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What I saw at a recent Showcase

CM Coach May1,000+ posts
This past week I went to a showcase that featured some of the top 08 players in NC. This was an invitation only showcase. Players were invited based on previous performances at other showcase events and HS performance.

This event was a three day four team tournement. The teams played 7 inning games against each other. I left the tournement with a few impressions. The reason I am posting this is because so many times people come on here and ask questions about being noticed etc etc. The first day of the event I counted around 30 different college programs in attendance. Most were D-1 with a few D-2 programs as well.

I knew some of the players at the event. I did not know several. Each team had around 15 players on the roster so I would say there were around 60 players in all. Every player that stood out to me had the same thing in common.

#1- They got my attention first by the way they carried themselves and wore their uniform.
#2- They went about their business before the game started the same way. They stretched properly. They warmed up with a purpose.
#3- They hustled on and off the field everytime.
#4- They were into the game when they were not in the game.
#5- They played hard.

One player in particular got my attention. In between innings of one game I noticed that the infielders were just kind of going through the motions taking ground balls from the 1st baseman while the pitcher was warming up. The ss was not. He was approaching every ground ball like it was a game situation and making a strong throw to firstbase. Because I noticed this I began to watch him very closely. I noticed in the dugout when his team was hitting he was cheering for his team mates. I noticed he was beating the other guys on the field and off the field. I noticed how he got out of the box even on a routine ground ball. The bottom line is because he simply approached the game the right way between innings and did not fall into the trap of going through the motions I had noticed him above everyone else on the field.

Now if I noticed that and it caused me to bore in on him and take a closer look dont you think that some of those 30 plus college coaches did as well? I would be willing to bet the answer is yes. Sometimes it doesnt take a great play or a big bomb to get noticed. Sometimes it can be something so simple. Do things the right way and it comes back to you in a big way.

By the way the kids name is Bryce Grady 08 SS inf from North Lenoir HS in NC. And the kid is a "player". He will make some college coach very happy in the near future.
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TRhitTRhit10,000+ posts
Coach

You make a very great point---at our events I sit in the press box behind home plate with a number of the coaches in attendance and people would be surprised what gets kids eliminated from their list of consideration---" Look at that kid--he just walks on and off the field"---" Look at the way that guy wears his uni" ---"why didn't he dive for that ball? Is he afraid of getting dirty ?"


It is all about hustle and attitude !!!!
JohnLex7JohnLex7100+ posts
I hope that some of the players who frequent this place are reading this thread. The best advice my son got was before the first time he did anything at a showcase, and it wasn't even his showcase, he was just catching for a pitcher showcase. His coach signed him up for this as a freshman, and told him to make sure he looked like a ballplayer and acted like one. He kept that attitude throughout all his showcases and believe me, coaches DID notice.
observer44observer441,000+ posts
.
Two years ago...

Local player(our area)...good athlete...successful in two sports...little, if any, travel ball since age 12...since age 12 has taken June and July off to wakeboard...August and fall for football...no marketing...

First showcase...has the body, the arm, the swing, the feet...but so do others...what sets him apart is that he markedly outhustles everyone..first on...hustles off...clean cut, uniform sharp...simply looks, and carries himself as a player in every respect.

Not a pitcher and receives and accepts instant offer from top 20 DI.

Cool 44
.
Last edited by observer44
C cong1,000+ posts
I have posted this list in many baseball forums.. perhaps even here... I am sure folks here have the same ideas.

How to behave at a tryout..


I guess it will also go with how to behave at a showcase....

Hustle
Listen
If you run as a group finish in the first third.
If the team has to pick up balls, pick up more than your share.
Hustle
Listen
Don't joke around
Get there early each day and be loose before tryouts begin
Keep a positive Attitude
Hustle
Listen
Dress like a ballplayer
Respect the game
If there is BP - Be pitch selective
Hustle
Listen
be in shape and ready to play baseball

Did I mention Hustle & Listen?
KrakatoaKrakatoa1,000+ posts
Excellent post, Coach. It's surprising to me to go to showcases and still find it rare to see those few kids who are REALLY 'into' it. Even at Stanford Camp I saw quite a few guys hang-doggin', and text-messaging during Coach Stotz introduction of Coach Marquess and other Camp coaches -- even after they'd been asked nicely to turn all cel-phones off.
I don't get it. It's not just in the fashion/modeling world where 'appearance counts'. Listen to Tyra Banks, ballplayers -- you've got to be FIERCE! And this means a fierce determination to DO all the right things.

The ballfield is the 'church' of baseball and there are certain things you should do (and not do) in church!
CADadCADad5,000+ posts
I agree with all of this but the diving. I've seen way too many dives for show.

