I think, as a scout, the worst thing a kid can have as a high school senior or even a high school...

I think, as a scout, the worst thing a kid can have as a high school senior or even a high school junior is a beard. That's not good. You walk into a ballpark and you've never seen the kid yet, but you walk in and he's got a fully grown beard. That tells me he's mature and there's not projection there. It's all about perception. Perception is 90 percent of it. Whether it's right or wrong, if I walk into a ballpark and I see a kid with a beard and he's just OK, well I can't project anymore. The kid's fully matured. That's one thing for me, I like baby-faced guys.

Not selling jeans, but facewash.

almost 2 years ago FTLOTC 8 comments 0 recs |

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Ha!

I was just quoting this a la Zach Lee. He’s shown a fairly robust beard for his age. It also struck me when watching Purke in the playoffs. Not exactly Jeff Reardon, but there was a beard there.

by blackoutyears on Aug 19, 2010 3:12 PM EDT reply actions

Has anyone actually systematically studied

whether less physically mature pitching prospects (as determined by facial hair, physical build, ect.) have a greater tendency to increase velocity compared to those who are fully matured when drafted? (Obviously, a distinction must be made between high schoolers and college draftees.)

by FTLOTC on Aug 19, 2010 10:52 PM EDT up reply actions

I think the bigger isue

is that the presence of facial hair =/= full physical maturity, and if your scout really thinks that, that’s not good.

"Every time you go to that cook-off you get drunk as a poet on payday!"

by DrewRusse on Aug 20, 2010 3:31 AM EDT up reply actions

And for the record, I think projecting on a player/going with your gut instinct is not without merit, but you have to draw the line somewhere.

"Every time you go to that cook-off you get drunk as a poet on payday!"

by DrewRusse on Aug 20, 2010 3:35 AM EDT up reply actions

Agree

This quote just made me shake my head in disgust. The article as a whole has some good stuff, but a few of the quotes like this one are laughable.

by OremLK on Aug 24, 2010 3:07 AM EDT up reply actions

I don't know about scouting because I never got scouted in high school

but my high school coach always had a strict No Facial Hair rule, and I always thought it was ridiculous, at least at that level. I could grow a beard by the time I was a sophomore and a big, full, dirty beard by the time I was a junior. It bothered me because if I would have been batting against me and my full beard, I would have been scared to death of this full grown beardy man throwing a ball at me. Intimidation, man.

by NateHST on Aug 23, 2010 9:05 PM EDT reply actions