There are several reasons that baseball is different from
football, or football is different from basketball and basketball from hockey.
But one of the biggest reasons baseball is so different from all of them, is
the fact that it’s not a game that just anyone can come in and dominate.
Players have to go through a process in baseball before ever
given a chance to play at the major league level. Not only do they have to grow
in their abilities, but they need to develop the right kind of character that
makes you a major league baseball player.
This example was never more true than the recent news that
Bryce Harper has been optioned back to the minor leagues. This kid has been
hyped as the best position player prospect of all time. He’s dominated ever
level of baseball he’s played. He’s proven that he has what it takes to compete
in the majors. The majority of players and even his own coach believe he should
be on the major league roster. But for some reason the executives of the ball
club don’t feel the same way. And I have to say that I tend to agree with them.
Now some people will say that they are just keeping him down
to gain another year of arbitration from him, and that may be well and true.
But the fact remains that this kid is till just 19 years old and he’s not ready
to face major league pitching on a daily basis. Even though he’s one of the
most gifted prospects of all time, he’s just not ready to dominate the league
the way he has at other levels.
That is not the case in any other sport. When Kobe Bryant or
LeBron James leaves high school to go to the NBA, they are ready to instantly become
leaders of their team and the league. There is no doubt that they will
instantly become the best player on their team. They don’t have to go through
some process to become ready for the NBA, they’re ready now.
Cam Newton and Adrian Peterson don’t need to spend time in the
Canadian Football League before they’re ready to compete in the NFL; they’re
ready the moment they leave college. At least in football you do have to spend
three years in college, but at age 20 most of these kids are prepared to become
major factors in their sport.
You can say the same about hockey with Sidney Crosby or any
other teenaged winger that can instantly put up 50 points in a season. And in
any other sport there isn’t normally a process that players absolutely have to
go through like in baseball.
But that process is what makes this sport so much more
special than any other sport. Stephan Strasburg, Harper, Derek Jeter, they all
HAD to go through the minor league ranks and perform before they were ready to
join the big leagues. Playing baseball is so different from any other sport.
You could be the best player on your high school, college or minor league team
but you still might not have what it takes to succeed in Major League Baseball.
I’m sure a month or two from now Harper will get the call to
“The Show” and he’ll do just fine. But the fact that this supposed phenom of
the sport has gone through more than one season in the minor leagues and still
hasn’t proven he’s ready, just shows how difficult this sport really is, and
how demanding it can be on even the greatest of athletes.
You can follow Jake on
Twitter at: @j8a1k0e or on his MLB Braves blog at: http://bravesandmore.mlblogs.com
Jake also
writes for Gloves
Off Sports Business.
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