Perfect Game All American 2014 teams

Congratulations to the 1st, 2nd & 3rd Teams.  Huge Honor.  Seriously.

Also, congratulations to the 650 High Honorable Mentions.  

Also, Also, congratulations to the 2,100 Honorable Mentions.  

Rich

www.PlayInSchool.com

I sense some sarcasm there.

So perhaps some perspective:  There are about 450,000 high school baseball players in the country.  So to be mentioned by the most respected and far reaching scouting / evaluating organization in the country is actually pretty heady stuff.

There were around 2900 players mentioned overall.  So when one considers that the 2900 represent around 0.006% of the players in the country - well, then it is pretty significant.

I was curious as to the significance, so I copied/pasted the data into Excel. Looking solely at the 2016s:

-788 out of 3066 were 2016s

-Of the 788, 757 were HHM and HM

-Many 2016 PG Jr National Invitees are HHM and HM

-And of the 788 2016s, 21 are from VA, and 6 are D1 commits

Guessing that over the next 12-18 months that PG will get a better feel for the 2016s and the rankings will change. Regardless, it is worthy recognition for these young men from the Commonwealth and other locales.

I know that more than a few parents of those 2016 VA young men visit this site, and see this early recognition as wonderful for their boys.

Come on Graham.  Are we really talking about 450,000 players here?

Or would it be more appropriate to talk about only the 5,000 that attended the 17u East Cobb and/or the 5,000 at the 16u?

Now we are talking about somewhere between 30 & 60 % of the kids get honored.

I'm PG's #1 fan.  They have changed this entire process for the better in my opinion.  

My issue is more of social commentary that we are now raising what can only be described as the "trophy society".  

Rich

www.PlayInSchool.com

PIS my son didn't attend anything you mentioned but made the team.  He does have a rating in his class by perfect game and I believe Most of the drafted players also have had them In the last several years.  

PIS:  to me it seems as if your business would cater to that "trophy society" as your comments regarding your PIS Bus Tours indicate that players who think they can play at the elite level should join you.  Why not just say congratulations to those that made the list and let their season determine if they belong there or not.

I'd disagree.

If I published a list that included 60% of of the attendees as All-Americans, HHM's or HM's then it would be the similar.

I did congratulate them. The 1st, 2nd & 3rd team awards is an incredible award.  Why not stop there?  

I guarantee you that I'm not the only person thinking this.  Others have agreed with me publicly on this board.  Several have texted and emailed me personally.  Some with kids on the list.

Again, this is simply an observation that every kid today (or perhaps their parents) need their ego fed by recognition in print or w/ a ribbon.

Rich

www.PlayInSchool.com 

Again, only looking at the 2016s as that is my interest...

Nationwide, the vast majority of the 2016s are HMM and HM (757 out of 788, or 96%). In VA, 1 of the 21 is above HHM and HM.

Of the 5 HHMs, 3 have committed to UVA and 1 to Florida State.

For the 2016s, more time is needed to recognize more players. That will happen as more events take place and more commits occur. But I wouldn't cheapen the HHM or HM recognition for the 2016s: (1) the VA HHMs are superb players, and (2) it is early for 2016 evaluation and recognition.

HERE IS ALL THE ALL AMERICANS FROM STATE OF VIRGINIA ON THE LIST: yes i was bored and honestly guys try not to make this a pissing contest yes it is an honor and yes for some reason with this many people something doesn't feel right, but yet still an honor any of us would be proud of. 

2nd team All American

Conner Eason

Bobby Nicholson

Evan Sperling

Nathan Trevillian

3rd team All American
Paul Hall

HIGH HONORABLE MENTION

Gery Lyttle

Kaleb Bowman

Cody Boydstun

Andrew Bullock

Nich Butts

Nathan Eikoff

Nic Enright

Jalen Harrison

Logan Harvey

Jack Jett

Reid Leonard

Noah Murdock

Stephen Polansky

Trey Ramsey

Jacob Rich

Cayman Richardson

Justin Sorokowski

Christian Tailor

HONORABLE MENTION

Devon Adams

Justin Ager

Jake Allen -Briar Woods-SS

Jake Allen-C St. Anne

Ryan Berglund

Christian Bourne

Anthony Caliri

Joah Camp

Steven Carpenter

Thomas Chisam

Thomas Cole

Brett Cooksey

Pat Daley

John Defazio

Zach Duff

Zach Duncan

Nathan Easton

Chris Farrell

Robert Fitzwater

Josh Flaherty

John Gregory

Alex Griffith

Chesdin Harrington

Colby Higgerson

Matt Hogle

Jason Waldman

Matt Supko

Sorry if i missed any body, and the last bunch of names were copied an pasted, thats why they look that way and have the extra info. 

I believe there might be a few folks who take exception to this generalization.

