Power Pros Forum

Technically, I know significantly less pitches, but that's how the game would list them since I can throw my fastball 3 different ways to make it cut, tail or go straight. Then I just know a Slider which some people may consider a Slurve, Change-Up, Split-Change, Curve and 2 Seam.So yea, about 6. But my point is, based on the opinions of scouts, the pitches I throw are realistically decent MLB pitches. I just need to raise my velocity and control, and they told me I could be drafted as early as next year.

Dude. Just stop. You sound like a 15-year old who fantasizes about playing in the majors someday but has no idea how much work and talent it takes to even get a whiff. Listen, 2 MLB-caliber pitches is no-hit stuff in high school and even college . . . and yet you lay claim to 6 MLB-caliber pitches despite a professed lack of velocity and control. Hilarious.

Dude, the best players in the MLB are those who play the game right. Ask any former player, ask and ex player now anouncer, they'll tell you the best aren't the ones being praised, but the ones who are under the radar, who make the plays when they need to be made. They may not be extraordinary, but they get it done.

Point is, you guys happen to think that a major leaguer HAS to be good, that they have to have great stuff, but in reality, there are players in the majors right now who are getting paid money they don't deserve. C'mon, you've seen them, the guys you scrath your heads and ask, "How did they get to this level?" Point is, there's a minor league system for a reason, and though they fail or not, it's there to HElP develop players. Why try and undermine me when I know my skills and what not? Yes, I have my flaws, what player doesn't? I know what I need to work on, and yes, there is so much work involved to be able to play at that level.

Honestly, why even bring this stuff up? Sure, it sounds like bull, but really, look around, sometime and just watch some guys play ball. I gaurantee that there will be some guy you'll encounter some day where you'll ask, "Why didn't he get drafted?" Making it to the majors isn't about skill, it's about luck, even Dusty baker had a quote about that, look it up if you want, but that's the truth.

Eric I'd believe him, I was shocked that he had six.

Some scouts have told me I have the speed of Ellsbury and beyond, but the arm of Vladimir Gurrero and the ability to hit over .300. I also have my flaws too.

Seriously, you guys seem to think that MLB players are gods and have superhuman abilities. Seriously dude, back when it first started, it was purely based on natural skill since you couldn't improve on anything except fielding and speed since people didn't use weights. I mean, really, do you think that some of these guys are that good? I mean, if you go to a game and just watch them do their mechanics and what not, they're pretty much like you and me, their throws aren't always bullets, and those hits aren't all lasers. But yea, I mean DrMario pretty much understands, why can't you guys?

Um, I think the reason most people are having trouble believing your story is that usually people who are in line to advance to the majors arent spending alot of time chatting about videogame baseball on online forums. Those who can, do, and those who cant, talk about how good they are on forums in the anyonimity of the internets.

So lets just put it this way: I want to believe you, but its very difficult under the setting of an internet forum.

Like I alluded to earlier, I was a good high school player and walked-on at a mediocre Pac-10 school where I spent three years playing with and against (a lot more watching than playing) some very, very good ballplayers. Some examples: a switch-hitting beanpole named Richie Sexson hit a left-handed homerun against us during a Legion tournament. We faced Bob Wolcott in another Legion game and ran him in the 4th inning. I hit a double and homer off of him, the latter of which careened off the roof of a red barn beyond the wall in left-center. I played against Mitch Meluskey through junior high and high school and roomed with him at the All-State game. I watched Mark Kotsay tear us to shreds the year he won the Golden Spikes Award. I got dominated by Keith Foulke in the second game of a double-header with a mixture of baby sinkers and changeups. Some other guys I remember playing against are Chris Magruder, Mike Thurman, Jaime Burke, Geoff Jenkins, Aaron Boone, Chad Moeller, Paul Lo Duca, Cody McKay, Ryan McGuire, Geoff Blum, Travis Lee, Jeff DaVanon, A.J. Hinch, Dave Roberts, Mike Redmond, Scott Strickland, Ryan Radmanovich and Ryan Christensen.

I just turned 35 yesterday so I’m sure many of those names mean nothing to you, and that is sort of my point. At the Major League level, most of them appear to be rather average, if not below average. They might be the sort of ballplayer a guy like you would watch and say, “Hey, he’s nothing special. I can do that.” And who knows, maybe you can. But I can tell you that the majority of those guys stood out like fluorescent lights at the high school and college level. For those guys, the game was easier and slower than it was for the rest of us. You could watch Mark Kotsay calmly react to one borderline pitch after another and know that he had “it.” You could watch Travis Lee take warm-up swings in the on-deck circle and know he had “it.” You could watch A.J. Hinch receive just a handful of pitches and know he had “it.” You could watch Scott Strickland wear out the black with his entire repertoire against the first two hitters of a game and know he had “it.” And the more of those guys I saw, the easier it became to spot them.

And the guys who weren’t dominating at the high school and college level but the scouts liked regardless either had projectable tools or projectable frames. If you are a good looking guy with broad shoulders, good sinew, a good bubble, long levers and big hands, scouts will fall in love with you even if you are a mediocre ballplayer. Likewise, if you are slightly disproportionate and lack some of those other features, you better post some gaudy numbers because most scouts don’t trust a guy like that. For example, a 6-4 high school kid with a rangy frame, a wild 93-mph fastball and no command of his secondary pitches will draw more interest than a 5-11 high school kid with an 86-mph fastball, impeccable control and better numbers. The difference is the 6-4 kid with the 93-mph fastball has stuff that can’t be taught.

With only 750 major league jobs, the difference between an everyday player and a guy struggling to make it out of triple-A is so miniscule it’s measured in percentages, projectability and trust . . . and draft position and money, unfortunately. I agree that professional players aren’t robots. Not every throw is on target, not every swing makes contact and not every play is executed to perfection. Baseball is hard and wrought with failure. But the players who are able to execute at a slightly higher percentage than everyone else are the supreme beings of their sport. That’s the difference. To quote the venerable Crash Davis, "You know what’s the difference between a .250 hitter and a .300 hitter? About 24 extra hits a season. 6 month season, 24 weeks, that’s 1 extra hit a week. You get one extra gork, one more dying quail, one more ground ball with eyes a week, and your playing in Yankee Stadium."

Happy belated Birthday.

And I couldnt agree more with your post.

Professional players have lives.... Once in April, I played a football match against a player on the Carolina Panthers, I got his Username off of SI.

I know what Vince Young's name when he goes on Xbox Live. I also know the same for the Madden Challenge contestants.

I bet if I threw harder and with better control I too could be drafted in the 32nd round.

You could be drafted in the 80th round, like Marvin was.

To bad their is only like 50 something rounds....I think

Yep. 50 rounds right here

Alright then... but this all was just to make some high school teams that weren't all godly and what not.... Wow, you guys took this a bit too far just for a video game.