Scouting the Body

Sounds like my blue eyed son should take up lax. ::sigh::

Must have been a slow baseball night to be talking about butts and "supple" wrists.

Wow! Really?

When do they put up rankings, like which is most important?

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We can laugh but here is the REALLY scary part...

..who is invited to move forward in baseball is most often subjective (opinion)....so it is these same guys and their creative views of how body parts are conncted to future baseball skills that will in part, make or break the futures of our sons.

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Great, I have been saving money to get my son a personal trainer, pitching coach, batting coach, speed trainer, fielding coach and a nutrionist. Now I have to save up for colored contacts and plastic surgery to square up his chin and a rear end lift. Will it never end?

son's a blockhead...there's hope after all!

I've always heard the term "he looks like a baseball player." I guess now we have definition??

My kid still has a chance because he hasn't shaved yet.... he's 11.

Because human nature says many times it is in "bad taste" to talk about other humans body parts, we laugh off the notion that people are catogorized in this manner. However, if you ever been to a livestock auction all you hear is muscle/bone structure, length, development vs age, disposition, gait/movement, and other characteristics that humans may think of as insulting.

In the end, professional and college sports use those parameters and visual assessments to form initial potential. It is a "meat market" where prime cuts are identified early. How do you think the tall/long pitcher syndrome started?

I remember when my son was in HS being looked at as either a pitcher or position player and one scout saying "He's a pitcher only, LOOK at his a$$", and all the other scouts nodded their heads in unison and jotted a note. I went home and told my son to hang up the bat away because all the scouts were focusing on was his butt. Later on I filled him in on the pitching portion of the comment .

If anyone can read that article with a straight face, they have no soul.

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It's all about money...right?

This is the body they should be looking for...



Comes to the park regularly, pays for a seat and a parking spot, buys a few brats and more than a few beers. Perfect body for all major league teams!

Saw that episode of Baseball Tonight. They were dead serious in their assessments too! I thought it was strange when I watched, at least I'm not alone.

The only question I have is this:

Is it possible for them to get any lazier at this point?

The reality is - you can only tell if a player has potential - or is good - by GOING AND WATCHING him.

Not by measuring his ***.

I've heard the same types of things from scouts/coaches. It really is a meat market.

Ok, we had some scouts in our home, and jokingly made the "meat market" comment to the scout. He then spent about 5 minutes describing our son as grade A prime meat. We all had a laugh about it, but it's really true.

Isn't this Kruk? Great hitter.

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We were somewhere...can't even remember.

Lots and lots of scouts and others around...being boisterous.

This topic came up and I offered up my portly (not in the wine sense) profile and faster than you can say "avert your gaze" one scout slapped this on me...



followed by another one sticking this to my forehead...



and finally the last self-sticking judgment...

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Ah, but the trend is positive...(Reworked from an ealier post)...

Fascinating article in a recent issue of EPSN Mag...

"30 Is The New 40: In the post steroids era, veteran sluggers and aging arms are out. Translation: The battle is on among suits and scouts to stockpile the best young talent."

"In 2008 MLB expereinced the biggest one-year drop in average age...in the history of the sport. The youth movement is built upon increased skepticism in the front offices about whether players in their 30's can maintain production without the use of performance enhancing drugs."

Also a great deal cheaper of course.

Now while many of you who have sons in the minors already probably know this...and I know it is idealistic...and it is already being done by some...but for the rest of the HSBBW with college age players and below it will be new territory and if the article is on the point, the trend has implications for the future.

And here is the "meat" of the article...

Says that teams are increaingly looking to build internally...Scouting budgets are increasing...They are seriously revaluating their scouting proceedures...More cross checking...Looking deeper and geting more clear on their evlauations...More are looking at statistics/success, not just body/physcial tools...looking more for ballplayers not just physical specimens...more/increasing strength and training through the organizations......more reliance on character and the ability to overcome in a bsaeball environment and beyond, not only physical talent...clubs are increasingly looking at stealing the best college managers...Clubs are even talking about nutrition changes in the minors.

Well worth reading.

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Any chance you could mention the date of this ESPN Mag issue?

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July 27, must reading about the changes in the scouting draft/development/minor league system.

Also a heartbreaking article on the kid who was traded for bats a few years back.


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Concerning the original post, it has often been my opinion that too many scouts have 'been on the road too long'. I was taken aback some years ago when terms such as 'good looking kid', 'fine specimen' and 'stud' were used to describe ball players. It implied that the scouts were impressed with 'looks' rather than ability.

OB, great to see that someone woke up and realized that 'better baseball through science' is cheating the rising talent as well as the greats of the game who have seen their records surpassed. It is about time that MLB clubs get back to the game and how it should be played.

Players who are winners will win no matter where they play. It should make no difference if they look like Yogi Berra rather than Adonis.

Good thing someone forgot to tell Tony Gwynn, John Kruk, Yogi Berra, Dustin Pedroia, David Ekstein, and a certain long ball hitter who got fat quick named George Herman Ruth.

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Sat in the stands a few years ago with a World Series winning manager...and he told me that he used to just shake his head as the organization continued to scout and send him guys who were great athletes....but had limited baseball knowledge...and were not really baseball players...

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People need to understand that most scouts really do know what they are doing. Someone had to scout and sign guys like Dustin Pedroia and David Eckstein. Also the body type is only one aspect of scouting and a fairly important one. It does not take the place of talent. However, if we look at the very best players, very often those players have the physical features talked about here.

Having the great body is a big plus and never goes unnoticed. However, that is never enough, all by itself. Also, being a great athlete will always be important in athletic competition.

Although Pedroia and Eckstein are not tall they are great athletes... and may have physical characteristics scouts look for... I think height is more of a concern with pitchers

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quote:

Originally posted by njbb:
I think height is more of a concern with pitchers

And truck drivers too!






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