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February 5, 2009 --
Found this informative article on a new website called "Rounding Third." Click on the Eagle batter to get to the website. SENIOR YEAR TIMELINE...IT'S NOT TO LATE!
The early signing period is coming November 14, 2007 and many of the top players that were recognized earlier in the year will sign. That doesn’t mean that all of the best players will sign. Inevitably, a number of quality players will remain unsigned until the next signing period of April 9th, 2008. Some players will remain unsigned because of a lack of exposure, others because their body, skills, talent, speed and abilities have developed later, and others may have been just lost in the shuffle…Bottom line…DON’T GIVE UP!!! There is a reason the NCAA has two signing periods.
Now, if you are not signed and fall into one of the reasons stated above then read below. You still have a lot of the timeline left to finish. (SEE PARTS ONE AND TWO OF THE TIMELINE IN THE PRIOR POSTS)
However, if you are already set to sign your NLI, (National Letter of Intent) you can’t give up either!!!!! Continue and step up your daily work-outs even more. Too many athletes get complacent after they have committed to their college and therefore end up having less than stellar Senior seasons. Don’t let that happen to you! That includes your grades. Don’t get a case of senior-itus and let your grades suffer in the process! From this point on, baseball, school and life in general becomes more challenging and the challengers more competitive. Work hard and set yourself up to have the season and school year of your life.
For those that have not committed, relax…There are many out there that think that if you haven’t committed to a college by the fall of your senior year, then your chances of getting a college scholarship are slim. That’s not so. While many of the high profile players have committed early, there are still a lot of colleges throughout the country still recruiting. The questions are…Are you still trying hard to get noticed? Are you still sending out letters? Are you making visits and enrolling in the fall college camps?
Go to the links I have supplied you in the right column of this site and find out which organizations are offering showcases for “Uncommitted Seniors”.
There are other things you can also do:
· Send out your schedules for fall leagues, camps and showcases to all coaches
· Call the coaches…Remember, after July 1, you can now talk to them. You can contact college coaches by phone at any time.
· Step up your work out schedule.
· Have your fall and high school coaches start to make more calls on your behalf.
· Schedule official visits with your targeted schools and meet the coaches and staff.
· Send out Skills videos to those coaches that haven’t seen you play enough.
Bottom line...don't get discouraged. If you have a desire to play at the next level and the D-1 route isn't working for you, Try a D-2, D-3 ot NAIA school. Many JC's offer great academics and very competitive baseball programs, especially in the southern states. If you are still growing and maturing as a player, you may be told by coaches to develop your strength and game at a JC first anyway. Look at the rosters of your target colleges and you will see that many four year colleges recruit JC players to fill roster spots.
I hope that this three part series has helped you. Underclassmen, print these posts out and use it as your guide throughout high school. Upperclassmen, it's not too late. Remember, whatever age you are, there is never a substitute for hard work and discipline...Those that make that their daily mantra, will have success in their lives...whether that life includes baseball or not!!!
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"What College Coaches Look For?
February 5, 2009 --
What College Coaches Look For In Prospective-Student Athletes Saw this article on the Baseball Coaches Association website. Thought it might be helpful to some of the varsity players planning on playing college baseball. Click on the "underlined title" top left, to get to the article.
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February 19, 2009 --
CHARACTER COUNTS!Found this article on the Student Sports Baseball website. Thought it was worth passing on.
Nate Trosky
Special to StudentSportsBaseball.com
Talk about it in The Bullpen
Over the past 5 months, I have noticed a consistent theme amongst college coaches and professional baseball scouts. The theme is, "Character!" The more and more I talk with coaches and scouts, the more I realize that character matters. In some ways character is actually being looked upon higher then athleticism. Experienced coaches know that character wins, but not only does it win, it makes their jobs more manageable and enjoyable. Don't get me wrong, coaches will always recruit the best athletes, but often times the deciding factor on who will be signed is determined by an athlete's character. Below I haven't listed several examples of why character matters.
Nate Trosky
Cal. State Monterey Bay "A player's GPA"- Cal State Monterey Bay's assistant coach Jimmy Walker told me recently over a lunch meeting that character and academics go hand in hand. He said, "Good baseball begins with character and that character is revealed through academics. On CSUMB, the players with around a 2.0 GPA usually hit around .200. On the other hand, our better students with GPA's between 3.0 and 3.5 usually hit between .300 and .350. It is rather interested but it has proven out that we can predict the quality of a player's season by looking at their GPA."
University of San Francisco "Who a player is verses what they do" - I was an honored guest at the University of San Francisco Spring 2007 Baseball Banquet. Throughout the night, Head Coach Nino Giarratano continually talked about the importance of the character. When he broke it down, he attributed a large portion of his team's success (in 2006, making it to the College World Series tournament in Omaha) to the signing of players with character. Character has become the main quality they look for in recruits. After coach Giarratano spoke, assistant coach Troy Nakamura came to the podium. Coach Nakamura said something very profound, he said "When the season is over players will be remembered not by what they did, but rather, who they were."
Santa Clara University "What a person does when nobody is looking." The former University of Santa Clara's Head Coach, Jerry McClain told me a great story of a bull pen catcher who got offered a baseball scholarship to a NCAA DI school. The story goes like this. The junior college catcher was catching a pitcher in the bull pen during a fall junior college baseball game. A four year college coach was in attendance, recruiting the shortstop and a relief pitcher. In the 3rd inning, the college coach made his way over to the bull pen to take a look at the relief pitcher warming up. While observing the pitcher, the bull pen catcher caught his eye. The coach noticed the catcher's work ethic, his ability to work with the pitcher, and his sound fundamentals. The college coach was impressed with how the catcher worked when he thought nobody was watching him, when it didn't seem to really matter. You see the catcher didn't know the observer was a college coach. The bull pen catcher was simply giving his best because that's who he was.
