pg cross checker

Catch15 and HHSDAD,

You ask legitimate questions. Of course, that same thing is brought up many many times.

justbaseball, answered your question, but allow me to add this...

When people check our current lists they often notice most all the top 100 have attended events like the PG National and/or Aflac Classic.

What often is not understood is that most of these players were actually ranked that high before the PG National was held. After all, we try to invite the most talented players in the country to our National Showcase.

So yes, most of the top ranked players have attended PG events. But they were invited to attend because of where we have them ranked. It's a what came first... "chicken or egg" thing!

We go after the top players... Be kind of stupid to not use our own list.

In most every case we have seen the player who is ranked. However, it makes no difference if we see the player at a PG event or somewhere else. We rank them where we think they belong.

Obviously we see every player who attends one of our events. Last June 952 players who we saw at PG events got drafted by MLB clubs. That accounts for 2 of every 3 draft picks. Among high school players only... it's an even higher percentage.

Hope that answers the question. Thanks for asking.

Let me just say that I subscribe to PG Crosschecker and it is absolutely a fantastic site. Rankings aside, it is loaded with great articles and info on both college and HS baseball. My son has attended PG events and between those and his national ranking it has created ALOT of interest by people who can have a very positive affect on his future.

quote:

Originally posted by SeedThrower:
PG doesn't gather that information for free - and giving it away breaks their business model.

You are absolutely right 08Dad, it costs us parents lots of money to send our kids to the showcases and line them up so PG can rate our kids and then sell us the info.

These rankings don't mean a whole lot, it's mostly to make us parents and players feel good about themselves. The pro's don't care much what PG feels about a player. That came directly from a scout.
Save your money. This from someone who got suckered into it last year.

You can all file this under the "for whatever it's worth category", and I know that PG doesn’t need my endorsement, however from our limited experience I believe that PG has played a huge role in my son's exposure so far.

Being from a state that is not traditionally known as a "hotbed" for recruiters, (they should be looking closer, there are some great ball players up here) I would venture to say that most of the letters and inquiries that Jerseyson has received thus far have been because schools have seen him at a PG event. (i.e. East Cobb, WWBA Underclass and WWBA National) While our summer coaches do a great job of getting the boys seen, they know that if you want to get your players in front of the decision makers you better show up at PG events. Almost every letter or email he has received has started out with “we had the opportunity to watch you pitch in _________ (insert Jupiter, East Cobb, Ft. Myers, etc…).

Would my player get recognized if we didn’t use the PG suite of products… maybe, however do I think that my son has been seen by significantly more recruiters because of PG, absolutely! The rest of the job is his.

I think of Perfect Game like the old Kodak analogy:

Perfect Game provides the camera (PG Crosschecker, Baseballwebtv, PG Website) and the film (WWBA Events, East Cobb Events, Showcases). Our boys provide the subject matter that makes it all worth while. The added bonus is that PG also attracts the people willing to buy the prints(colleges and pro teams). How’s that for stretching an analogy!

The point is, why go out and try to piece meal things together to get your son seen when there is a proven system ready and waiting. Is there a cost associated absolutely; however isn’t there a cost of sitting around and hoping someone will notice your son as well?

Bottom line, IMHO we are all a lot better off with companies like Perfect Game than we would be without them.

Its about having options. The more options you have the better situation you are in. And the more likely that you will have a chance to choose the best option for you. Would my son get an opportunity to play in college if he did not play on a showcase team? Yes. Will he have more options to choose from because he plays on a showcase team? Yes. Will my son get an opportunity to play in college if he does not attend any PG events. Yes. Will he have more options if he attends perfect game events. Yes. Now how do I know this to be true. Let me take the time to explain it to those of you who already think you know all the answers. If my son just play HS baseballl then he will get the attention of only the local college programs in the area unless the HS coaches or his parents make phone calls for him. Now how many of those college coaches are going to make the drive to our school to actually see him play? The HS season is the worse time for college coaches during the year to get out and see players. If he is really good the local schools will be interested and will make the attempts to see him. If he is good he will have some local options. Now if he plays on a quality showcase team what happens? He is seen by many more coaches during the time of the year when they are actually looking and have the time to look. He will play at venues where there are many more players that coaches are looking at and he will consequently be seen by those coaches as well. Now what happens when he attends PG events such as the WWBA events and their showcase events. He is seen by coaches from all across the country. He is evaluated by the most respected scouting service in the country. He is measured against all the other players that have attended pg events. At the WWBA events there are PAC 10 coaches , SEC coaches , ACC coaches , BIG 12 coaches etc , juco coaches , d2 and d3 coaches. Folks this is adding options. Why would you want to limit your options? We had a player on our showcase team that was offered a 50% scholey based on a 2 inning performance at Jupiter by a Big 10 school. As far as my son goes I look at it like this. If he had not attended PG events and PG showcase events no way Miss State , Stanford and several other programs that are not in our area would be sending him questionaires and asking him to come on unofficial visists as an 08. They would have no idea who is was. OPTIONS! Maybe the best offer he gets is from a school that would have never gotten the chance to see him. Maybe the scouting report given to a college coach in florida is the reason a school down there recruits him or at least wants to see him play. Rankings by PG are not important to people if there son is not ranked. Just like the 60 is not important to people whos son is slow. That fact is when a college coach sees a kid is ranked they want to know who he is. PG's reputation as a scouting service is highly respected in the ML community and the college baseball community. You can bet they have done their homework on a player before they rank him. I want my son to have options. I do not want him to have to go somewhere that he does not really want to go because that is the only option available. The more options you have the better situation you are in. And for some players just having one option become available is worth everything you have invested. When I see people say things like those rankings dont meant anything. I have to wonder what that type of statement is based on? What is there experience with the rankings? Do they even know who is ranked and where? Have they every attended a PG event or showcase?

Some of you old time posters are so eloquent that I hesitate to post. I tend to be short and to the point...
That said, I have to wholeheartedly concur with Jersey Dad and Coach May. My Son played in the Perfect Game WWBC events in Ft. Myers and Jupiter. Prior to these events he was not on anyone’s radar. Afterwards he is getting attention from several D-1s in and out of Florida. Not letters asking for information about him, not questionnaires...but hand signed letters on fine stationary, informing my Son about their program. Sure feels different. It would never have happened (at least not this soon) if he had not attended these Perfect Game events. I would recommend them to anyone seeking to play at the next level.