"I believe there might be a few folks who take exception to this generalization."

This, I agree with.

In case anyone wants to see some of these guys… 

Rich

www.PlayInSchool.com

When lists get this long, it might be easier to see who WASNT mentioned (especially in the HM list)...kind of absurd.

Do agree that there is time for player development and list refinement, but then why develop a list like this if not for a "marketing" angle.  Trophies for everyone.

Again, isolating the 2016s in VA...

21. Only 21.

On the other hand, there are 62 2015s, 23 of whom are committed to play at D1s in two years. Of those 23, 19 are HHM or HM.

Throwing the cold water blanket "trophies for everyone" statement over the whole list disparages those deserve the attention, e.g., those 19 D1 commits who are HHM or HM.

Why don't you define what you think HHM or HM should mean, then scan the VA list and come up with a percentage of those you believe are unworthy based on your definition. Put some thought into your analysis.

Interesting discussion!  

Our main goal, our mission statement... To promote baseball at every level.

i see this list as being something that creates interest.  Brings attention to HS baseball. I suppose there might be a marketing angle to it, but not sure how that works.  Heck, if we have a bad player listed as an honorable mention AllAmerican why would he show up at one of our events to prove we were wrong.  

Also, no one pays a dime to be listed.  No one pays a dime to see the list.

Our main All American list is always the senior class.  it came out about a week ago.  I would encourage anyone interested to look at that list or previous year's of that list and then lets discuss that.  It's kind of simple, the older they get, the more accurate we are.

That said, we actually know that there will be errors whenever we do rankings or any underclassmen list like this. Maybe that is where the marketing comes in.  Everytime a list is released, we receive a ton of information from all over the country about players we missed or mistakes we might have made on a player.  We check out every bit of the information we receive.  It truly helps us narrow things down.

I really don't understand this trophy analogy.  I'm sure there are many very talented underclass players that we simply don't know about yet.  Our job is to find them and believe me these lists actually help us Find some of them.  If you are a bad player and somehow you end up on a Honorable Mention list, is that considered some type of trophy?  And by mentioning there is a "horrible" player listed, isn't that degrading to the rest. 

There aren't many Preseason lists out there.  I dare anyone to find a more accurate list. There are those that are called Preseason All Americans because they paid a small fortune to attend an event in the Winter.  But that list would have very few of the top prospects in the country.  

Bottom line, these kids are underclassmen, many are 2016s.  Has the list created any interest? Based on this thread, seems like mission accomplished.  Remember this... You the players listed or nobody else paid a dime for this list. Sorry if there is a mistake or two on the list.  I'm sure there are some mistakes in other parts of he country, too.  We actually do make mistakes and then try to correct them.  

For those that want to know if PG is any good at finding the best underclass players.  Checkout, the Perfect Game National Showcase.  Most all of the invitations go out before the players have even played their junior season in hgh school.  Go to the main National Showcase page and scroll down to look at the results of those players. The come back and argue about the underclass list!

I encourage anyone that has information about talented players or knows of mistakes we have made, to contact us.  It is those people who truly help us do a better job.  However, if your goal is just to downgrade what we have done on a public forum, go ahead and do that too.  However, that doesn't really accomplish anything for amateur baseball, but maybe it might make us look stupid.  As far as marketing goes, are we the ones that have been marketing in this thread.

i do appreciate all the interest. Be a waste of time without it.

On more thing... I can guarantee that there are many of the nation's top college programs checking the list. We know because they tell us! Not sure if that would be considered a trophy!

 Lets all please start showing kids hitting in real games not batting practice. Nothing against these kids, they may be legit, but I've seen so many kids hit bombs in batting practice who do nothing close to that against good V or Summer pitching.

same for pitchers. 

Knew this list coming out would ruffle feathers. 

We didn't click to check cost-what r they charging to come participate? 

Playball - I don't think Prado has the time or inclination to attend every kid's games waiting for enough pitches to be strikes in order to get a view of the hitters.

These videos are (fortunately) made for colleges coaches who tend to have the ability to analyze a swing and decide whether or not a player is worth following into the summer and seeing live.

These videos are not produced to prove anything to mommys and daddys.  Since, afterall - their opinions ceased to matter once they turned 13.

It doesn't matter what you think these videos prove or fail to prove.  I know - for a fact - that college coaches know what they are looking at and looking for.  These videos get that job done and show the tools that coaches are looking to follow - then, after that, the kid has to show it in game situations when the lights are on.

...... as for a return to the topic - I can report that of the 13 of the Virginia Cardinals that were listed: 7 are already DI commits (UVA x2, Florida State, Univ of Richmond, Morehead St, W&M, Liberty) and the other 6 have offers on the table or coming soon.  They didn't miss with those selections by any stretch. 

