Download or read book Scout s Honor written by Bill Shanks and published by Sterling & Ross Publishers, Incorporated. This book was released on 2005 with total page 392 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A look at what it takes to build a major league ball club.

Download or read book Scouting and Scoring written by Christopher Phillips and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2021-03-30 with total page 311 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An in-depth look at the intersection of judgment and statistics in baseball Scouting and scoring are considered fundamentally different ways of ascertaining value in baseball. Scouting seems to rely on experience and intuition, scoring on performance metrics and statistics. In Scouting and Scoring, Christopher Phillips rejects these simplistic divisions. He shows how both scouts and scorers rely on numbers, bureaucracy, trust, and human labor to make sound judgments about the value of baseball players. Tracing baseball’s story from the nineteenth century to today, Phillips explains that the sport was one of the earliest fields to introduce numerical analysis, and new methods of data collection were supposed to enable teams to replace scouting with scoring. But that’s not how things turned out. From the invention of official scorers and Statcast to the creation of the Major League Scouting Bureau, Scouting and Scoring reveals the inextricable connections between human expertise and data science, and offers an entirely fresh understanding of baseball.

Download or read book The Art of Scouting written by Art Stewart and published by Ascend Books Llc. This book was released on 2014-07 with total page 270 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The heart and soul of Kansas City's major league baseball franchise is a 5-foot 6 and impeccably dressed man you probably haven't heard of. You don't know the Royals history and successes until you know him. His name is Art Stewart and he helped bring Bo Jackson to the Royals on a hunch. He fell in love with baseball when he snuck into his attic and found his late father's baseball gloves, and his seven decades on the wild ride of major league baseball make him a living, breathing, storytelling personification of America's pastime. From George Brett to Frank White, Bret Saberhagen to Bo Jackson, Carlos Beltran to Eric Hosmer, the Royals' history is Art's history. Art just tells it better than anyone else.

Download or read book Eye for Talent written by P.J. Dragseth and published by McFarland. This book was released on 2014-11-21 with total page 253 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Baseball scouts are often unseen, seldom recognized, and usually underappreciated by fans, but they have contributed enormously to the development and evolution of baseball at all levels, from the players they signed to the changes in the business climate of the game. This book presents original interviews with 19 baseball scouts. In many cases, these veterans are a vanishing breed; among the most respected baseball men in the business, most have a minimum of forty years' experience in scouting. They share their experiences as players, their development as scouts while the business and the game continually evolved, the players they signed and the ones that got away. Along with each interview is a list of the scout's signed players who made it to the major leagues.

Download or read book How to Make Pro Baseball Scouts Notice You written by Al Goldis and published by Skyhorse Publishing Inc.. This book was released on 2009-01-01 with total page 145 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Al Goldis has spent more than forty years as a major league scout, having worked in the front offices of the Cincinnati Reds, Baltimore Orioles, Anaheim Angels, Chicago White Sox, Chicago Cubs, and New York Mets. In those forty years he has seen and signed some of the game?s greatest talents. As the Scouting Director of the Chicago White Sox in the late 1980s, Goldis spearheaded the amateur drafts that brought future All-Stars Frank Thomas, Robin Ventura, and Jack McDowell into the Sox organization. After so many years scouting young players, Goldis has a pretty good idea what to look for in a player beyond the commonly accepted standard of the?five tools? (hitting for average, hitting for power, a strong throwing arm, excellent defensive skills, and speed on the basepaths). And in How to Make Pro Scouts Notice You, he and former pro ballplayer John Wolff have set out to create a blueprint for young ballplayers with big league aspirations to follow. The purpose of the book is twofold: one, to give young ballplayers an inside look at what scouts are really looking for in their search for professional-caliber ballplayers; and two, to help them market and sell themselves so that those scouts will know they exist and see them put their best skills on display. How to Make Pro Scouts Notice You is written with the intent of helping young ballplayers keep their dreams of playing pro ball alive and flourishing.

