In reading another post and looking back through the years of my son's HS, I began to think about some really special kids - off and on the field.

Who is/was your favorite HS player? Might be from your son's HS or another HS?

I was going to wait - but why wait?

My favorite is a kid that I'm sure wouldn't have a clue I'd be talking about him. Actually a catcher from back when my son started playing HS. He was three years older than my son. The kid, Chris B, was the best catcher I thought I'd ever seen at any level. I still remember watching him - it was a pleasure. Great arm, great stick, great love and respect for the game. He was a leader behind the plate as well as caring about his teammates including the younger kids. He's transferred from a TN school where I don't think he played much to a smaller school close to home. I sincerely hope I'm able to get there to see him play again. I LOVED watching him play. He never got drafted, but IMO he had all the tools as well as the intangibles of heart and passion. He was just plain fun to watch!

JohnLex - He's actually playing for your bud in orange and black. He was a prize IMO. You should take Daniel over to watch him.

I had to think about this one a little bit. There of course have been many of them. Some of them for one particular tool or just their personality or their overall play.

I know this for sure, if they were not hustlers on the field, did not show a love of the game, and did not respect the game, I could care less what their talent was. Having read thousands of posts on these forums, I am pretty sure there are some scouts and college recruiters out there who feel the same way.

One player who comes to mind was a front-of-the rotation pitcher until his senior year in high school. He may have had his arm burned out by his summer team coach between junior and senior years and became our DH his senior year. He was also, a big, strong powerful hitter. My son idolized him and was a year behind him in school. He was the offensive leader on a team of superstar's my son's junior year in high school. They were nationally ranked and to say you were a star on a team like that was saying a lot. He had almost unimaginable power. You know, hit home runs so far and so high, you can barely see the ball. He carried the team offensively into the state championship game. He ended up at Marietta which is a solid, nationally-ranked DIII program. Did not play a lot last year due to injury so I am hoping he bounces back. He is also a very polite and decent young man.

lafmom, Daniel met him one time last spring and really liked him. I didn't know he changed schools, we are supposed to go up there some sunday soon so I'm sure we'll see him!

John - Let me know when you go and I'll tag along if you don't mind.

CD - I find it interesting what draws a person to one player over another. I tend to like exactly the kind of kid you refer to. We had a college coach tell us (my favorite college coach) how he plays everyone in the fall (JUCO) because he understands that what some coaches see in one kid another coach will see something else. I thought and think that's very true.

My favorite graduated this year. He was very well liked by all the players and shy. He was a pitcher and a CF, better CF but could pitch when they needed him. What I liked best about him was that he would help the younger players. Mostly the JV and middle graders. And he wouldn't seek anything for it. He just liked to do it. I was glad that I was there when he hit his first home run. A shot out of Morehead State's field.

He was being recruited by a couple of JUCO's but chose not to play. He didn't want to travel to far from home. I think that somewhere down the road that he will be coaching. I hope so.

Hate to change the subject, but one of my favorite players was a reserve on a college team.

He would follow me around all the time. Going from one end of the dugout to another. Kind of like a shadow!

It sort of bugged me and I finally asked him "What are you doing, everytime I turn around, there you are"

He replied, "Coach, I'm just trying to learn as much as I can about the game because I plan to coach someday"

Well! Shut me up!!! I had no answer!

Then one day I caught him eating something in the dugout during a game. I said "What in the hell are you doing... you know the rules!"

He said "coach I'm diebetic, I have to do this at times" I said, "Oh, I knew that, sorry I forgot"

Well! Shut me up!!!

Now this same great kid is an assistant coach at Baylor.

Great story PG.

PG - That is a great story. One of the wonderful things about baseball IMO is not only the game itself, but the kids that have been a part of my life and my son's life. Many wonderful ones! I bet the kid made a wonderful coach.

Pg,

You are the great baseball story teller and no that was not off topic. I have showed my son a couple of your classics like the one on Carl Crawford or the one about what it was like when your son came to bat before a packed house at a major league ball park. Please visit here often

i have a few favs, off my team this year. keenan wiley, arian fonticiella, and chase ponder. all graduated this year, both marty and chase are playing at hiwasse, arian chose not to play, and is going to uk. marty and chase are in town and have been throwing and playing football with us.

mchs - Glad to hear about Marty. He certainly picked a nice fall weekend to come home. Tell him Michael's mom says hi and hopes he's working hard - in the classroom and on the field.

My favorite high school player was a 5'7" & 125/lb 2B senior who took my freshmen SS son under his wing and guided him throughout the season. He protected my son from the both jealous players and parents while teaching him how to work & conduct himself both on and off the field. This young man had an older brother that was a MIF at a big D1 school and later went on to play professional baseball but he just didn't have the size or athletic ability of his older brother. The player worked his tail off every year but never started until his senior year of high school. However, when he was a senior everyone knew that he was the team leader and under his leadership the team advanced to the semi-finals of the state tournament.

cbg - That sounds like the kind of kid that so many of us love to see and respect as a player. There's another thread in this forum where "heart" and work ethic are being talked about - it does take a lot of players places that they dream of. I'm sure this kid you shared about went ahead and used it to be successful in other areas. My kinda kid!