Coach Graham - thanks for explaining how recruiting videos work.  I did not want to take this thread in that direction.  You did a good job bringing it back to the topic.  I did notice a lot of familiar Va Cardinals on that list!  

Throw'n bb's - Nice personal attack… I think.  I can only assume you are trying to call me a P "O" S.  Except that my screen name is actually P "I" S, so perhaps I'm missing the reference.  Either way, well done.  Typically we leave the personal attacks of this board.

Nowhere in this thread did anyone say any of the kids on the list are not quality players.  Some of them are actually really incredible.  I know many of them personally.  Great kids. Great families.

My only commentary has zero to do with talent and everything to do with the length of the list.  Just seems excessive.  PG Staff gave a nice explanation above.  I'm obviously not the only person who thinks an All American team with 2,900 names is a bit much.  But I'm a big boy and can take the heat.  

So relax.  Or at the very least, sign your name on your posts if you are going personally attack someone on here.

Rich

www.PlayInSchool.com

My son is one of the 2016 HHM's in Virginia.  I take this list for what it is.  It is a list of 2016 and 2015 players that have been seen by PG that in their opinion have potential and are listed as such. 

Does being named to this list do anything for him?  Maybe a little pride for all of the hours of work and personal sacrifice.  Does it do anything for me?  Same thing....a little pride for his work and personal sacrifice.  Lets not forget, these kids are also student athletes.  I know several of these young men that are also very high ranking students as well.  So again, let's look at this for what it is.  A list of young student athletes who compete hard on the field and the classroom that just happened to have the right people looking at them to make this list in the first place and get some recognition. 

Will this list look different when my son is a senior...you bet.  That's baseball.

Just so people are reminded of our board etiquette, I have reported throw'n bb's post to the moderator.  It is my hope that his privileges will be suspended. 

In addition to its improper language (as intended), it is a direct personal attack.  I realize people do this kind of thing on the internet every day, but it's not welcome here.

On the point:  Basically we're looking at a list that shows an early idea of 40 of the top players in this state.  (There are 50 states, so the national list of course goes quite long.)

Anything that narrows the thousands of VA players down to 40 is significant.  I don't pretend that every talented player is on that list, but I would suggest that every player on that list probably deserves to be there.  And it provides a nice guide if you're a local fan and you wonder who out there maybe merits your making a special trip to see a particular game.  Which, believe it or not, some of us like to do.  If the next Justin Verlander comes along, I want to be able to say I "saw him when."

Ok, this is a question of ignorance from a newbie so go easy on me.  Can a kid get on any kind of list or anyone's radar without spending hundreds of dollars? 

Interesting question. Theoretically, the answer is yes. What's that path look like? One scenario is the player just lighting it up with the HS team and receives accolades and attention to the point where he's spotted, evaluated and vetted by PerfectGame. Another scenario is to join a fully sponsored showcase team, but you'll need to pay for travel costs (easily a few hundred each weekend). Another path is to go to a 3rd party sponsored showcase (yes, more than a few hundred), light it up and use the results as a part of your outreach program.

Increasingly, the economics are pointing to a consolidation of supply and demand. The supply of the better players in a particular geo are consolidated by a handful of showcase organizations, and the demand for such players are consolidated by weekend showcases and national showcases.  It's efficient. But there's a participating cost to this efficiency, and it is beyond hundreds.

Is there a greater assurance with your desired output by participating in this scenario? Nope: not in the least. But if provides a platform through which the player has the opportunity to play with and against excellent players, and to be seen by a wider range of potential recruiters. No guarantees.

You just need to perform your own minmax or cost/benefit analysis.

Thanks for the reply...very well stated. My son came to me around the first of the year and said that he wants to be a college baseball player so I'm just starting to learn the process. Fortunately, he has a few years to work on his game and his dream.

There is no sport -- really, no extracurricular activity -- that I know of that is free.

There are options in baseball that are no more costly than anything else you might want to do.

I would suggest that expecting it to be free is being foolish.  Nothing in life is free.

Even on the Cardinals, though we continue to cover all team participation costs through sponsorships, we now have to pass travel costs on to the players.  That's the best deal I know of out there. 

Also bear in mind that almost no one gets to go to college totally for free.  If you expect the cost of college to get defrayed by baseball money, then you'll have to get into the competition to receive some of those dollars.

Whether you're spending more than you're likely to see come back, that's a fair question to ask, and you should ask it of yourself, your son and then also of someone whose evaluative skills and whose objectivity you trust.  But you have to promise the latter fellow that if he tells you the truth, you'll still be friends. 

Understood. I realize there is a cost involved to get noticed, I just think a lot of kids get left out of the process because of the money and living too far from a showcase team to be practical. 

"Again, this is simply an observation that every kid today (or perhaps their parents) need their ego fed by recognition in print or w/ a ribbon."

