the new forming cult of college baseball

[roanoke]

I don't want to get ahead of myself here - but I think thanks to ESPN and the SEC (and other league) channels, college baseball is rising at a very fast pace.

I think two things are happening. First, the pros are - as the ESPN announcers pointed out - learning to give draft ties to the college player, because that player has already lived away from home and coped with life more than a high schooler. Second, the college games are suddenly on tv all the time. If you are a star at a competitive school, you are on tv 100% more than a good double A prospect - who is never on tv.

I live in a high single A town - and the minor league baseball (Red Sox) is decent. Mookie Betts, Jackie Bradley and a host of other world champions played here. I'll bet few of us can name a single AA minor leaguer on a specific team - and most college players start at high A.

The bus rides are long and hard. The per diem is not exotic. I know some kids live in the basement of willing family's homes. College life is a heck of a lot easier.

So I am thinking we are on the cusp of a period when kids going to college and staying three years and preferring college to signing and bussing around in Pulaski, Virginia (that is where Volpe is playing) is on the horizon. Vandy stars like Kumar Rocker and Austen Martin will be ESPN cult figures. Tyler Brown may be one too - and maybe Leiter. I am astounded how many people around here know our full line-up and talk to me about Bleday and Scott and Paul and Ray and Infante and DeMarco like they are big leaguers who the whole country followed for three weeks or so. In fact, the #1 and #3 most watched baseball games on ESPN this year involved Vandy - #2 was the Yankees against the Red Sox. Do not underestimate the value of this publicity going forward. Just sayin'. In college baseball, we are branding - and it is good.

[commadore]

Agree. Here in Montgomery we have the Tampa AA team. I talked to David Price one night while he was charting pitches and he said 8 of them were living in one apartment. Compare to the freshmen dorms.
I also have been surprised at the number of people at church that would watch us on Saturday night, or at least follow us. It really is about time.

[Versus75]

David Price ... said 8 of them were living in one apartment.

Yeah, it’s too bad that Price didn’t get enough of a signing bonus to afford a decent apartment of his own.
$5.6 million did not go very far in 2007.

But I get your point. Most of the minor leaguers are just scraping by. If they don’t make it to the bigs and don’t have a college diploma, it can be rough sledding.

[commadore]

David Price ... said 8 of them were living in one apartment.

Yeah, it’s too bad that Price didn’t get enough of a signing bonus to afford a decent apartment of his own.
$5.6 million did not go very far in 2007.

But I get your point. Most of the minor leaguers are just scraping by. If they don’t make it to the bigs and don’t have a college diploma, it can be rough sledding.

He didn't get a place because he didn't want to sign a 6 month lease when he knew he'd be here less than two months. Wearing cutoff jeans and a faded polo shirt, the fans didn't realize who he was until the 7th inning. By that time, he'd volunteered to sign Ben's hat (which is now in a shadow box) and a baseball (which he pulled out of his pocket). Really nice guy. Of course we were both wearing Vandy shirts and hats. Only evidence of wealth was an approximate 2 carat stud earring. I'll say it was massive. Ha.

[StarTraveler]

I think there's a grain of truth to this, but it's tough on the players due to the uncertainty of it all.

My daughter knew a player in her junior class in college who was drafted in 2013 in the third or fourth round. I think he got a decent signing bonus as a result. She went to see him play on a AA team the summer of 2014 and described conditions similar to what was noted above. Several players shared an apartment since no one knows how long they'll be with that particular team; some were struggling, creating tension among all. Players can be moved up, down, or even traded at basically a moment's notice. They had to be ready to go when called, even leaving possessions and their vehicle behind, if necessary, in order to catch a plane to another spot. I understood this to be a worry since they'd seen it happen.

This guy went through several minor league teams and through a couple of organizations before finally being called up to the Majors in 2018, five years after being drafted. He led his team in home runs that season.

However, he was one of the lucky ones; most guys drafted and signed, whether out of high school or college, never make it to the big leagues, and those drafted out of high school probably don't have any high-paying marketable skills when their journey finally ends. At least those drafted out of college have either a degree or college credits that can be used toward a degree if they choose to do so.

[OldDude]

Hope a lot of recruits and parents read this thread. The majority of 18 year old new HS grads are not prepared to move into this life style. College provides a more safe and stable (and certainly more comfortable) transition to physical and emotional maturity.