It was funny listening to the broadcasters speak about how the right fielder had "robbed" one of the Angels' hitters the other night with a diving catch. The replay showed the right fielder diving for a ball that he could have caught easily staying on his feet. He simply misjudged the play and was lucky to not miss it when he "dived/stumbled" for it.

So many kids dive for effect rather than diving because it is necessary. Hopefully coaches and scouts can tell the difference, but I've heard the coaches at our school praise kids for diving while the players are laughing because they know the kid is diving for effect and has lost games because of it.

I've also seen games lost because of kids sliding into first base on a throw that wasn't off line and that they would have beaten otherwise. Looks like hustle, hurts the team.

There are situations where it helps the team to dive for a ball and situations where it helps the team to dive headfirst into a base but the real key is being able to tell the difference between the players who dive to help the team and the ones who dive for show.
Last edited by CADad
ClevelandDadClevelandDadHSBBWeb Administrator
quote:
but the real key is being able to tell the difference between the players who dive to help the team and the ones who dive for show.


I agree with this. I think most baseball people (including astute fans and parents) can tell in many cases when dives or other activities are unnatural. I think this can be coached out of many players. Sometimes a dive (although borderline unnecessary) can fire up a team. Hustle and those type of plays can get the adrenalin flowing for the rest of the team and bare minimum get the adrenaline flowing of the kid who attempted to make a play. It is a fine line sometimes but I know what point you are making.
trojan-skippertrojan-skipper1,000+ posts
Good posts folks.
A number of years back I was coaching Legion ball at at tourney and a D1 coach jsut arrived at the park; my catcher hustled to the screen for a foul ball that landed about 4 rows up, popped his mask back on his head, hustled back to the plate, snapped a throw to the pitcher... I'm standing right by the dugout and the college coach says to me, "I like that kid, has he signed yet?"

My point is like what Coach May said about the way a guy wears his uni, hustles, carries himself goes a long way.

I tell that story often... but kids who don't get it; they still don't get it.
G gotwood4sale10,000+ posts
quote:
Originally posted by Krakatoa:
The ballfield is the 'church' of baseball and there are certain things you should do (and not do) in church!


Great statement Krak!

In reality I'm not joking with these pictures...most consider church a place for proper decorum and reverence...while others view church differently...more for convenience...




The scouts and coaches are looking for those players who know the difference!
Last edited by gotwood4sale
CADadCADad5,000+ posts
CD,
Although as you can tell I'm not overly enamored with diving there's nothing wrong with a borderline dive, i.e. diving and just missing the ball or having it go off the end of the glove, in fact those are the ones where diving was probably the only chance. It's the slow down and then dive or the dive after the ball you have no chance of reaching that irks me.

TR,
Legit diving at a showcase or camp is impressive. I was at a D1 camp and saw a 3rd baseman react with a dive to snare a grounder during BP and it impressed me. Obviously it wasn't necessary during BP but it showed his ability and more importantly said to me that he'd do the same thing during a game. I never saw him lay out for a ball he couldn't reach though.
Last edited by CADad
T TripleDad500+ posts
The amazing thing is...You can preach to a kid about the importance of hustle and game presence, yet often times they still don't get it. Sometimes it's just not part of a kids makeup.
There is more to it than diving for a catch or running out a groundball.
Passion, Heart, Hate to lose attitude, The insatiable desire to achieve. It is these things that a player possesses that manifest themselves on the field and is what we call...A HUSTLER. You just know it when you see it.

TR makes an interesting point...kids being eliminated from consideration for dogging it. We often here about a kid that has a bunch of talent
but doesn't get much in the way of scholly offers.
Parents, friends, family are confused...Why they ask?
I am sure there could be a lot of reasons, but TR's
post makes me wonder.
TRhitTRhit10,000+ posts
Triple Dad

I spoke with a college cosch this morning about a -player who had been at his camp---he may not have been the been the best player in attendance but he was the one who stood out because of his HUSTLE---

One additional thing--sometmes the player and his parents read too many newspapers clippings and think that they can SKATE\


WRONG !!!!!!!!
Last edited by TRhit
B brod100+ posts
With all due respect to the many informed posters in this thread, what I have seen at the showcases, Area Codes and All-Star games I have been to, is that the biggest, fastest and hardest throwing kids get the attention and the others do not.

