From High School to the Pros-a baseball interview

Baseball Interview by Bill Bathe with Mike Brumley, field coordinater of the Texas Rangers and former major league ballplayer. What a high schooler can expect when signing a pro contract.This baseball interview was conducted over the phone before Mike was taking off for spring training.

Baseball Interview

One of the biggest adjustments a high school ballplayer can make at the pro level is the work load of playing everyday.

High school ballplayers are not used to playing seven days a week and doing the day in and day out grind of playing ball everyday.

According to Mike, after coaching at the rookie ball level, this was the one thing that he noticed. Players getting worn down. Simply because they are not used to the everyday grind.

One other thing he noticed was players were adjusting to being one hundred percent committed to baseball. They are not used to dedicating all their time to the game of baseball. In high school they had other things going on, home, school, girlfriends, etc. But at rookie ball, they are away from their families and other things that are familiar to them.

In addition, according to Mike, handling failure is a big thing. When playing at the high school level, they are used to being the star. They excel at the high school level. However, they are now thrust into a league where everyone is just as good if not better than they are. They may encounter their first slump, or may not perform as well. And the way they handle this will determine if they go further or not. One of the biggest lessons they will learn is how to handle failure.

Another issue is being homesick. This is probably their first time being away from home. And not only are they away from home, they are trying to make it in a stressful environment. But, according to Mike, what he has seen is the other signed high school players bonding with eachother to ease the stress. They may be a little homesick at first but when they meet their other teammates, they form a bond, and become support groups for eachother.

According to Mike the biggest issues he saw was handling failure and learning to adjust to working everyday and being commited.

Interview was performed by phone on Feb. 4, 2005.