PG Underclass Showcase

Ibach, a little advice.

I recommend that you find a more polite and less inflammatory way to state the permission above than saying "Note to the usual detractors". For example, a more appropriate phrase might be "Note to concerned members".

If you wish to be a participating member of this forum, please stop and think before you use phrases that seem likely to insult or spar with some of the members who have been here before you.

We all know that there were some problems involving TBS participation here in the past. As I have mentioned in Private Messages to the Ibach member ID, in my opinion it is the obligation of TBS to live down past actions and consistently demonstrate a positive approach. If I allow you back into the forums and then seem not to notice while you give a little "elbow in the ribs" to other posters ... I just can't be comfortable with that.

This was only a small mis-step outside the bounds of politeness, but when I notice it and fail to comment, I am afraid that it implies consent of the moderators or owner of the site. This forum belongs primarily to parents and players of this region. It is here for their benefit. The standards of behavior are set higher for a baseball business that wants to post a business message here. If the baseball business has information that will be of interest to the parents and players, I have no objection to that business posting the information here in a polite and professional tone. But you need to address those "owners" of this forum (the parents and players) with the same respect you would show to a moderator or administrator such as CoachB25 or me.

Thank you,

Julie

Julie, Thanks for the advice. I should have just stuck with the post on the Showcase forum.
The Underclass feature will hopefully bring some new perspective and tips to the families thinking about attending events like this.

Thank you for your understanding. I am not trying to be overly picky, but I have taken some heat from people whose opinions I respect, for believing in second chances. I hope that this second chance will turn out to be a positive one.

Julie,

Thanks for the second chance, I will ensure that you will not be disappointed. Hopefully, you and the moderators will find merit in our new approach and the fact that we have appeared in several high profile outlets and continue to grow in a variety of areas. It has become apparent to me that the accuracy of info and the strength of the organization revolves around relationships with people. The individuals who have approved access to post under the I.D> Mike Ibach, Steve Curcio and others have earned this and I trust them implicitly to adhere to the new direction. We have hired new contributors with backgrounds in marketing and event management, orthopedic specialists, professional scouts, recruiting analysts and an individual with editorial/publishing experience.
The individuals tasked with posting on message boards have a positive outlook and are interested in helping the kids, as it should be! Look for innovative ideas, facts and helpful insightful comments...delivered professionally.
The official TBS-USA position in regard to inflammatory dust ups, is simply "not get involved" The staff at TBS-USA has no intention of sparring with anyone. We have separated TBS, from that type of dialogue and will continue to provide unbiased, enthusiastic and credible information on youth travel sports. The new direction includes venturing into high school ranking/rating as well as other sports, with professional promotion of tournaments. TBS-USA provides inspirational stories, comprehensive stats and ratings, credible recruiting info and helpful performance tips for athletic and academic success.
Our hit volume has registered as high as 50,000 monthly, with a national fan base that includes athletes, their parents, coaches and loyal youth sports fans. We have established relationships with numerous organizations and continue to reach out to others. We provide professional coverage of youth sports in an effort to recognize, educate and inspire student-athletes, coaches and those who support them. TBS-USA grew quickly from a regional base, that was fueled by the broad scope and reach of the Internet. Within a year we had a nationwide network in place, with contributors providing quality reports from all the major events. TBS-USA quickly developed affiliations with major outlets and sanctioning bodies. We continue to evolve into new areas and the growth potential is tremendous and nowhere yet realized. We have drawn interest from a publicly traded company and continue to strive for goals and expand into new markets.
TBS-USA is an exciting place to read about the breaking news around the nation, get informed and stay current with all that's happening in the youth sporting world!

Thank You!
Kevin Thomas; National Director
Travel Ball Select USA

Steve Curcio: scurcio77@Yahoo.com - Marketing, CFO

Jamie Brandt: JamBrandt1@yahoo.com - Business Manager

Mike Teagan: TravelBallStarz@aol.com Event Promotion: National All America Committee Chair.

