My favorite baseball player is a kid who gets respect for his abilities everywhere but in his hometown of Tampa.
At 13, he was invited to play for a team in a Disney Tournament. He and two other pitchers as a tandem pitched a no hitter and then a perfect game in winning the tournament.
At 14, he was invited to play for a team from Clearwater. He pitched well as they won the AAU Winter Nationals. Later the same year, the same team invited him to join them for the IBC World Series. He pitched well. the team went undefeated in the tournament and he pitched a no hitter in the championship game.
At 15, he was invited to play With the Clearwater team and they won the IBC Tournament in June. He was then invited to the games in West palm Beach. He was chosen as one of the best 36 players out of the thousands involved in the tournament, but not one of the 18 to go to Mexico. The same summer he was invited to play in a Georgia tournament, then a Virginia, tournament and then another free ride to the Colt World Series.
He rarely gets offers to play with Tampa teams and when he does, he rarely gets an opportunity to play. He is usually told that he is being saved for the championship game. These teams don't usually get that far.
He doesn't play for scholarships, he plays to have fun.
He's too short for the scouts and doesn't pitch in the 90's, he just pitches good baseball and usually keeps his team in the game.
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