Download or read book Can He Play A Look at Baseball Scouts and their Profession written by Jim Sandoval and published by SABR, Inc.. This book was released on 2011-11 with total page 198 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: They dig through tons of coal to find a single diamond. They spend countless hours traveling miles and miles on lonely back roads and way too much time in hotels. Their front offices expect them to constantly provide player reports and updates. So much of their time is spent away from family and friends, missing birthdays, anniversaries, and holidays. Their best friend is Rand McNally. Always asking the question, "CAN HE PLAY?" Such is the life of a professional scout. CAN HE PLAY? collects the contributions of 26 members of the Society for American Baseball Research on the subject of scouts, including biographies and historical essays. The book touches on more than a century of scouts and scouting with a focus on the men (and the occasional woman) who have taken on the task of scouring the world for the best ballplayers available. In CAN HE PLAY? we meet the "King of Weeds," a Ph.D. we call "Baseball's Renaissance Man," a husband-and-wife team, pioneering Latin scouts, and a Japanese-American interned during World War II who became a successful scout--and many, many more. The legendary Tom Greenwade and the development of the New York Yankees scouting system, interviews with former players Johnny Pesky and Fernando Perez about being scouted, and much more.

Download or read book Baseball s Endangered Species written by Lee Lowenfish and published by U of Nebraska Press. This book was released on 2023-04 with total page 440 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Scouting has been called pro baseball's personalized way of renewing itself from year to year and a pathway to the game's past. It takes a very special person to be a baseball scout: normal family life is out of the question because travel is a constant companion. Yet for those with the genuine calling for it, there could be no other life. Hearing the special thwack off the bat that indicates a raw prospect may be the real deal is the dream that keeps true scouts going. Scouts have the difficult task of not only discovering and signing new players but envisioning the trajectory of raw talent into the future. But the place of the traditional scout has become increasingly dire. In 2016 Major League Baseball eliminated the MLB Scouting Bureau that had been created in the 1970s to augment the regular scouting staffs of individual teams. On the eve of the 2017 playoffs that saw the Houston Astros crowned as World Series champions, the team dismissed ten professional scouts and by 2019 halved the number of all their scouts to less than twenty. More and more teams are replacing their experienced talent hunters with people versed in digital video and analytics but who have limited field knowledge of the game, driven by the Moneyball-inspired trend to favor analytics, data, and algorithms over instinct and observation. In Baseball's Endangered Species Lee Lowenfish explores in-depth how scouting has been affected by the surging use of metrics along with other changes in modern baseball business history: expansion of the Major Leagues in 1961 and 1962, the introduction of the amateur free agent draft in 1965, and the coming of Major League free agency after the 1976 season. With an approach that is part historical, biographical, and oral history, Baseball's Endangered Species is a comprehensive look at the scouting profession and the tradition of hands-on evaluation. At a time when baseball is drenched with statistics, many of them redundant or of questionable value, Lowenfish explores through the eyes and ears of scouts the vital question of "makeup": how a player copes with failure, baseball's essential, painful truth.

Download or read book Fate s Take Out Slide written by George Genovese and published by McFarland. This book was released on 2017-11-21 with total page 223 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Few would dispute the pitching greatness of Sandy Koufax--but was Paul Pettit better? Jim Baxes was once compared to the great Pie Traynor yet few baseball fans have ever heard of him. John Elway was undeniably one of the greatest quarterbacks in pro football history but could he have been an even better baseball player? For most fans greatness is measured in trophies and awards and confirmed by consistency over time. During his 70 years in baseball, renowned scout George Genovese witnessed some of the most talented players ever to play the game--some of them unknown to fans. He recalls the careers of unsung greats like Nestor Chavez, Matt Harrington and Derek Tatsuno, who never gained lasting fame despite unrivaled talent.

Download or read book Major League Baseball Scouts written by P.J. Dragseth and published by McFarland. This book was released on 2011-05-31 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The life of a major league baseball scout is far from glamorous. Away from his family for weeks on end, he travels to obscure parts of the world in all types of conditions in search of the next break-out star. Essential to a club's talent procurement, and thus to its ultimate success, scouts nevertheless remain relatively anonymous compared to players and owners. This work gives overdue attention to these vital participants in the American national pastime. Substantial biographical profiles of more than 300 veteran scouts--from the earliest who traveled in covered wagons to long-time experts still on the job--chronicle their playing histories, scouting accomplishments, the organizations for which they scouted, and the players they signed who made it to the major leagues. A very extensive bibliography and an index complete the work.

Download or read book Dollar Sign on the Muscle written by Kevin Kerrane and published by Simon & Schuster. This book was released on 1989 with total page 372 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In a new epilogue Kevin Kerrane explores the world of baseball scouting in the late 1990s. Kerrane is a professor of English at the University of Delaware.

