Anyone play baseball?

My friend Ryan may soon be in the Brewer's lineup...
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The guy on the left looks bizarrely like the Zodiac killer in the first Dirty Harry movie. Just make the hair a little longer and he's the guy.

 

Played my entire life up until college. I wanted to play at a big D1 school but only got offers to play at a few D2 schools so I passed and decided to see how the other 1/2 lives.

Was asked to attend a workout with the Colorado Rockies.

Was All-county SS, finished 14th in South Florida with a .447 avg.

Played on a travel team directly after i graduated that won the SE Regional Championship...eventually lost in TX.

To date I have played with or against 4 players who have made it all the way into the majors. With at least 4 more that will be up there within 2 yrs. (South Florida is pretty infested with good ball players if you didnt know haha)

I was the #2 pitcher on the team...the #1 went pro after high school and was recently called up from AA to the Orioles. He has been up about a month now and has struck out such names as Manny Ramirez and Alex Rodriguez (swinging).

Ive attended many showcases.

The key to getting into a big school (other than being one of top in the country) is to be persistent! Bug the head coach of the the college team, call him every week etc... Show him how interested and persistent you are. Market yourself a great deal. Unless you are one of the elite, the big scouts won't come to you.

Thats all I remember...

 

If you make it to the College World Series, I will say hi.

 

What advice do you have for a 13 year old who wants to go all the way? My son plays travel ball in GA. He's a good left handed first baseman/outfielder. Averaged .648 last season with a 1.35 slugging percentage. Not so good this year against faster pitchers, but he's shown that he can analyze his performance and adopt his style rather than mope about getting bad pitches and blaming others.

His primary goal right now is to make the high school team.

 

I was a catcher for 10 years and the last game I ever played I was struck in the back of the head with a bat. Out cold for 20 minutes.

 

I have been playing (catcher) my whole life. I got a spot at the University of Arizona and was also on Tampa Bay's draft list coming out of high school when I was hit at the plate and by a stroke of bad luck very badly injured my throwing shoulder. The scout I had been in contact with on the Devil Rays told me they were going to hold off to see how it came back in college so to the UA I went. Never got my shoulder even close to what it was before, and never could get a doctor to clear me to play in college so for the most part that injury stopped my career dead.

Right now when not in school I assit in coaching a semi-pro team in Green Bay Wisconsin. The hardest part of the injury was I got the call from Tampa's scout telling they were going to draft me in whatever round and he asked me to their pre-draft camp. The day the camp started was the day of my first surgery. It was really hard for me knowing what I had missed.

Mark

 

Hi Mark.

I used to spend a lot of time wondering about my 'what ifs', then I had to stop, or risk shooting myself.

'What If' I took this job instead of that job, moved there instead of here, stayed single instead of getting married', it can drive you crazy, all I could do is move on, it's all anyone can do.
But along the way, there were also some 'what ifs' that, if I had chosen the opposite way I did, I would be dead.
All I can say is, I am better off than most of my friends, but I am nowhere near as good off as I 'coulda' been, but I am getting along fine.... and my parents were proud of what I have done, that's all that matters.

 

Slightly, OT, but there are alot of cute girls in college softball. I've been going back and forth with ESPNs coverage of it.

 

Something about a girl in baseball pants is a serious turn-off (oh and a girl that plays catcher too).

 

His goal should be to make the high school team first and foremost. The second goal should be to become knowledgable on nutrition/weight lifting. He'll either have the skills or won't on the field, but I'd hate to have him go through the same as me....which is to have the technical skill but lacking in the power.

Graduating at 6'2" 145lbs sucked. Now @ 23 I'm 200lbs and always wonder how far I wouldve gone with the weight/muscle I have now.

Sounds crazy but you really only need 2 tools to go past high school (besides grades): 1. Skill (I know that's broad, but you get the point) 2. The physical attributes

You guys can bring up the small guys like Ekstein, Belliard, etc... but those are the exceptions to the rule.

 

Im about as close to baseball as any non player can get.

 

you give happy endings to players?

 

Not just happy endings...

 

ew bad thoughts

 

Yes I totally agree with you. Since then I have completely moved on, concentrated on my schooling, and will be attending Marquette Law in the fall on scholarship. Thanks for the kind words though, I appreciate it.

Mark