.

quote:

Originally posted by Bum:
Let the tables turn.

Ok ya' Bum...which way dya' wanna' go?

quote:

I think some people take offense when the old timers (even though CAdad is one) speak negatively of the recruiting process.

Most of you have extremely talented sons who do not need to put themselves on the line because they are simply good enough.

Being an " Old Timer " on the HSBBW,....has NOTHING to do with our son's talent level.
It simply means we've posted ( aka: chatted ) ALOT.
That's it, plain and simple.

I hope a good nights sleep has calmed the waters a bit in this thread. Emotions were running high.
Sometimes its good to walk away from the computer for a while and then go back and slowly re-read the words written. Not always easy to do,..but sometimes well worth it.

quote:

Originally posted by shortstopmom:

quote:

I think some people take offense when the old timers (even though CAdad is one) speak negatively of the recruiting process.

Most of you have extremely talented sons who do not need to put themselves on the line because they are simply good enough.

Being an " Old Timer " on the HSBBW,....has NOTHING to do with our son's talent level.
It simply means we've posted ( aka: chatted ) ALOT.
That's it, plain and simple.

That quote caught my eye as well ssmom and demonstrates how deeply the emotions run. I feel those emotions all the time with my son. I would suggest that many of our sons' talent is the ability to "put themselves on the line" everyday rather than simply being good enough. This thread has stirred up many emotions - excellent post infielddad

quote:
Most of you have extremely talented sons who do not need to put themselves on the line because they are simply good enough.

I am glad that CD made a comment to the above. EVERY player, despite his talent level HAS to put himself on the line EVERYDAY to find success in this game.
Playing baseball is not a walk in the park, for anyone.

.
Leave it to the Woodman to add some timely perspective...

Right on Cue Woody!

44
.

.

Hey 44...chalk it up...that pool table gets pretty good mileage too!


Have a good Independence Day.

Just sittin' here 'chillaxin", and thinking back over the past few years...........

Especially to this part of the summer with the Area Code tryouts and the 7/1 contact date.

Yes, CADad, this is about your son.

My son.

And, now, more than 114,157 others, too.

I recall getting a clever mail piece that looked like an Area Code invitation. I threw it away.

Later, I learned there really was an Area Code tryout.

This was before I knew that official Area Code tryouts invitations came from high school coaches and MLB scout references.

I called Bob Williams. "I think I threw my son's invitation away." "Is he on the list?" "No. Should he be?" "Well, I was surprised that he is not............"

Got the invitation in the mail and headed off to Houston. Normal cast of travel team players there that had been playing one another for a few years now. About 200 in all. A ton of all varieties of scouts.

At the end of the day, I saw a very talented pitcher leaving with tears in his eyes (He's in the minor leagues now). Another catcher friend was selected (his second year to attend. He got drafted and now plays at UT and just got passed on in the 2008 MLB draft)

There was another red headed catcher, like my son, that would sign an NLI with Stanford in just a few weeks. He was later joined at Stanford by a catcher named Jeff Clement.

I saw another (unheard of and unlikely looking) young man) hit three off the wall with a wood bat and get the call to California. My son played against him in college.

Most of the maybe 100 pitchers threw to one batter.

Just 20 get to go to California.

Almost all of the 20 are from Houston.

My son didn't get a sniff.

Then an official invite to the Texas Scouts Association tryout at Minute Maid. Only about 50 boys. I saw a big 6'4" kid just hit balls out at will. (He became a star quaterback at OU)

Get in home just in time for all of the 7/1 calls.

Not one.

Not ever.

Then, about two weeks before the NLI deadline a call from a Big 12 coach. "We need a catcher" "Would your son consider coming to my school?"

"We have notes on him from the Area Code tryout and saw him at Minute Maid"

Never knew they were there.

Not a call during the 2004 MLB draft.

A near career ending knee injury in college.

Gave up on the 2007 draft after the 10th round.

Drafted in the 14th round.

Now, season ending shoulder surgery.

Of course none of these things matter, because I am an old timer (with cheese) and I have

quote:

an extremely talented son that does not need to put himself on the line because he is simply good enough

Sorry, I embellished the quote a bit.

http://www.hsbaseballweb.com/inside_the_numbers.htm

Making the Pros

We will make some assumptions on the total numbers of players eligible each draft year.

High School Players @ 114,159 seniors
NCAA (4 year schools) @ 12,581 juniors & seniors
NJCAA (2 year schools) @ 11,520
COA (@ year schools) @ 2,175
That gives us 140,435 "draft eligible" players.
140,129/1,500 = 94

1 player in 94 will be selected in the Major League Baseball Draft

Playing in College

High School seniors = 114,159
College "seniors" (or sophomores when related to juco's) = 13,137
That means their are 114,159 graduating high seniors versus 13,137 slots open

114,159/13,137 = 10.1

1 high school player in every 10 has a chance to play in college.

Maybe 750-1500 of those 13,137 WILL GET A CHANCE to play at a top 100 school.

