CHOOSING A COLLEGE The Truth About Scholarships
CLEVELAND ERASES 12-RUN DEFICIT TO BEAT SEATTLE Historic Comeback attending almost any major D1 institution, especially as an out-of-state student, you are almost certainly looking at a substantial financial investment even if you are on a 50% scholarship. The scenarios I see so often are of families making decisions based primarily on the amount of scholarship money or the perceived prestige of the program. It would be far better to choose a place for the athlete to play where he is comfortable with his teammates and coaches and advances in the academic area in which he is interested. In other words, choose a place where he can best develop as a total human being. Cliff Lee, Justin Verlander, Albert Pujols, and J.D. Martinez all played for lesser-known universities or community colleges. If you are good, someone will almost certainly find you. My advice is to choose a place where you can best grow and develop not only as a baseball player but also as a student and young man. As far as scholarships, focus on improving your numbers. If you demonstrate your throwing velocity, ball exit speed (as a hitter), POP time (as a catcher), and 60-yard dash speed, then the scholarship offers will come your way.
It bothers me greatly when I hear a parent tell me their primary interest in their son pitching is to obtain a college scholarship. In my opinion, you play baseball because you love it. If a university, college, or junior college offers to take care of some of your expenses to play for their team, that is a bonus. In my opinion, you choose a university, college, or junior college because you are interested in excelling at a specific academic interest and obtaining a degree from that institution. If this institution
happens to have a baseball program that wants you to take part in it while you attend classes, and if by being part of that program you can defer some or all of the costs, that is a blessing. If you are fortunate enough to marry the two, that is indeed a tremendous blessing. Unlike football or basketball, full rides in college baseball are few and far between. Therefore,
UPCOMING RANCH EVENTS
FALL/WINTER ELITE PITCHERS BOOT CAMPS: • OCTOBER 12–14 • NOVEMBER 23–25 • DECEMBER 28–30 • JANUARY 18–20 • FEBRUARY 17–19
As the legendary Yogi Berra once said, “It ain’t over ’til it’s over.”
YOUTH PITCHERS CAMP: •
No team proved him right more resoundingly than the Cleveland Indians in a historic 12-run comeback against the Seattle Mariners on Aug. 6, 2001. Cleveland was trailing 14-2 in the seventh in the Sunday night game. But the Indians rallied with three runs in the seventh, four in the eighth, and five in the ninth to tie the game at 14- 14. In the 11th inning, in the highlight of his career, a player named Jolbert Cabrera hit a broken-bat single to left, driving Kenny Lofton home from second base to nail a 15-14 victory. It took the Indians 4 hours and 11 minutes to match a comeback record set 76 years earlier, when the Philadelphia Athletics scored 13 times in the eighth, helping turn a 15-3 deficit into a 17-15 win. On the losing end of that rout? The Cleveland Indians.
OCTOBER 5–6 (FOR PLAYERS AGES 8–12)
ELITE CATCHERS BOOTCAMP: • DECEMBER 6–8
ALUMNI CAMP: • JANUARY 4–5, 2025
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