Baseball Players...

Are they born or made? Had a discussion with a friend that said, if a person is not born with the ability to play the game that all the extra training athletes do can't make them great players.

Looking for thoughts.

 

False

 

Two words "Quincy Jones"

My first year coaching in HS I was the JV HC. Coach Ferrell gave me a group of guys and said "Ok go at it". I had 7 or 8 freshman and 6 or 7 sophs to work with. One of the kids did not play as a freshman. We started the season with the usual practices fundemental drills etc. I noticed this one kid who was a little small and not very athletic on the baseball field. His name was Quincy Jones. After every practice he constantly asked for more ground balls and more bp. One day I took his glove to show him how to reach out in front for a ground ball and I realized the inside of the pocket of the glove was completely worn out. The fingers of the glove had been restrung with shoe laces as well. I didnt say anything because I did not want to embarress him. As the season went along I noticed how much this kid improved from week to week. He would long toss on the weekends while I cut the grass. Of course he would get more bp and ground balls. During the summer after his soph year he got into the weight room and was on fire for baseball. His work ethic just got to the point where he was a beast for baseball. His Jr year he was All State. His Sr year All State again. He went on to play four years of D-1 baseball , led his team in every major offensive category. He was named all conference his Jr and Sr year in college. This kid made himself into a great baseball player. He was not blessed with alot of god given talent. The game did not come easy to him. He never owned his own bat in HS. Myself and Coach Ferrell got him a glove when the other one finally fell apart completely. What he did have was a burning desire to be good. A desire to achieve past the expectations of others. He wanted to play in college as bad as any kid I have ever seen. If you want it bad enough to work for it , it can happen.

 

Born vs Made....

Great athletes can be born into it, the speed, quickness, hand eye coordination, great physique can be god given without working at it. These athletes, if they are willing to put in the work are usually great ones. Ex: Alex Rodriguez

Good players who outwork everyone else, born with average footspeed, quickness, arm, but work harder than anyone and get better foot speed, arm strength, etc. may not be one of the great ones in the anals of history, but can still make themselves great players. ex: David Eckstein

In my personal opinion, 2 things you can't teach are athleticism and size, if you have these tools and are willing to work then in most cases the sky is the limit.

Hard work doesn't always achieve the goal desired, but in order to have a chance whether you were born a great athlete or not, it is a requirement.

 

I can't help but remember the words of my cousin who was a successful HS coach in NC for 25+ years until he retired and is now coaching in SC. He always told me players were born, the rest you just had to turn into productive outs. Not saying I agree or disagree but I got tickled when he first told me.

 

Born to Play

BUT......................it doesnt' hurt to put a nice Rawlings in his crib when the Mrs. ain't lookin'!

 

Thought I was the only one! Newborn gets the rubdown quite often! Gotta grow to love the feel of wood and the smell of leather.

 

True Enough

But you should probably go ahead and add dirt, dried blood, crusty batting gloves, rosin, chalk, sunflower seed shells, chew stains and balm (old codgers only), and other little "smells" to the equation.

 

Quincy---mmOne heckuva kid!! Where's he now???

 

Quincy Jones

Thanks Coach 27 for a nice walk down memory lane about Quincy, the ultimate self-made player. Not that he didn't have talent, but he WILLED himself to be the high-caliber D1 stud he became. Coach Evans, Quincy was all set to join the SGHS coaching staff last fall when he got a good job that included hours not conducive to our practice and game schedules. Our loss, but he is doing great. Has a kid now also, and spending time being a dad. Other than an extra "pound or two", he looks the same! We can all say that, though, huh?