I would guess that less than 200 of those freshmen will see significant playing time.

The odds get more staggering every day.

The talent level is staggering.

Now is when your son will find out whether he can really play or not.

Now is when dad will find out whether his son can really play or not.

The music is playing.

Find a seat.

FO:

What a cool post.

Nice reality check, FO

FO,

A very worthwhile post indeed!


Julie

What a great thread this is. For me it is what HSBBW is all about. It is about the process. Learning from others opinions and experiences about the journey who have gone before.

My son is 1-2 years away from a Stanford type of experience and it answered all of my question.

Thanks CAdad!

PS: Happy 4th of July to all of the baseball players, parents, fans, of a truely American sport.

FO,
Not bad for an Old Timer.

Look my son was considered a propsect in HS but the recruiting trip was also a scary ride. Depsite what some think, he didn't have every top D1 all over him, in fact at first very few that he would have even considered being a good fit for him or them.

Climbing up the baseball ladder is not easy for anyone, the farther up you go the higher the stakes, more chance of injury, the more difficult the whole thing REALLY becomes.

Here's a young man, who you might all say has worked very hard to come so far yet having a very difficult time. You might not see the correlation, but this just goes to show you how frustrating every step of the way is and although only a few rungs up the ladder from some here, as an Old timer I understand.

http://colorado.rockies.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20...l&fext=.jsp&c_id=col

FO - Thanks for sharing that story! Prime example of why you're one of the favorite fellas around here!! You have never handled your son's challenges with anything but grace and that's an example for us all to live by.

Thank you all for the discussion about the camp in particular and recruiting expectations in general. It seems a lot of the questions I had about it were shared by other parents. Now some of those have been answered.

I beg to differ with what Coach Stotz said to the young men about academic requirements; namely, that, if you are a ballplayer with a 3.7GPA and an 1850 SAT, you should be looking at schools like USF (University of San Francisco). I mean no disrespect to USF, but with those scores, I would try and convince my son to set his sights a little higher. Getting admitted to any school involves more than just GPA & SAT but having said that, 3.7 and 1850 will make you viable for UC Davis, UC Irvine, UC San Diego, UC Santa Barbara, Cal Poly, San Louis Obispo. These are all highly regarded universities and colleges, (with the exception of San Diego, all D-1) which provide every bit the quality education provided by Stanford. I’ll bet there are a lot more out there for 3.7/1850.
I bring this up because students and parents are too often intimidated and discouraged by what may seem to be insurmountable “facts.” Just as in baseball: do not settle for less! For scores of freshman entering the UC’s see http://statfinder.ucop.edu/statfinder/default.aspx

When you have scores and a GPA like those mentioned here I recommend you allow the school of your choice to tell you that you cannot get in--let them determine it---you can never tell

TR, agree all the way on that call. Especially for athletes, strings are often pulled to help grease the admissions process somewhat (varies of course from school to school). Apply and let the chips fall. I believe most online application processes for schools are now free, so why not shoot for the stars?

quote:

...strings are often pulled to help grease the admissions process somewhat...

I agree with TR too. But Krak, I'm not meaning to pick on you here, but I really don't look at it in the way you mentioned above.

At least in some of the more competitive admissions schools' case...it is the total package that makes up a good applicant.

Many straight-A, 4.3+ HS students are turned down every year at Stanford, Ivies, Duke, etc... Why? Not to make room for football players, per se, but to provide balance to their incoming freshman class, which might include athletes, accomplished musicians and genious mathemeticians who can't spell their names (and thus lower SAT verbal scores).

I remember my son having lab partners in a class a couple of years ago...not athletes. They wanted to meet for lab in the afternoon...'no-go' for him (practice). Initially they were peeved that a "sport" would get in the way of school...but over time I think they came to appreciate his tight schedule and to appreciate that there was more to life than the purely academic side.

Stanford does not allow athletes to room together freshman year and I think that is for the benefit of both the athlete and the non-athlete. While that particular rule ended up being kind of a mess for our son, overall its a really good system. Did you know that Coach Marquess' roommate his freshman year at Stanford was Mit Romney (later transferred to BYU)? Pretty cool - huh (independent of your politics)?

I think this is what the admissions offices are trying to attain. Some of the very best of multiple worlds mixed together helping each other grow (up).

No 'picking' felt here, jbb! Thanks for 'fleshing out' the notion I was getting at.

Fuddman,
Each school would be a terrific choice from the educational perspective. However, when one looks at them from the baseball and educational aspects, one quickly recognizes each school is highly competitive for admissions. I would bet there are probably 20 highly qualified applicants for each position in the freshman class and it isn't any different, maybe even more competitive for baseball.
When you figure that each team has 5-8 openings per year, I would venture that each team has upwards of 200 very good baseball players who can meet the admissions requirements.
My point is that those schools are options only if you are a very top student and an equally talented, if not more talented, baseball player. And then, for at least one of those schools, you need the coaching staff to recognize your abilities in baseball and in the classroom, and return a phone call or email...and that isn't easy.