Mom. Dad.
Those two words usually mean a great deal to a prospective professional baseball player. The problem is that, at the pro level, their involvement can hurt you more than help you in most instances. At the youth league, high school, tournament, and even (possibly) at the college level your parents’ contacts and/or financial influence can determine your amount of playing time and media attention.
The professional level, however, is an entirely different story.
At the pro level, poor and overbearing behavior by either or both of your parents simply will not be tolerated. No matter how much influence they may have had before, true professional managers, general managers, coaches, scouts and others do not care about your Mom and Dad. Their goals are vastly different than any coach you may have had up to that point:
- The general manager of a Minor League or independent league team has a much greater concern than your on-field talent: that person needs to report to the team’s owner. The GM is there to TURN A PROFIT. This is the biggest difference between professional and non-pro levels: the pro game MUST be profitable for it to continue. All other levels either are parent-funded or university-funded with alumni help. No alumni “give back” financially to a pro team, so the front office is concerned with packing the stands and selling beer & food
- The manager needs to win right now and move his players to higher levels. He is always under pressure to put out good talent, develop his players AND the manager wants to win so that he (one day) may earn a coaching position at the Major League level. Your mom and dad will not help him with any of these goals
- The same is true for coaches, scouts and directors of player operations
Remember that your parents’ goals are either to have you become a pro baseball player simply because they love you or so that they can brag to their friends, neighbors and colleagues. The latter may sound pretty harsh, but it happens every year across pro baseball. All that your parents are concerned with is helping YOU go as high as you can in pro baseball. Their goals do not match those of the front office, manager, coaches or scouts.
Here are some things which your parents can do which may hurt your cause before, during or after a pro baseball tryout:
- Don’t have your mom and dad call on your behalf to get you signed. They may call to find out the time and location of the tryout and write a check (or pay with a credit card) for any open tryouts. That’s it. Anything else may label you as a player who is not “man enough” to interview for the job of becoming a pro baseball player
- This happens every year: at some tryout, somewhere, a player’s family shows up and starts telling the coaching staff and scouts what they are doing wrong and/or causes a scene at the tryout. If your family cannot stay quiet and simply watch you perform then don’t invite them as they will kill your chances of getting signed no matter how talented you are
- After a tryout, do not have your family contact the manager or front office multiple times to get you signed. If you gave proper contact information to the team representatives, and if they like what they saw, then they will contact you. Remember, that to the professionals already on staff you are there to help them achieve THEIR goals and that is why they are paying you. Having your parents annoy anyone in the pro organizations simply won’t be tolerated
Sorry that this may sound harsh, but every year these types of things happen consistently. Remember that a tryout (before, during and after) is a job interview. Dress appropriately, be prepared, act professionally and show the team that you are adult enough to handle yourself well in a high-pressure situation. This is because you will be facing many high-pressure situations during the season should you make a pro baseball team.