When I was 3 or 4, my parents borrowed a TV from my grandparents (we had no TV at the time) and the only thing I watched on it was baseball. Then a couple times my parents had friends over playing in our backyard, and I always wanted to join in and it was so much fun. So when I was 5 my parents signed me up for T-Ball and I loved it. Next year I also played T-Ball. When I was 7 and 8, I played parent pitch softball and had even more fun. Then one summer I went to a coaching clinic at a local high school. It was fun. Then since I was 9 I played hardball with live pitching and have more fun each year. I tried out for the traveling/select/all-star team every year and got cut from it, but I still had too much fun playing house league, I think the parents noticed my enthusiasm, I was also bugging my parents to stay up every Weds. and Fri. night to watch the Blue Jays games (I had an early bedtime
) When I moved to my new house at 5, these two kids down the street were ballplayers too, and we used to play on the street (see my post 'Wish I was a kid' again for details). Me and my dad used to play in the front/backyard with a stuffed 'mushy' ball. I used to bug him constantly to play (I remember one time eating supper, I didn't wanna eat cause I wanted to play baseball, so I told my parents in a fake depressed sulky voice that I didn't wanna eat, then my dad asked me if I wanted to go out and play baseball, I immediately jumped out of my seat with enthusiasm and a smile and said "YEAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!", then my dad said I could play only if I finished my plate
)It wasn't until about the start of high school that I figured out that making it to the pros you had to practice hard constantly. So then I was constantly serfing the web and library for books and articles about how to devlop your skills. My dad set up a net in our garage, and I was constantly hitting off a tee, or throwing into the net. I was also constantly throwing a rubber/tennis ball against the brick wall in our backyard. We also had a little hill in our backyard yard that I'd use as a pitching mound. And still I would get cut from the select team each year.
I attended an Scouting Bureau Camp when I was 14 (youngest and smallest there) and there I learned about the showcase teams and what they do. When I was 15 I went to a college showcase/instruction camp, and even though I was still the youngest/smallest/worst player there, I loved it (loved watching the talent), the drills were fun and I'd do the drills at home. Yet I still got cut from the select team. Then when I was 17 I went to another Scouting Bureau camp and there the local elite showcase team invited me to tryout for them. I went, and got cut. I ran as well as everyone, my fielding kind of sucked, my throwing was week, but I hit every ball in BP, and I mean EVERY ball, but I didn't have much power. Which made me wonder why the guys who made the team were constantly hitting foul balls. But still I had a blast at tryouts/practices.
I then found this site and read about what scouts want to see and started working on that. Then after I got cut from the showcase team I moved out to the boonies. We had a few sheds and a huge backyard. My dad set up a net in one of the sheds and cut a whole in it ,so he'd throw me BP through the hole. But then he moved out (parent seperation), so I began using the Tee everyday (I was also homeschooled that year, and since we didn't have a school 'schedule' I was always outside practicing baseball, hehe, don't tell my mom!)And since our yard was huge, I did a ton of plyometric/running/agility drills for fitness (I also started lifting weights when I was 15, but I never was consistent with my workouts, I'd do it for a couple months then stop for a couple months, bad mistake). I also took a bunch of balls and chucked them across the yard as far and accuratly as I could. And since our dirtroad was vaguely used, I'd do running on it. I also continued bouncing a tennis/rubber ball against one of the walls on one of the sheds.
That winter I saw an article in the local paper about a local team looking for elite players, so we called him up, and went to indoor tryout that spring. I found there that I was more athletic than the others, and had a better arm than most. The coach was surpised to learn that I had never played any kind of travel ball before, (he asked me why, I said I had no clue and told him I was constantly practicing at home on my own). I figured my arm and athletacism had developed so much because of my workouts and my practicing at home. So that spring I played Elite ball, I played on a wood-bat elite team before I had ever played on an aluminum bat local travel team, which seemed kind of strange but I played as well as anyone else. And that summer, I also finally made the travel team and had an awesom summer hitting around .440 (and even hit my first and only {lol} homerun). I also played on that elite team the following fall.
I also continued to attend the local Scouting Bureau tryout and any team tryouts held every year and seemed to get better each year. (The head scout said I ran good, hit good, and threw good, I figured I had a solid 3-tool foundation as an outfielder to build on). And continued to read up on ball skills. Then I went to a community college 2 hours away just because they had a ballteam. They also were in a woodbat league, I did fairly decently for those two years. The season unfortunately was only for the fall. The summer before college I played for a local wood-bat teamd and did fairly well, my hitting was great and kept on improving. The first summer of college I played in a city an hour away from home. It was basically a normal local league, I played for two teams though, one of those local teams was the local team's tournament team. I did decent with one team, and really good for the other team which was kind of strange. The competition was the same for both. I had also moved out for that summer, and the person I lived with, their son worked at a local sports facility, he'd give me free tokens for the batting cages so I would hit there about twice a week. Then the next year I played college ball again and then dropped out of college because I was starting to dislike the prograam I was in.
And just this past summer I played for a local team to see what is was like, and found it really easy, I was well known as the best hitter on the team, and made no errors in the field. It had been my best statistical year as well as my best skilled year. Now I'm 21, and I just learned of this semi-pro league nearby where some former major leaguers play in, and a few players had been drafted or signed out of it. I'm taking a one year certificate course in hope of getting into a local university (Brock University, one guy from the team a couple years ago signed with the Marlins, he also played in the semi-pro league that I wanna get into), and they have a ballteam as well, so I figure I have to have an amazing summer season and fall season with the universtiy to get signed. I know I can do it, as I'm still practicing and working out my butt off, (just bought some more books and fitness equipment lately), so this winter instead of tailing off, I'm gonna focus and go all out, which is what I should have done each off-season, and in-season too. (You learn from your mistakes.)
So now I'm gonna try to get into the semi-pro league that's nearby and try to get into this university I want to go to, it's unfortunate that my new college doesn't have a team, but I guess that means I can just keep on practicing and working out at home.
And with all the knowledge I've gained from books and such, I feel that I've developed such a wide range of baseball knowledge in the skill area, so if I can't get signed, or make the pros, then I want to be a coach. I feel like I have a wdie knowledge base, and some teaching ability, so I figure I can help the younger players get to the next level.
So what's your career been like?