"Work hard all the time, you never know who is watching!"
Conclusion "Develop your character" This season I encourage each player to focus on developing their character, meaning doing what is right when nobody is looking, staying positive through adversity, and giving your A game regardless of the circumstances. Your biggest ticket to playing college baseball is through a solid academic resume and through the development of your character.
Remember, "Character Matters!"
Nate Trosky is the co-owner of Carmel Baseball, Home of the Trosky Baseball School. Annually Coach Trosky is involved with baseball training camps at various institutions (Stanford, Cal Poly, Santa Barbara, and the Areas Codes). His past coaching includes Olympic, Minor League, and College coaching experience. The Trosky Baseball School specializes in advanced baseball training as well as college placement and consulting. For more info go to Carmel-Baseball.com
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February 20, 2009 --
Nate Trosky (Trosky Baseball)
Special to StudentSportsBaseball.com
Talk about it in The Bullpen
Nate Trosky is the co-owner of Carmel Baseball, Home of the Trosky Baseball School. Annually Coach Trosky is involved with baseball training camps at various institutions (Stanford, Cal Poly, Santa Barbara, and the Areas Codes). His past coaching includes Olympic, Minor League, and College coaching experience. The Trosky Baseball School specializes in advanced baseball training as well as college placement and consulting. For more info go to Carmel-Baseball.com
I encourage players and families to watch as many college baseball games as possible. When watching games, don't just watch NCAA – DI games, but rather diversify your choices. Diversifying your choices will help shape your perspective, giving you a clear picture of the quality of players and quality of teams at each level.
Prior to attending, it would be beneficial to communicate with a coach on staff and or with the athletic director. With NAIA and Junior College teams, request a workout before the game (this is totally legal) and is a good idea for juniors and seniors. This is also a good idea if you're attending a game fare away from your home town, in which the recruiting coordinator most likely wouldn't be able to see you play during your high school or summer season.
Setting up a time before or after the game to meet with the one of the coaches on staff will also be beneficial. Regardless of which coach you meet with, do your best to connect with someone on the coaching staff. To get answers to some of your questions, also consider setting up time to meet with the Athletic Director.
When watching games observe the style of play and philosophy of each team.
Questions to ask yourself when observing:
• What is each team's defensive and offensive philosophy? Do they go base to base or do they play small ball (steal, bunt, and hit and run)?
• Are the teams made up of power guys, speed guys, or a combination of the two?
• Do the teams have power pitchers, finesse pitchers, and or both?
• How do you compare to the player at your position (from what you can see with the naked eye)?
• Are you similar in physical proportion to the players at your position?
When watching games:
• Sit in the stands with the parents of the players. Listen to what they talk about. Consider asking them questions about their son's experience in the program.
• Get close to the field and observe how the coaches and players interact.
• Arrive before game time and observe batting practice and the team's pre-game warm-up routine.
Buy a media guide (baseball program) and read it from cover to cover. Ask yourself the following questions.
• Does the team red-shirt players? If so, how many?
• Does the team have a high number of JC players? If so, how many?
• Does the team have a large number of upperclassman graduating? If so, how many and what positions do they play?
• Read the coaches backgrounds and observe their philosophies and what positions they specialize in
* if you play outfield, find out if they have an outfield coach, if they don't, you may consider other schools).
• Observe the player's accolades and achievements (i.e., All State, All League, etc…). Are you in comparison?
When thumbing through the media guide, take a minute and read the specialty stories and information pieces. This will give you detailed insight on the team. For example, in the media guide they have a great story about a walk-on player who got drafted. This type of information not only gives you insight on the program, it can also serve as a future conversation piece (this is huge) giving you something to talk about when communicating with coaches. Familiarizing yourself with the program will also entice your thinking, helping you to formulate questions to ask at a later date.
Getting out to as many games as possible gives players and parents the ability to compare and contrast college programs, ultimately helping them narrow down their choices. By doing as much research as possible, players will ultimately find the school and baseball program that is the best fit for them.
Extra Info:
Watch Games: Watch fall and spring baseball games (as you watch games realize that the team is a reflection of the coaching staff). When watching a game, sit in the stands with the parents of the players and listen to what they say about the team and the coaches. You may also want to introduce yourself.
Sample questions to ask former players, parents, alumni, etc…
• Do you like your coaches?
• What do you like about them?
• What don't you like about them?
• What is the coaching temperament?
• What is the coaching style?
• What is the pitching philosophy, etc…?
• What is the hitting philosophy, etc…?
• What are the practices like?
• Are the practices organized and well ran?
• Are all of the coaches present?
• What is the team chemistry like?
• How hard do you guy work?
• Etc…
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February 22, 2009 --
Baseball's Ten Commandments
By Chief Bender
Philadelphia Athletics
Baseball Hall of Fame
These 10 rules of baseball were true almost 100 years ago
And they are still “the truth” today:
Nobody ever becomes a ballplayer by walking after a ball.
You will never become a .300 hitter unless you take the bat off your shoulder.
If what you did yesterday still looks big to you, you haven't done much today.
Keep your head up and you may not have to keep it down.
When you start to slide, slide. He who changes his mind may have to change a good leg for a bad one.
Do not alibi on bad hops. Anybody can field the good ones.
Always run them out. You never can tell.
Never quit.
Do not find too much fault with the umpires. You cannot expect them to be as perfect as you are.
A pitcher who hasn't control hasn't anything.
Chief Bender played in the early 1900’s for the Philadelphia Athletics. He was one of professional baseball’s first star pitchers. To learn more about the career of Chief Bender follow the link below.
Charles Albert “Chief” Bender
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