’Pen Pal
SO you want to be a professional baseball player? That's a grand, worthwhile dream for young players to follow. But you must know, from the beginning, that it's a tough road to pursue. How to get in
the major leaguesThe first thing you have to do is attract the attention of a scout. The next thing you have to do is impress him.
Scouts usually work for one specific team, although there are some who work for the Major League Baseball Scouting Bureau, which represents all ML teams.
The MLSB people submit reports about players to each team via computer and they serve, in the best scenario, as crosschecks to a team's own scout.
Scouts attend games to evaluate position players in the following categories, called "tools":
Running speed, hitting ability, hitting power, fielding and throwing-arm strength. A pitcher is rated by his fast ball, curve, slider or "other" pitch (like a splitter or knuckle ball).
Here's how a scout's evaluation system works. He watches the player he's interested in and rates the player's different skills based on a scale from 1 to 8. A 5 is considered Major League average.
If the player hits a home run once in a while, he may be rated as a 3 or 4 in power.
A frequent home run hitter would possibly be a 6 or 7. Mark McGwire is an 8.
Running and throwing speed are the only skills that can be measured.
A time of 4.3 seconds to first base is considered ML average for a right-handed hitter, and 4.2 is the average from the left side. That's why you see scouts with stop watches.
For pitchers, most scouts use a radar gun to measure the velocity or speed of the pitch. Pitches are rated and placed in the scale.
EACH PLAYER IS rated by the skills he has and what the scout feels his potential is.
For example, a player's present ability to throw may be a 4, but his potential could be rated as a 6.
If a player grades out to have a 6 arm, 5 fielding, 7 running speed, 5 hitting and 6 power, that adds up to a 29. A zero is added to 29 making it 290.
The 290 is divided by the number of categories (5), to get the number 58, which means that the scout feels that the player is a definite Major League prospect.
The grading scale usually goes from the high 30s to the top possible score of 80. A 40 means the player has AAA ability.
The skills necessary to get a player to the highest level may be a product of several factors. First and most obvious is talent.
Second is the player's dedication to improve. It's possible to get a little better at any skill.
The third factor is luck. You must be in the right place at the right time.
The possibility of getting to the Big Leagues isn't very good, but you can try.
The main thing is that you're playing a great game -- the greatest game ever invented -- so do your best.
If it's your dream to reach the big time, pursue it. Practice good habits, work hard on your game skills, play with reckless abandon, hit the books and hope for the best.
But most of all, continue to dream.
Pal Eldredge is a baseball commentator for KFVE
and former varsity baseball coach at Punahou School.
His column runs Mondays during the Major League Baseball season.
Star-Bulletin sports can be reached at 529-4785 or: sports@starbulletin.com