Michael Ibach: Asst. Director; Travelballstarz@aol.com

Frank Konya: Advertising & Sales: Boys13west@aol.com

Here is a link to the official results from the Perfect Game National Underclass Showcase.

http://www.perfectgame.org/stories/06%5F12%5F29%5Fhighl...tional%5Funderclass/

If the link does not work, go to www.perfectgame.org when you get to the homepage, click on "Highlights from the PG National Underclass Showcase".

I really don’t like to be used for promotional purposes. We have no problem with people who wish to cover our events. Anyone can cover our events if they want. We have no affiliation with TBS at this time. In our eyes they are a young aggressive group who could prove to be a valuable asset to youth baseball. Time answers all the questions!

I don’t believe anyone should cut them down or praise them as a world leader. In time we may even work with them if things go well or maybe not! I get kind of upset when Perfect Game or my name is used for some kind of left handed promotion. I do not appreciate name dropping unless someone has my permission to do so.

Kevin did call me about doing a report/story about the National Underclass Showcase. He wanted information from us. I told him the information would be available when we returned to the office on January 11th and I would be happy to talk to him at that time.

I’m not trying to bore people with this stuff. I understand it is not very important to most everyone. Hopefully people here will understand that the point is I have no interest in either “for or against” in this case.

I could have easily called Kevin or someone else with TBS, but then again my name has already been “used”! The most important thing there is in baseball (to me) is your reputation. I really don’t think adding my name to a post that has the obvious goal of promoting a business/company is respectful!

That said, we will continue to respect anyone who truly has an interest in what we do. I would not have posted this except for one of the names mentioned was ME! I’ll let others decide if it were meant for promotional purposes.

I have no interest in harming TBS, in fact, their interest is appreciated. BTW, not to compare or anything, but the PG sites combined are well over 100 million "hits" per year. That's it for the promotional stuff! We are still small in the big world of baseball.

Who knows... In the future PG and TBS might even end up working together. It's way too soon to know things like that, though!. It all starts with respect and honesty. Sorry, I felt the need to post this!

pgstaff, I took a look at your ft meyers information and maybe you can help me a question. You rate the infield and outfield arms as far as velocity. I have watched a few showcases the last couple of years and I always see this rating. Are you also rating time to first base on the throws by these infielders? Or mit to the base they are throwing to for outfielders? I was not at your Ft Meyers event but at some I have watched I will see a ss throw like a pitcher to 1b, slow out of the glove, very long arm action and then I see later they rate his arm. If the guy would be safe at first who cares if he is thorwing 110 if it takes too long to get the ball there. Do you rate time from the glove to the base? Thanks

2bagger

I only have a couple minutes. The gun reading is not a grade… it’s only a gun reading. We watch everything that takes place including actions, body control, arm, hands, footwork, transfer, etc. These and more are what is important in grading an infielder.

The gun reading shows one thing… what the gun reads! The time from glove to base would only mean something if all plays were the same from the same spot on the field. Our fungo guys are instructed to move the ball around so we can see the other stuff.

BTW, I know a lot of baseball people who would not only care but they would get very excited if they saw 110 mph across the infield… Even if it took a half hour.

Keep in mind that many of the top infielders in the bigs do not have great arms---what they have is good footwork, quick release and solid mechanics and they throw runners out

"Keep in mind that many of the top infielders in the bigs do not have great arms---what they have is good footwork, quick release and solid mechanics and they throw runners out"

I'm glad to see someone understands that!

I once had a college coach tell me he wanted winners---I asked what he meant--- very simple--- players who make plays---hitters who get key hits--pitchers who get batters out---the game can be so simple if you allow it to be

NrMom, Good point, also needed is range, the ability to get to the hole. The quick release & footwork can make up for a less than "Major League" arm. If they get outs they stay on the field.

Thanks for the responses, I only asked as I usually look at the footwork of infielders before anything else but I always see the gun info from some of the showcases, I realize that the reading is part of it but there is so much more. Pg I am sure the 110 would get your attention, then you could make him a pitcher!!!! Seems to me when kenny Rogers was spotted he was playing right field. Thanks

A kid with a gun attached at the shoulder can still learn the technical skills you're talking about -- even if he doesn't have those skills just yet.

