Baseball team student manager

by John

John asked: Hey Rick,
I was cut from my high school baseball team. When I was cut, the coach offered me to be a team manager.

I was going to play spring ball elsewhere but it is looking unlikely because most leagues have started practice.

I worked extremely hard to make the team. I was wondering if you think I should take his offer?

Also what do you think I would do? The reason I was cut was throwing acuracy. I was great at everything but throwing.

What can I do to fix this as soon as possible because I would like to play at least 1 baseball season before college. Unless I'm at first, I could be seen as a liability in the field.

Position wise I am best at first, second ,and left field.

Also Thank you Rick, for your help in past questions.


Rick answered: John, thank you for your followup and question.

Sorry to hear that you did not make the baseball team this year. When you have a love of baseball, which it sounds like you do from your current and previous submissions, it is a sometimes difficult experience to work within.

While it may, at first glance, seem that all you worked at and for just vaporized, I would say that is certainly not the case. Look carefully inside of the results of your tryout.

While you did not achieve your first and foremost goal, to make the team as a player, you have a standing offer from the coach to be the team manager.

Within my answer to your last submission, I said,"what you wish to accomplish is one of the great joys in life, the opportunity to be a part of a group with a common goal and determination." I also suggested you find a way to stick with the team, so that you are there to pick up on any and all instruction provided.

Coaches do not ramdomly select someone to be their team manager, it is a carefully thought out selection. You have definately made an impression with responsibility, desire, hustle, paying attention, work ethic or positive attitude, for the coach to ask you to take on this big responsibility.

We just finished our tryouts here last week. We had a manager selected before we started; but he dropped out the day we started.

We asked, and he accepted, one of the players who tried out, whose skill level was not where it needed to be to make the cut.

He did, however, impress everybody with his effort and desire to be out there. Good fit for him right now, good fit for us.

Now is an opportune time to look at the bigger picture and see where this could possibly take you as you move forward.

If you have that burning desire to be in and around the game of baseball, there are many possiblilities out there to eventually work within baseball, outside the realm of playing the game.

Somewhere around 7% of all those that begin playing baseball as kids eventually play at the college level, 2-3% play professional baseball.

The picture above is one of our former players, who went to Junior College and was working to be an athletic trainer. He was the trainer for the baseball team.

He was at a Rockies Spring Training game, was standing near their dugout, when they asked if he wanted to be a bat boy for the game. He quickly accepted, and the rest is, as they say, history.

Due to his efforts, they told him he was welcome to come back, which he enthusiastically did. His love of baseball, responsiblity, work ethic and more worked into a job as a clubhouse manager for the Rockies.

The picture is of him on the field opening day, a few years ago. All accomplished on his own initiative and effort. Very special indeed.

His brother, who graduated last year, was our team manager the last 4 years. He did not have a desire to play baseball; but wanted to be out there. Hands down, the best manager we have had.

He is going to school, with some financial aid, and is the manager for the baseball team. Good things will follow, again based on his initiative and desire to make it happen.

Throwing accuracy is all about mechanics. If you go to advanced throwing mechanics, you can locate information on what you need to focus on. You probably can work an opportunity to throw everyday at practice. Mastering the mechanics and throwing daily will help get you to where you want to go.

You can put them to game use over the summer by getting on a team in a summer league, where you can play everyday. Work through the fall and winter as you did this year, and take another shot at it. Yogi Berra, the great Yankee catcher said,"it ain't over till it's over."

Very true. You never know what will happen, until you take the journey.

Take the coach up on his offer; become the best manager he has ever had. Keep working out, take another shot next year.

Keep in mind the other possiblities within baseball. There are far more available than just these examples. If "baseball" is what you love and enjoy, go for it.

Please let me know what your decision is. Keep me posted.

Good luck as you go forward.

Yours in baseball,

Rick