Like any young boy/teenager, I got myself into my fair share of embarrassing situations.
My best friend growing up, Danny, was the king of “pushing the limit” to see what we could get away with in life. Something like stealing a cigarette from Danny’s old man, who always counted how many cancer sticks were in his cigarette box, was pushing the limit.
We both wanted to smoke a cigarette at 11–12 years old, so Danny and I went to the liquor store and bought candy cigarettes and inserted one of those sugar cigarettes into his dad’s Marlboro Red box, and we went off in glee to smoke the real one like the cool kids.
We thought we pulled one over on his old man. However, due to our “brilliant” and underdeveloped brains, he immediately called both of us to his patio area and gave us the speech of a lifetime, saying he knew it was us and that he should kick both of our asses right there at that moment.
However, he was so tickled at our ingenuity that he let us off easy—this time. But we were to never do that to him again. By the way, Danny’s sister saw us doing the old swap-a-roo and, of course, told on us.
Our lives were spared, but we continued to do things to “push the limit” with no idea that we were constantly being watched.
The worst one was when Danny and I were playing catch with a regulation-size/weighted baseball in the middle of the street where I lived, with a raging party going on as well. The street was lined with cars stretching up and down the street.
Our thinking was that we wanted to play catch, and we were talented enough to get to any throw, albeit in the middle of the very expensive cars surrounding us. So, we played catch against all the cars. We pretended to save the cars and make the catch of the ball thrown.
Little did I know that the neighbor across the street was watching us through his living room window (of course, we had no clue that he was there), and I proceeded to make a throw that was too short for Danny. I hit the back window of a Mercedes-Benz and watched that window explode into a thousand pieces. Our plan to get out of it? Run!
We hightailed it down the street and ran into my house like nothing had happened. For 30 minutes, we were in the clear until a man came to the door asking for my dad. He explained that he believed I threw that ball at the back of his car’s window and that he needed to get information from my dad on where to send an invoice for repairs.
Needless to say, we were caught red-handed, and my day was over, as well as the next week since I was grounded from anything resembling fun. Turns out, the neighbor across the street went to the party asking if anyone had a Mercedes and saying that two boys threw a ball into the back window.
Like I said, you never know who’s watching.
In baseball, players train like crazy to be noticed by a university or a professional MLB scout. We prepare ourselves to be watched, which can happen at a game or even practice. Some players have a coach at either place log those levels to watch them perform, and usually, everyone knows who the best player is. It’s an exciting experience for that particular player, and sometimes teammates get jealous. But something not well known in the baseball world is that coaches notice other players, too.
Just because you aren’t the best player on the field at that moment, I know of numerous coaches who came to see one player and fell in love with the skill set of another. That happens more times than not, but players on the field don’t take advantage of a coach who is at the game scouting. Scouts will watch if someone else stands out.
I constantly preach to my high school players that you never know who’s watching. Almost 95% of the time, players will just not pay attention to who’s there at a game, especially when we play top-level teams with multiple talented high-level players. I tell them that this game today could be a turning point in someone seeing you perform.
Years ago, at a local high school here in Santa Clarita, there was a potential first-round pitcher who completely fit the bill of a top draft pick. Scouts were following this pitcher every game he pitched. However, as it turned out, there was another player on that same team whose skill set a few scouts loved. He was fast as the wind, he had some size, and he was the best player on the field. Every time the scouts came to see the pitcher, that other player stood out.
Sometimes, scouts will contact big-time universities and tell them about a player they saw and thought that college program could use them. Long story short, the “afterthought” player signed with a big Pac-12 school, played ball for 3 years, then was drafted, eventually making the big leagues.
That “afterthought” player just kept pushing himself and was noticed by someone who had no idea they would find this gem. That’s why it’s so important to train like there is no tomorrow and play each game as if it’s your last. Because there’s always someone watching you, whether you’re the top player on a 12-player team or you are the #12 player on that team. It doesn’t matter if you are the best or the worst on your team—as long as your work ethic is about developing an incredible skill set, you’ll get noticed.
That also goes for any other sport: football, soccer, basketball (you can look up the story of how Michael Jordan got cut from his high school team as a sophomore, then worked hard to come back and be one of the best players in the country). I advise that in the race of training and development, it’s much more important to be the turtle than the rabbit, steady and consistent!
Working on becoming a better athlete and having an elite throwing arm, swinging path, and running speed will ultimately put you in a position where your skill set is desired by multiple teams, whether in college or professionally. You just have to be prepared for that moment no matter how long it takes you. Don’t quit on your dreams because opportunity ALWAYS presents itself.
If your mindset is that someone is watching you on the field, you’ll always give your best in whatever you do, and however long that takes is what it is. Know that your work ethic will carry you far in all your life’s endeavors!
One side note: we’ll be advertising our 2-week/3 sessions/week holiday camp in the next few weeks for any and all who’d like to show up!
Also, classes will start filling up very fast since the spring baseball season really begins at the beginning of January for all travel and rec league seasons. Sign up now to get a head start on the competition with training and development.
Until next time…
Jim
Jim Wagner's ThrowZone Academy 