A kid without that gun had better darned tootin' learn 'em, because he'll need something else to succeed.

Midlo, my point was it should not be the only thing you look at, especially if you watch some of them throw. A player that picks it out of the glove properly and makes a quick strong throw at the showcase might register a little lower on the gun then the player that almost winds up from the position. I assume a good scout picks up on that however I don't see it mentioned much. The quick player doing it the way a ss should might have a better"gun" even though it registers lower at the showcase that winds up on the throw.

2bagger,

I think what you're looking for (talking about) is something you'll find in ourv written reports. We do see whether a player is throwing in the flow of the play with good actions and we see when a player is loading it up and throwing to the gun. It is reflected in their overall grade.

Not to argue but there are not many shortstops and 3rd Basemen in all of professional baseball, let alone the Big Leagues without strong arms! You acn call that my opinion if you like!

The guy with the very best actions and everything else I'm watching right now, threw 94 across the infield this morning.

Fact is, it's all important. There are not many David Eckstein types getting drafted very high or playing in the Big Leagues. He's a very special one in a million type!

Thanks pg, and no I am not disagreeing with you at all as far as having great arm strenght is need at both positions. I just see too many that as you said load up and throw for the gun at a showcase. I push arm strenght all the time and work on it with many players, I just don't like to see the rest ignored and I have been amazed at a few showcases that many lack the rest of the technical aspects of playing the position. I am glad you guys grade the overall aspects of the position. What age is the player you graded out today that threw 94 form ss.

Harold Martinez (Miami) and he is an 08. I'm pretty sure others who have seen him would agree he has some of the best actions, hands and arm of any high school player in the country. He's one of a handful of 08s in this event. He was also at last weeks underclassmen showcase. He has the best infield arm here and one of the best we've seen in 15 years of doing this. I don't mean just because of the 94 mph gun reading.

PG, How can a travel team or showcase team that is not bound by any recruiting rules get in touch with players that appear on your site? Do you forward calls or emails to the parents? Has this happened in the past or do you deal strictly with College and professional scouts? For example, some of the top underclassman generating buzz that we have had numerous inquiries about include Tony Calhoun from California. If we have the parents info in our data base, we will forward the inquiry to the parent, we will sometimes make a call or send an email to a coach requesting contact info.

Ibach Is this another travel or showcase team that is interested in just recruiting as opposed to developing talent in their organization? So are they there to showcase their organization or their players, the ones that they are trying to recruit sound like they already have been showcased.

Many of the very best summer and fall teams will operate somewhat like a major league club. For example... The Florida Bombers, East Cobb, Midland Redskins, etc. all had a number of people scouting the underclass showcase. I believe Midland had five or six people scouting that event. And they have a couple mopre here this week covering the World Showcase.

Scout packets are available to scouts and college coaches and we very much consider the travel teams as part of the scouting community. So to answer the question, they get information just like a scout or college coach would get information. They either scout the events or contact us. We presently have over 70,000 high school age players in our database with contact information including email on most of them. We try to guard these lists from those who would use it for marketing purposes, but sometimes other groups find a way to get the information anyway. We have ways of finding that out, though.

PGCrosschecker.com also provides that information at the scout level.

Lineshot & PG,

Line, To answer your question, that depends on who you ask. We hear from many travel clubs, some are known for developing players and some are known for grouping the top players together. All seem to provide something to players and the parents.
They all like to take credit for something. They all like to mention the players that end up drafted..That seems to be obvious, looking at some of the team web sites. Who takes the credit and who deserves it, I suppose would be open for debate.

PG, Thanks for the explanation, I would think that if the parents spend the money on a showcase camp, they would want and welcome the interest and exposure that comes from attending. It's up to the parents to do a little research on the programs (Travel Clubs) that come calling. Many will promise the world, you need to look at the history & track record and coaching staff of each organization.

I have heard many stories, and had several experiences, with travel teams tracking down players they want to recruit. You can often get the player's home town and parents' names off the PG sites, so 411 will find you most players. But my brothers and father have fielded several errant phone inquiries!