The Essence of an Mlb Scouter

The Essence of an Mlb Scouter

  • Submitted By: nayovip
  • Date Submitted: 12/04/2011 11:46 PM
  • Category: Biographies
  • Words: 753
  • Page: 4
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The Essence of an MLB Scouter

Search for rookie players to sign in for the MLB (Major League Baseball) is not an easy task, especially when the market is not too big and there’s a lot of competition looking for players too. There is a list of special skills that players need to fulfill before scouters picked them out in the MLB rookie draft. As Michael Lewis notes in his book Moneyball “The scouts actually carried around checklists. “Tools” is what they called the talents they were checking for in a kid. There were five tools: the abilities to run, throw, field, hit and hit with power” (3).

There was a kid in 1980 that had all the five tools that every scouter was looking for in a kid, his name is Billy Beane and he was an extraordinary college player in that time, he can run, field, throw, hit and hit with power, all the scouters were surprised about his talents. Billy was scouted for too much MLB teams, but the lucky one was the New York Mets, they picked him in the first round in 1984 in the MLB rookie draft.

Billy was not obligated to sign for the Mets, Billy’s parents didn’t want him to sign his contract and they preferred that Billy went to Stanford University with a scholarship to play with them and finish his career, but Billy was very tempted by the money, and he choose to sign. Years later Billy say as Michael Lewis notes in his book “When I decide to became a professional baseball player, it was only just for the money, and I will never do something just for the money ever again. I will never again let the market dictate the direction of my life” (14).

Billy had a horrible debut in his first year; he couldn’t demonstrate his real talents because he can’t handle the pressure of being a professional MLB player. He end up with the Oakland Athletics in 1989, he became a terrible player and he finished his career as a ball player and started his second career in 1998 as the General Manager of the Oakland Athletics. Billy had one of the poorest...

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