Well there is only one problem with thinking this is illegal....if you were applying for the job, YES they could NOT ask you that information. BUT you ARENT applying for the job, the player is a piece of property to be bought and sold, the team is seeking to BUY you not HIRE you, and there is no way for you to formally APPLY, you just play ball. So TECHNICALLY you ARENT applying so those laws wouldnt apply. Correct me if im wrong, im not a lawyer, but that seems to be a loophole. later

quote:

Originally posted by AHSpitcher17:
Well there is only one problem with thinking this is illegal....if you were applying for the job, YES they could NOT ask you that information. BUT you ARENT applying for the job, the player is a piece of property to be bought and sold, the team is seeking to BUY you not HIRE you, and there is no way for you to formally APPLY, you just play ball. So TECHNICALLY you ARENT applying so those laws wouldnt apply. Correct me if im wrong, im not a lawyer, but that seems to be a loophole. later

Good point AHS. Teams are technically "buying" the player not hiring.

texasbb...Agree 100%.

A simple standardization process.

Not sure where the criminal defense lawyer idea came from re the other post.

quote:

Originally posted by Texbbfan:
...He is receiving questionnaires from pro scouts and the local scout bureau, but some of the questions seem too personal, ie. siblings’ health, etc. Not that this is an issue with our family as there are no health issues; it just seems to be too much too soon. Is it okay to just fill out the basic info on the player and wait until the spring to see how the player does and how he might be rated for the draft before disclosing the entire family pedigree?

Are you serious?

Were you as uncomfortable from answering whether or not your son wear's eyeglasses/contacts?

Texbbfan

If this bothers you, don't ever apply for a position as a police officer. They actually check your background and health history. What nerve!

Bear
Bear
Not sure I understand your post. Are you familiar with the federal hipaa laws. Some people (and apparently the government) believe that one's healthcare and health is personal. If the inquiries I have seen had just been limited to baseball injuries or limitations to play, I would have no problem. But if a player's big brother has acne, then the big brother should be the one to tell others, not his little brother the baseball player.

wvmtner, apples/oranges

background & health checks happen AFTER you are accepted on the HIRE LIST, conditional on passing whatever screening is in process

tas - you can ask if applicant can legally work in USA, you can ask if legal working age



Title I of ADA (Americans w/Disability Act) lists these additional prohibited questions:

Have you ever been hospitalized? If so, for what condition?
Have you ever been treated by a psychiatrist or psychologist? If so, for what condition?
Is there any health-related reason that you may not be able to perform the job for which you are applying?
How many days were you absent from work because of illness last year?
Are you taking any prescribed drugs?
Have you ever been treated for drug addiction or alcoholism?

so you're stuck between a rock & a hard place

Options for answering an illegal question

You are free to answer the question. If you choose to do so, realize that you are giving information that is not job-related. You could harm your candidacy by giving the "wrong" answer. You can refuse to answer the question. By selecting this option, you'll be within your rights, but you're also running the risk of coming off as uncooperative or confrontational - hardly the words an employer would use to describe the "ideal" candidate.

good luck

wvmtnr - the bulb just "lit" on your screen name, that's a long transplant

Bee

The checks happen after but the questions are asked before you're put on a hire list. Yes, it has been a loooong transplant . I married a So Cal girl . I got to raise my boys in baseball heaven but I sure miss WV . If they were Football players or Wrestlers, we'd have moved a long time ago.

I'd like to hear BBScouts opinion on this post.

player information card


http://www.angelfire.com/vt/prospectwatch/index30.html

bbscout,

Anxiously awaiting your story. I know there is a method to their madness, but my son said they asked some of the stupidest questions. Probably to see if you were actually awake or not.

bbscout,

My son filled out many questionaires and took many types of tests. he said that some of the intelligence tests and some of the "memory" tests were the same. He said some scouts were amazed at how well he did on those tests. They didn't know some of the memory test he took 3 or 4 times!

BB Scout;

And you saved the SF Giants many $$$$.

When we travel to Japan, Australia, Korea and China, we obtain knowledge of a player than is "priceless" and is rarely appreciated by the ML Teams.

The new proposals for the amateur draft and reduction of the complex teams will be very interesting, but predictable.

Many opportunities will surface for the creative individual. "To be young again".

Bob Williams
Founder of the Area Code Games
and friend of BB Scout

Perhaps the lawyers or a scout can clarify this but I believe Congress came to the conclusion a long time ago that MLB was not a "business" and thereby exempt from many of the laws that govern businesses. The main focus concerned the anti-trust laws - but had other far reaching effects.

I'll give you an example from my personal experience about these questionaires that scouts send to prospects.

Yeah, alot of them are kind of personal. But in regards to families history's, including medical information, the idea is to accurately gain a feel for the players background.

When my nephew was drafted in 2002, they asked all kind of questions to both him and his parents. Some scouts even did impromptu type of psychological tests with him, to try and guage how he would react in certain situations that might arise in pro baseball. My nephew at the time was a skinny kid(6'3", 165-170 lbs.) who hadn't developed yet physically, yet still displayed great athletic talent. The scouts wanted to know family background information to see if others in our family had played professional baseball, and also to see the sizes of other guys in our family. At one of his games, a scout said to me, "You think he will end up your size?" I'm 6'3", and weigh 210 lbs. I understood why they wanted to know these things. With the cost of a draft pick on hand, and sometimes hundreds of thousands of dollars in signing bonuses, these scouts jobs are to seperate the prospects from the suspects.

The more info they know about a player and his history, the better they can do their job in giving a thumbs "up" or "down" on whether a player should be drafted for their organization.

http://www.HackettBaseball.com

Whenever the questionnaire asks if we want to play professional baseball next year? and it says yes or no and why? If we have signed an NLI, how should we answer this? I would not want to say no because I would not want them to stop scouting me because pro ball could be an option so should I just say yes or what do you suggest?

How much time do the scouts go over the questionaires? Do they glance most of it or really mull over the answers? Is it a big problem to just not answer a few questions?