I don't agree at all.  Generalized statements like this are ridiculous.  This statement makes it seem that all parents are idiots, and only care to stroke their own ego.  Sorry, but that is just not true.  Is it neat when your son is recognized?  Of course it is.  Is it the end all that most are looking for?  I don't think so.  Although I want my son to be good and to succeed; it is more important that he is having fun & devoloping.  I care more about him succeeding in his future endeavors than I do about stroking my own ego.  I get tired of these statements that act like we are raising our children to be weinies.  I would never do that to my son, and most baseball folks that I know don't have that view at all.  My son will earn what he gets, and we don't need any trophies to prove to ourselves that he is a fine, talented player.

RedStitch,

Rich Graham and I started the Cardinals for the very reason you have stated.  In case you missed it, see Baseball America's feature from last summer:

http://www.baseballamerica.com...of-high-school-life/

That may be password protected for subscribers, so if you have trouble with it, try here: http://bit.ly/1aItpqb

As I've said above, our "pay everything" approach had to be modified as of this past fall in order to keep the program moving forward.  But we do still consider players for financial aid even for the travel expenses (a) if they make the team first, and (b) if we see genuine need on the player's part and not just a desire to be a free rider.  Our goal is to make it possible for anyone to go through the pipeline, provided they have the talent and the drive.  On the other hand, those are not just footnotes, they are tough bars to clear, at least in our program.

As for living near venues etc., we do help with car pooling, but you have to offer some effort or else it doesn't work.

Still, let's have some perspective.  Bear in mind that baseball won't pay but some share of total college costs.  Maybe financial aid will cover the rest for some, but I sure hope the plan for college isn't just to wait until your son graduates and then start buying lottery tickets.  If you have worked a plan to get him through college, then it can make financial sense to rededicate some of those savings to a recruiting program if you have sound reason to believe that doing so will offer a return in terms of scholarship money.

IMHO, the problem we have right now is that we have a whole bunch of players who are chasing a dream without any realistic hope of getting a return on investment.  Hey, if this is your form of recreation, knock yourself out.  But there's no great loss if someone can't afford to travel to play recreationally, especially not when your local Legion team can provide an avenue for you on a more family-friendly budget.  The real problem is that some seem to believe that the only reason their son isn't getting recruited is because he isn't "getting out there."  That may be true, but it may also be that you're deluding yourselves about his talent level.  If it's the latter, then don't expect anyone to step up and foot the bill for you. 

Again just IMHO, but I think there are too many travel teams right now.  Not but a few years ago, you had pretty much a handful of teams and they were all pretty much stud-laden.  Now it seems everyone wants to get into it, often to separate the fools from their money.  Sometimes you can go to a game and only a couple of the guys are really, say, Division I prospects, if that.  I don't see how that really serves anyone.  The very best travel ball games are when two loaded teams go head to head and play not just to show, but to win.  I enjoy my dugout perch for those and believe me, it's what college recruiters want to see as well.

 Its even worse in softball, they call themselves GOLD TEAM! but what cracks me up is when the local A TEAMS beat them soundly. Same scenario ..years ago these teams picked the best local talent and traveled and played high-end softball. But now these teams are reaching out to Freshman and 8th graders to fill their teams.

 The only thing GOLD about this, is you better have a bunch in your pocket!

Thats interesting.  I've found most softball teams I work with charge very very low fees in comparison to the normal travel baseball.

The major difference a little thing called fundraising, specifically bingo.

I know baseball organizations that have offered every variation of fundraiser possible.  Seems like the parents complain about paying, but then choose not to do fundraiser.

The softball team I work with that probably does the best with fundraising runs bingo almost weekly.  Parents know going in that it requires a little sweat equity.  Maybe a few nights a year per parent.  Plus they host 1 huge tournament.  Plus they do a golf tournament.  Combine those 3 and the result is that they fly as a team to 5 tournaments across the country durning the summer.  

They are on another level.  But most of the organizations utilize bingo to offset fees.

Midlo Dad, thanks for the link...very informative article. I really like the concept you guys have going on with the Cardinals. Looks like I still have some homework to do.  As for my son, he certainly has the drive and work ethic. Which, thankfully, he has learned through baseball.  Does he have the talent? We'll see in a couple of years??  

I somewhat disagree with this.  I don't think many kids who have talent get left out.  Years ago, I would have agreed with you, but today, the reach of the internet, top players are found and given exposure.

As for the money, there are certainly teams in it solely for the money.  There are also teams that are there to help the kids.  

If players and parents are realistic about where they can play, that will help them target schools in their region where JR can either get on the field and or reach his academic goals. I have seen parents spend thousands of dollars going all over the country chasing something that wasn't gonna happen, just to find a great school 100 miles or less from home that ended up being the perfect fit.