Signing

The basic core of scouting is getting to a ballpark, wherever that may be, watching players, and grading them out. The objective is to determine the maximum future potential of a player. If that potential is high enough, if the conditions are right within the organization, and if the kid is affordable, we make a move and try to sign him.

Signing is in my mind the best part of the job. It is the result of the long road trips, the debates with other scouts, the time spent watching and analyzing the single actions of a young man playing a game.

When I was 18 I used to dream that one day a scout would walk up to me and offer me something. I wrote letters to teams, offered to attend spring training paying for my own airfare and housing til I made the team or was released. I would have done anything to get a shot. Most of the kids I see claim to want the same opportunity.

Something along the way changes however. Kids get influenced by other scouts, parents, coaches, friends, agents etc...so the kid that wants nothing more than a chance to play starts believing he shouldn't sign unless he gets X amount of dollars. So he and his parents, both of whom know little about the professional baseball world begin educating themselves. They refer to other players who have signed and begin comparing themselves to see if they should get more or less money. They begin advertising that one team has offered, hoping that a second will follow and begin a bidding war. This ruins the purity of the whole operation.

When I get to know a player I try to get to know him and educate him on what it means to become a member of our organization. The idea for me is that this is a life decision that has more to do with his future than it does with current dollar amounts. Most of the time kids see and understand that we have a good situation and that the players future is in good hands with us. But then the money comes into question. We offer fair deals, but the market is so distorted it isn't even funny. Some teams will blow others out of the water on a player that frankly is often times not worth half of what he gets. So the kid and his parents wait and hunt for a team to step in and spew money at them like a benevolent ATM.

You can learn a lot about a kid through the signing process. More often than not however it turns a moment that is special and memorable into a nasty business. And this is the first step to becoming a major leaguer. It's a real nice way to leave adolescense.

Japanese At Heart

I have found it! The truest form of baseball that is. It is in Japan in the city of Hanshin. Each spring and summer Japanese baseball holds a National Tournament. They are reffered to as Koshien spring and Koshien Summer. Currently I am attending Koshien Summer.

There are about 4000 high school baseball teams in Japan. The tournament selection process begins, I believe, through regional and district tournaments with all of the area champions moving on to Koshien. They then play in a 49 team free for all to be labeled Japans Champion.

Similar to the former Minnesota High School Hockey tournament or the Indiana State Basketball Championship they crown only 1 winner whether the school is big or small. The stakes are tremendous.

I got off the plane in Osaka on Monday morning. As I walked out of the terminal I immediately noticed the television screens every 300 feet playing the game live for passers by. Two hours later I was seated behind home plate at one of the games in the Hanshin Tigers stadium. There were only about 20,000 people in attendance, but what can you expect, it was Monday morning.

The intensity of the games is amazing and the ceremonial protocol is awe inspiring as well as amusing, especially for the baseball fanatic at heart. The session begins with the first team taking the field for pregame infield/outfield practice. This is announced with a loud siren. Most teams jump up and down, bow to the field, then sprint on. Today I saw a team which actually had all of their players dive head first as they got to their positions.

Infield/outfield is a sight to behold. The Japanese have it down pat to the extent that the coach hitting ground balls does not wait for a ball to tossed to him, he simply reaches his hand back and a young ball boy places the ball in his hand to be hit immediately. I would venture to say the coach hits almost 100 balls in 5 minutes.

Once both teams have completed pregame they all stand in front of their dugout waiting for the nod from the umpires. When they get the 'go ahead' both teams, and the umpires sprint for home plate. Here the players line up extending from the batters box out toward the mound facing their opponent. The umpires stand in a line perpindicular to them and remove their caps, the players follow suit. They bow to one another, scream something, and shake hands. One team then sprints on the field while the other returns to hit.

Everything is done at a frantic pace on the field. Every ground ball between innings is taken with the same urgency as a live game situation. The ball boys sprint to keep the umpires pockets full as if they were trying to beat out a ground ball, and the players get on and off the field in between innings faster than I can keep my notes straight as to who is hitting.

The temperature is insanely hot. The sun beats down and the humidity is almost unbearable. Regardless, everything keeps moving at the same frantic rate.

When the game is over the winning team jumps up and down in celebration while the losers sulk. This lasts a short time as they they line up again where it all began. They shake hands and then seperate with the losers taking their place in front of their dugout and the winners linning up across home plate for the playing of their school song. They sing loudly while reporters rush the field for photos of joy and sorrow. Nothing is hidden as young men openly weep in front of the nation as their season has come to an end.

The games ends as the players rush to their respective foul poles and honor their supportors by bowing to their fans who maintained constant noise and celebration throughout the game.

Then....another game starts. They do this 4 times a day. Each game as intense.

Anyone who wants to see how the game was meant to be played needs to see Koshien.