Download or read book Perfect Game USA and the Future of Baseball written by Les Edgerton and published by McFarland. This book was released on 2009-01-14 with total page 203 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For decades baseball scouts have beat the bushes for talent, wandering throughout the United States in search of promising young players. But technology and competition have recently brought about big changes, as potential stars are identified as early as Little League. The largest such scouting and development service, Perfect Game USA, has become the primary pipeline to college and professional baseball, with its participants accounting for more than 70 percent of the players taken in the 2007 amateur draft. This book looks at the history, methods, and impact of Perfect Game USA, which continues to change the landscape of youth baseball.

Download or read book Just Baseball written by Mike Just and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2017-05-09 with total page 228 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: That sound, the first crack of the bat. Every year in early spring a special kind of joy comes over those who love America’s favorite pastime, baseball. This feeling is no different for the millions of kids who dream of greatness when they pick up a bat and make their way to the plate. In Just Baseball, Mike Just has created a guide to the world of baseball. Drawing from his own journey to the pros, Just better equips parents and players to make smart decisions as they pursue the game while encouraging players to pursue excellence, maximize their talents, and inspire them to find greater satisfaction in the game. The book covers these topics and more: At what age should youngsters start playing the game? What values will define a player’s baseball character? How important is it to be a team player? What do baseball scouts look for? How can players gain an edge in recruiting? What if your head coach leaves? Is being drafted out of high school a good or bad thing? Baseball is not a one-size-fits-all journey. Learning how to make thoughtful choices that make the most sense for one’s own set of circumstances is all part of getting to the next level. Mike Just’s own experience provides valuable insight for all those who are serious about baseball, and who want to be the best.

Download or read book A Scout s Report written by George Genovese and published by McFarland. This book was released on 2015-10-14 with total page 253 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Many in baseball consider the scout to be the most important figure in any organization: It is the scout's work in the high school and college bleachers that unearths future legends. Few have achieved more--and in such grand style--than George Genovese. In a game that values numbers, Genovese's are staggering. No other scout has been responsible for more players in a single lineup, more home runs by players signed or more All-Star and World Series highlights than Genovese. Genovese's eye for talent is unmatched, his advocacy for the players he discovers is unrivaled, and the investment he makes toward their success is a difference maker. This autobiography is the story of his seven decades in baseball as a player, manager and scout.

Download or read book Gib Bodet Major League Scout written by Gib Bodet and published by McFarland. This book was released on 2014-01-03 with total page 249 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Gib Bodet's 70-year love affair with baseball dates from his childhood in Fair Lawn, New Jersey, and it has carried him through parts of six decades as a scout with the Red Sox, Tigers, Expos, Angels, Royals, and Dodgers. He played ball in high school and the military, coached youth and legion teams, and finally made the game his profession at age 38. In this memoir, Bodet recalls humorous stories about people he worked for and with--Peter O'Malley, Walter Shannon, Gene Autry, John Schuerholz, Al Campanis and long-time friend Tom Lasorda among them--and describes his role in drafting and signing such players as Mike Piazza, Eric Karros, Todd Hollandsworth, Paul Konerko, Matt Kemp, Clayton Kershaw and Chad Billingsley.

Download or read book Baseball America 2007 Directory written by Baseball America (Firm) and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2007-03-27 with total page 354 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The 2007 Baseball America Directory is the definitive reference guide for the upcoming season. The Directory features major, minor, and independent league schedules, ballpark directions, and how to get in touch with anyone in the game-by phone, fax or on the web. From schedules to personnel to addresses to phone numbers and websites, the Directory is the guide to finding information in baseball, from the majors to the minors to college, high school, and amateur baseball.

Download or read book The Five Tool Player written by Mark Gola and published by McGraw Hill Professional. This book was released on 2007-02-23 with total page 210 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Take your game from bush league to big time with these proven techniques Baseball scouts and coaches at every level want players with the knowledge and ability to do it all. They're looking for someone who can dominate a game and showcase talent in each of baseball's five essential skills: hitting for average, hitting for power, fielding, arm strength, and speed. What they hope to find is The Five-Tool Player. In The Five-Tool Player, you'll get all the drills, step-by-step photos, and guidance you need to master the five tools. You'll learn how to: Hit for high average by understanding pitch patterns and expanding your hitting zone Develop power at the plate with proper technique, an aggressive attitude, and strength training Diversify your defensive skills by learning the nuances of each position Increase your arm strength with proper throwing form and conditioning Improve your base running with speed training

Download or read book Can He Play written by Bill Nowlin and published by . This book was released on 2011 with total page 182 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: