of ways the answer could end up tweaked - camera too low, player standing too close or far back, grid hung too low... but it seems to me that with some care, it should be doable...

I'm sure some of it's an honest mistake -- kid hasn't been officially measured for 8 months and you just know he's grown 2 inches....

When our son played at East Coast Pro this summer MLB measured him. He has been listed as 6'2" in most publications.

MLB had him at 6'1" 3/4 but they dropped him back to 6'1".

Somebody flunked rounding in school.