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These qualities go way beyond a baseball field or athletic venue, and may just help you pick the right people for your business. 

My buddy Mike Spiegel always says “Play your best 9, not your 9 Best” It took me a while to understand that but I get it, Do you?

As a coach my job is to win baseball games, but as a person I feel it is equally, if not more important to win ball games with quality individuals who want to graduate and do something productive with their lives.  All too often academics are sacrificed for the opportunity to get really good players.  When this happens, not only do the baseball program and the athlete suffer when he is ineligible, the school also loses if the kid decides he is not going to graduate.  Lip service is often given to the term student athlete, but it needs to become a priority because it is a complete disservice to the players we coach if we allow them to fail or finish their eligibility and not graduate. 

The only person that benefits from the above situation is the head coach, because he has used this player to get him some wins and help boost his stock as a coach, but he forgot the commitment he made to the player when he offered him the opportunity to further his education while playing baseball.

As a coach I am looking for kids who have character, work ethic, and talent, and I am looking for those attributes in that order.  When you get kids like this, they will give everything they have to the team, and you will not have to worry about them failing classes because they are people who have goals and want to grow up to be something.  These players understand the importance of hard work and education, and will only learn more about their importance over the four year period they will be with my staff and I. 

Championships are won with players like this, and programs are built to last when a team has players that fit this mold.  I will never sacrifice character and work ethic for talent because there is only a small possibility for short term success and strong possibility for short term and long term failure. 

Below is a basis for my recruiting, I didn’t always follow this exactly, but more often then not I did.  What are the primary positions in your business? and Do big time players fill those positions?

Building a Team

Our team is going to be a team built around pitching, defense, and speed.  This means we are going to recruit athletes that fit our specific style of play, which means we may pass on a guy that other schools love.  We also may take players that other schools do not cherish because they are players that will fit into our system.  We have an exact player we are looking for and an exact scholarship guide in order to get the players we need the most.

Primary Positions

Catcher: Emphasis on arm strength, release, and the ability to block and receive.  Hitting will always be second when we are recruiting a catcher.   We need a catcher who can block, receive, and control the running game in order for us to be great.  We are looking for quick and light feet along with the ability to move quickly left and right. 

Pitcher: We are looking for strike throwers and guys who get outs.  Velocity is great as long as the pitcher can throw strikes.  We need pitchers who are able to pitch to contact and have the ability to command a minimum of two pitches.  Also, we will put an emphasis on movement and control over velocity.  Another aspect of a pitcher we are looking for is one who will be able to help the catcher control the running game.  This means he must be able to vary his looks, change his times, as well as use the slide step.  Pitching is the most important part of building a championship team so we will allocate a lot of scholarship dollars in order to get the right guys.

Short Stop: This is another position will offense will be sacrificed for defense.  We are looking for arm strength, foot speed, lateral movement, and the ability to field the routine ground ball 95 percent of the time.  Arm strength becomes important when the player must go to their back hand to throw out a runner, and lateral movement is important to take away hits to the back hand side as well as up the middle.  Our short stop must possess the ability to lead, as he will be the main cog in the defense.  Every great team has a great defensive short stop.  When recruiting we are looking for good feet that are lively and under control in order to turn two, ability to cover ground, and field the routine ground ball.  We are also looking for quick hands, so when the player does get his feet in position his hands will allow him to finish the play.

Centerfielder:  An emphasis on speed, the ability to read balls of the bat, and arm strength.  For the most part we will only recruit center fielders to play outfield because they are generally more athletic and quicker than the corner outfielders.  This is the last position where any offense will be sacrificed for defense to a great extent.   Our center fielder will also need to possess the ability to lead as they have priority over all the outfielders and the infielders as well.  They will need to communicate very emphatically as to avoid collisions.   Our center fielder will need to have an average arm, that is accurate, and be able to get rid of the ball quickly.

Secondary Positions

Second Base: This position needs to be a more well-rounded player.  Our second basemen must be able to hit for average (any power is a plus) field the routine ground ball 98% of the time, and have average range in order to save runs.  We will sacrifice range for offense at this position, but we will not disregard it completely.  When recruiting we are looking for good feet that are lively and under control in order to turn two, cover ground, and field the routine ground ball.  We are also looking for quick hands, so when the player does get his feet in position his hands will allow him to finish the play.