Hustle is wonderful, and attitude is incredibly important, but size, speed, and athletic ability is paramount. Now if you combine hustle and attitude with size, speed and ability, then you have a player, although I agree with previous posters that some players who could make it are passed over because of their size. For all the undersized players in the world with huge hearts who make it in baseball, more power to you! But you are the exception, not the rule.
T TripleDad500+ posts
Brod,

I would say an average player with outstanding hustle and game presence has a good chance against a big strong fast player just going through the motions. But know doubt, athletic ability rules.

quote:
For all the undersized players in the world with huge hearts who make it in baseball, more power to you! But you are the exception, not the rule.

Maybe that is because PLAYERS with fire, passion, & huge hearts ARE the exception
ClevelandDadClevelandDadHSBBWeb Administrator
quote:
Originally posted by gotwood4sale:
brod and TripleDad:

You've both made excellent points...and I don't think they're contradictory.



I don't think there is a contradiction either. I think that non-hustle/attitude can eliminate some guys. I think hustle can get some guys noticed. I don't think hustle and attiude can can overcome a lack of talent - whatever that is judged to be. Somewhere however the ability to play baseball has to be demonstrated. Some guys can out-talent their attitudes imho. I am not suggesting anyone attempt that strategy but it seems some guy's tools are so overwhelming that the other stuff (i.e., hustle, attitude) is downplayed. I may be wrong about that but that is my suspicion about things.
B brod100+ posts
"some guys can outalent their attitude"

Cleveland Dad - that is a fascinating point, but then the response is 'for how long?" I was thinking that I saw that in college recruiting in our area as players who weren't starters or produced only sporadically got early offers based solely on potential, not results. That is the art of projection. But I also think that happens even in the minors and MLB level, as some organizations semi-patiently wait (as do the fans) for the player who flashed "phenom" but then fell to "average and bad attitude." Something about being good every day applies here...
ClevelandDadClevelandDadHSBBWeb Administrator
quote:
Cleveland Dad - that is a fascinating point, but then the response is 'for how long?"


Good question brod. I guess in this context, I was thinking in terms of the showcase environment where someone was recruited or drafted based off of their projection at the showcase and their so-called attitude/hustle was not held against them. Without naming names, it seems to me there are guys in the big leagues who have questionable attitudes and work ethic. So maybe the answer is pretty long
FrankFFrankF1,000+ posts
quote:
Originally posted by baseballregie:
quote:
Originally posted by gotwood4sale:
Very good post Coach. But I'm curious...what is Bryce's height? Did he stand out height wise?


As long as we have coaches and scouts asking this question FIRST, we will continue to have guys trying to get bigger than they are naturally. When will you idiots learn.


Speaking of idiots... Roll Eyes

IMO gotwood4sale (who I don't think is a coach or scout even though he's probably stayed at a Holiday Inn Express) was curious about if the player was taller than others that made him first stand out. Not that he had to be tall to be further watched.

Get a grip.
Last edited by FrankF
G gotwood4sale10,000+ posts
quote:
Originally posted by baseballregie:
quote:
Originally posted by gotwood4sale:
Very good post Coach. But I'm curious...what is Bryce's height? Did he stand out height wise?


As long as we have coaches and scouts asking this question FIRST, we will continue to have guys trying to get bigger than they are naturally. When will you idiots learn.


Bigger, as I think you are using the word, is different than tall. As far as I know they don't make lifts designed to fit into baseball cleats.

I do understand your concern baseballregie. If players are told or encouraged "to get bigger" then it should also be stated that the expectation is that this occurs through healthy means...working out, exercise, a healthy diet along with a healthy lifestyle. I'm not certain that this expectation is always explained.

My boys are not on the tall side...they're a few inches short of 6'. All of the hustle in the world will not make them taller unfortunately.

Thanks FrankF...you correctly saw my view on this issue.

And TripleDad...maybe I was wrong about those lifts. Wink
Last edited by gotwood4sale
CM Coach May1,000+ posts
If you read my post you will see this was an invitation only event with the top 60 or so 08 players in NC invited. So the fact is all the players present had shown talent in order to be invited. How do you stand out in an arena when all the kids are talented? My point was if you blend in with all the other kids then you are less likely to be noticed above the rest. Of course the guys with the great arms , speed , power are going to be noticed. But what happens once you notice them? You then begin to look even closer at the intangibles , correct? At an event where all the players can play and all the players come in with a certain reputation as "players" sometimes the little things can be what sets you apart from the rest. My post was not about hustle and make up overcoming no talent or average talent. It was about the fact that at an event where all the kids are talented sometimes a simple thing like running out a dropped third strike or busting your butt everywhere you go and be the thing that causes a coach to "take a closer look". Bryce can flat out play. He made All State and has won two state titles at North Lenoir HS. Ive done a little checking since the showcase. But at a showcase with this much talent on the field would I have picked him out above the rest if he was jogging around and cruising? No.
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