Full Description
For decades baseball scouts have beat the bushes for talent, wandering throughout the United States in search of promising young players. But technology and competition have recently brought about big changes, as potential stars are identified as early as Little League.
The largest such scouting and development service, Perfect Game USA, has become the primary pipeline to college and professional baseball, with its participants accounting for more than 70 percent of the players taken in the 2007 amateur draft. This book looks at the history, methods, and impact of Perfect Game USA, which continues to change the landscape of youth baseball.
Contents
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments
Foreword by Wally Lubanski
Preface
1. It's Not Your Father's Game Any More: The Rapidly Changing Landscape of Youth Baseball
2. How the Stage Was Set for the "New" Field of Dreams: A Time of Innocence
3. The Birth and Early Growth of Perfect Game USA Showcases
4. The Professional Scout's View
5. High School Baseball and How It Lost Its Luster
6. The "If You're Good, They'll Find You" Fallacy
7. Dominican and Other Latin American Players
8. Steroids, HGH, and Other Performance-Enhancing Substances
9. The Early Years
10. Financial Woes
11. Watershed Moments
12. The Parts of the Perfect Game Organization
13. The Cultural Impact of the New Era: A New Philosophy
14. Select and Travel Teams: The Other Major Force at Work in the New World of Baseball
15. Perfect Game's People
16. The Negatives
17. A Prescription
18. Perfect Game and Its Future
19. Developing a Sound Plan
20. Preparation for a Showcase
21. Interesting stories, interesting people
Epilogue: What a Journey
Sources
Index