First Base: A position all too often over looked for its defensive needs.  We must remember that our first basemen will be involved in the greatest number of plays outside our pitcher and catcher.  Defensively we are looking for a player who is able to move well enough to cover the bunts, handle cuts and relays, and retrieve fly balls over their head in foul territory.  At first base we are looking for offensive production as well.  This is a position we will slightly sacrifice defense for offense, but again we will not disregard it.  When recruiting we are looking for someone who moves well around the base, is athletic enough to make the plays we think he needs to make, and possess the ability to hit for average and power.  Also, a bigger body is a good thing as it creates a bigger target for our infielders, but it is not the deciding factor.

Third Base: This player must be able to move left and right quickly as they usually do not move too far to field ground balls.  This player must be tough enough to stay down on a hard hit ball, because at third base you can knock a ball down and still throw a guy out.  Athletically we need a player who can field all bunts, throw from different arm angles, and cut off balls to his left that the short stop cannot get to.  Our third baseman needs to have a strong arm, hit for average and power, but we will sacrifice homerun power for a better athlete who plays better defense.

Left Field: Offense over defense as long as he does not lose us games due to his defense.  The left fielder will need to have good speed, hit for average, have the ability to drive the ball to the gap.  He will need to be able to make the routine plays, and not allow runners extra bases.  Ideally the left fielder will be a center fielder that was forced to move due to competition.  The left fielder will have the weakest arm of any outfielder as they do not have to make very long throws.  He will need to have an accurate arm with a quick release to make up for arm strength.

Right Field: We are looking for a great arm and above average power at this position.  The right fielder makes the longest throws and therefore must have a strong arm.  We are looking for power out of this position, along with the ability to hit for average.  Our right fielder will need to be able to cover ground in order to take away extra base hits.  A strong arm is important but he must also have an accurate arm.

Why We Look For The Players We Do:

We will pitch to contact, be strong defensively, and have the ability to put pressure on other teams with our speed and aggressiveness.  The new bats have made the big raw power guy pretty much obsolete as an everyday guy.  The new player will possess the ability to hit for average, bunt, drag bunt, hit and run, and use foot speed to get on base.  Again, the free swinging guy who just hits homeruns or strikes out is of little use to my style of offense, and will soon be extinct from the game of college baseball.  The college game has literally changed over-night due to the new bat rules, and in order to stay competitive we have to be proactive and get players who will work well within the new style of play.

What you can you do to help the recruiting process:

Getting the information you need.

Assuming you possess some of the tools we talked about in the previous chapter you are now going to go to work marketing them.  Remember you do not have to possess all five tools, only a small percentage of players in the history of the big leagues possess them.  What you have to do is figure out your strengths (be honest with yourself) and then figure out which programs value those strengths.  This is actually not that hard to do, a simple email will get you some valuable information.  You can find most coach’s email on the schools website.  Their email is usually on the baseball page in the athletic section of the website.  If it is not directly on the page check the coach’s bio.  Keep your email short and concise in order to prompt a return with the answers you are looking for.  Check the sample email below.

“Coach Johnson, my name is Joe Smith, and I am looking at schools in which I fit in academically and that value the tools in which I possess on the field.  I was wondering what your schools academic standards are in relation to GPA, SAT, and ACT, I am also wondering what physical tools you value most in a player.  I appreciate your time as I know you are busy, and I look forward to hearing from you.  Thank you, Joe Smith.”

You should save this email as a draft so you can use it for every coach you want to email.  Obviously do not forget to change the coach’s name.  When you get emails back and you see schools that value what you have to offer you can start to further market yourself to the schools that fit your skill set.  One of my players got in contact with the University of Florida using this strategy.  He sent an email and received a very prompt response and the coach was very detailed in telling the player what he looked for.  Also, if a coach does not get back to you right away or even at all do not get discouraged some coaches may be very busy or simply do not return any unsolicited emails, that is OK just keep trying.