Mentoring

I am not sure of your exact question or the answer you are looking for.
IMO, mentors can be anyone your son comes in contact with during his baseball years, it doesn't have to be one specific person, manager, coach, trainer, instructor, teacher does it?

Many people have helped son get to where he is over the years, from LL to proball. Each and every one has contributed in some sort of mentoring as a player, as a person, he has been very fortunate. Right now his agent is his mentor for baseball business, one might say that his pitching instructor in pro ball is a mentor, as well as the rehab trainer that has helped bring him back after surgery. Each one provides specific advice that others can't provide, not just one person to turn to for answers. That doesn't say that those he has worked with before this time have not added something worthwhile, not sure if one specific person has helped him to achieve his goal.

Believe it or not, I think that the best mentors my son has had have been older players on his team that have helped him sort out the BS one has to overcome in this business, there is nothing better than a player walking the walk before you and helping you find your way, and in return son has been in the same position to help those younger than him.

A number of years ago my son was referred to a hitting and fielding instructor who had been running a (baseball training) business with his brothers for about 30 years. All three brothers played pro ball, and over the years have trained many players that have moved on to play pro ball. Jody Reed, JD and Stephen Drew, Gary Sheffield to name a few.

We decided to visit and see what could be done. The gentleman really liked my son's swing, and really liked my guy’s hands with a ball and indicated that he would be willing to work with him.

The two of them hit it off and once I realized that they had developed a true relationship I called up the instructor and asked him if he would Mentor my son through his baseball career, whatever that might involve. He asked me to explain what it was that I meant, and I tried to explain: I wanted someone who had "been there, done it and got the shirt" to guide my son through the mechanical skill training as well as the emotional and mental preparation that would give my son the best opportunity to achieve his dream of playing MLB.

His response was something akin to "that is asking a lot and I need to give that some serious thought before he gave me a yes or no".

A week or two went by and he agreed to mentor my son. He has been there through thick and thin, counseling and encouraging my son through his surgery and being there for me as well. He comes to games, has visited my son at our home prior to a game when he was struggling (100 miles away), and truly has been a very strong influence allowing my son to achieve all that he is capable of.

If you have a former pro player that is interested in taking your son under his wing, I would recommend it whole heartedly. Of course the chemistry between the two needs to exist.

The role that this former player has taken on for my son has been very beneficial for me as well, I call him 3 or 4 times a week to discuss my son's games and at bats, he has filled a role I was not capable of filling since I never even played baseball apart from playing in the neighborhood on a field someone bulldozed out of the woods when I was 8 or 9. We are fortunate to have found him to be sure.

You hit it on the head floridafan.

It seems to me it could be very beneficial for a player to have someone to talk to who went through the journey. Someone who could tell him what to expect, talk about games and AB's, or slap his wrist when he starts to swerve off course a little.

Obviously their would have to be a mutual respect between the two attained by the player's commitment to the game and the mentors knowledge and honesty towards the player.

TPM, I guess what I'm asking is if this sort of thing is prevalent these days.

I think my son would say that the umpire who took him under his wing and taught him the game from the "blue perspective" carried a lot of influence. He's always said that he learned the most about the game of baseball from behind the plate.

There is a program in Ca. called the Baseball Mentoring Program (BMP). Ex Pro players helping players through camps,tourneys and I here it is an outstanding Program. They also take their team to the PG East Cobb WWBA event in June.

If I asked my son who his mentor was, he probebely ask "what is a mentor"?

Mentoring just happens, it generally can't be assigned or manufactured. Mentoring might happen once a week, once a year, once in a lifetime. A player likly has/had many "mentors" but doesn't realize it.

Except for text messeging, I don't think mentoring any different or less prevelent then when I was growing up

Each one of my Senior players this year (we have 8) will be assigned a freshman player to mentor this season, we try to match positions up. Something new for us this year.

CV