Feels related to the rise of influencers, where you only see the most successful .01% of people at something and think “that could be me” because you don’t see the 99.99% of people it doesn’t work for.
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I like this idea but I wouldn’t use guys who went pro, I would use the MiLB and G-League guys who never made it. They can show the kids and parents how good they are and then talk about how they were nowhere near good enough to make it to the bigs.
I umpired a 50+ league where there was a pitcher who would throw a perfect game almost every time. You could tell he played professionally. He made it to single A with the Mets.
A piece that Dave Barry wrote a few decades ago about Grant Long is great, and this piece about trying to steal the ball from him would be what I’d expect to see with the G-Leaguers and high schoolers. https://davebarry.com/president/dave2k/columns/long.htm
I played in a men's league for four seasons and once we had a guy who'd been at AA ball until an injury ended his pro career over for practice and it was hilarious what a difference it was between him and the best guy we already had.
I’ve worked with two guys who played in the NFL. One for three seasons and one for seven. Then just became pretty regular teachers/coaches at schools. I never went pro but we both still have lunch duty.
“The worst double A player is closer to Willie Mays than your kid is to the worst double A player” is a bitter pill to swallow but that may be the prescription American parents need
I went to high school with an exceptional baseball player. D1, all america, drafted. couldn't hit for enough power as an OF, topped out at AA. the bar is so, so high.
I've played hockey on occasion with people who've played D-I college or even a little bit of pro (nothing higher than ECHL), and those guys are literally playing a different game
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not getting injured, ability to do 3 hour workouts/practice games constantly and bounce back.
focus... oh lord the temptations when everyone in school thinks you're headed to the big leagues.
As if it's hard to get into college. I bet if they spent 2 hours a day reading instead of chasing a ball they'd get in fine.
Hard part was keeping it off my face. 😄