Finally...it has to be said (A TBR Classic)

do you have to be invited to be on a showcase team or can anyone with enough money play?

 

As you might expect, Dave, the answer to your question is, "It depends upon the showcase team." The best are very selective in the way they go about putting together the team, while others at the other end of the spectrum are a thinly-veiled means of keeping "Daddy Ball" alive. For that reason, a player and his parents need to choose very carefully among their options if they've chosen to walk the "travel team" path.

To the broader issue: What it's come down to is that if a player is principally interested in playing at a local college, American Legion baseball will probably get him the exposure he desires if he confines himself to legion ball. That's particularly true if he lets local, college coaching staffs know of his interest and his team's schedule.

However, showcase baseball has introduced an economic efficiency to recruiters and scouts that has fundamentally transformed the sport at the scholastic level. If a player seeks the broadest possible exposure to that group, he should find a way to participate to some extent in the showcase scene.

It should be kept in mind that there are both individual and team showcases, and it's feasible for skilled players to split their involvement between legion ball and individual showcases, if they can reconcile the legion team's schedule with that of the individual showcases they wish to attend.

 

im betting these showcase deals are saturated with politics and playing favorites. Never been or seen showcase games but Im pretty sure im right. Bottom line is, if you're good enough to play in college, you will be found. These tournys/teams might help but I dont think they are a must.

 

Its about having options

I will use the Dirtbags as my example since I have a son playing for them. Every 07 on the roster has committed to a D-1 school. Most ACC a couple ECU a couple UNCW and UNCG and APP ST. Now would they all have gone to D-1 schools even if they had not played showcase baseball? I would say probaly. But would they have had the options to choose from if they had not? I dont think so. These kids would have been offered but not by the amount of schools that they had to choose from. The fact that they had the opportunity to play in front of so many college coaches so many times gave then many more options to choose from. So for these kids I feel that showcase baseball was well worth it.

Are there kids playing showcase ball that would be better served doing something else? Of course there are. Some are not ready or never will be. Some parents and players alike think if they play showcase baseball and get in front of some college coaches they are going to get a scholarship. You have to have something to showcase in order get the benefit from it. Legion is not an option from where we are from. As a HS coach I want my players to play the best competition they can find and play with the best players they can play with. It only makes them better when they come back to play for us. One thing people need to recognize is some of the best baseball players in the nation play right here in NC. When you put these kids out on the field with and against oneanother it is the only time they will get actually challenged the entire year. Maybe once or twice a season will they get challenged by someone as good or better than them during the HS year. I dont know if any of you subscribe to PGCrosschecker but if you do check out the top 1,000 07's list in the nation. It is loaded with NC boys we talk about here all the time. And the 08 top 250 has several more from NC.

 

I could not agree with you more. The only thing I would add is that I know of several players who would not have received the equivalent D1 scholarship if they were not on a travel team that participates in showcase events. The exposure at this level of competition can not be matched.

 

changes

it used to be about TEAM and local loyalty. that's all changed now so everyone has to deal with it. it's the ME generation; so the world turns.

 

well said Coach!

 

Another View

I read alot of these posts but have never replied, however I feel I must on this one. We live about as far west in NC as you can go, my son plays for a
1A high school with some good and some weak competition. We have no legion program anywhere near here, no summer leagues, etc..... He plays showcase ball for a good program. The opinion here is if you can play you will be found, I do agree, but does a player who is successful every game facing pitchers throwing 80 garner the same looks as a 4A player who is successful facing pitchers throwing 90 with a filthy breaking ball. Does a pitcher who dominates 1A hitters in the low 80's get the same looks as a pitcher in the low 80's who gets people out in 4A ball. In my opinion, no, but playing showcase ball and showing that you can also be successful hitting these pitchers or going on the mound and getting good hitters out might lead to a chance to play somewhere that might not have looked at you otherwise.
It gives him a chance to be seen by coaches on a regular basis that might otherwise see him one time and have to make a decision on that whether to pursue him in the future or forget him.

As Coach said, I also feel that playing against alot better competition in the showcase ball will hopefully lend itself to becoming a better player in the spring. Add in the fact that we have both had the time of our lives this summer and fall traveling together and building new relationships and I will say that it is right at the top of the best money I have ever spent.

Some may agree and some may disagree, but in my son's case, playing for a showcase team has benefitted him more than anything he could have done. Neither he nor I regret it in the least.

 

You posed a question. I answered it as truthfully and objectively as I knew how...based upon thousands of hours of experience around legion, showcase, and college games; and then you have the audacity to admit that you've never been to a showcase, but that you have the answer?!

The difference between your advice and mine, Dave, is very important from the player's perspective. If he doesn't care much about who recruits him and is most interested in playing for a local college, your advice is all he needs. However, your pithy speculation about the adequacy or inadequacy of showcases (very generally, of course, since you admit that you've never been to one) does him a real disservice if his horizons are broader.

 

Changing the Subject a Bit....East of Raleigh?

This is aimed at East of Raleigh, as I have seen him discuss it on other boards....Two-A-Days. Was anybody surprised (like me!) that only two of the kids off of that football team went on to play college ball?

One went to Furman, one went to Troy State, and for the rest, their football career was over. I would have thought that with 4 straight 6A state championships and a consistently high USA Today/ESPN national ranking that more of those kids would have gone on to the next level...and at least one or two would have been recruited by Alambama or Auburn. One was hoping to walk-on at Auburn, but that was it.

Any comments from the crowd? It's not baseball, but it is related to playing sports at the next level....