When I was in my early teens, my dream was to play Major League Baseball. I used to eat, sleep, and dream baseball; I still have dreams where I’m playing. I thought I was pretty good and if I had kept up with it who knows what might have happened. In my late teens, music took over my life and baseball took a backseat.When Robin Yount retired in February 1994, it marked the end of an era; the last piece of the team that I grew up with and loved was really gone. Who was going to replace Robin Yount? I felt that center field should be taken over by someone local, someone who understood what taking over that position meant, and I was the perfect person to do it. So, I decided I was going to get myself in shape and try out at County Stadium and take over Robin’s spot in center field.
In order to accomplish that goal I knew I needed to get myself ready physically, mentally, and emotionally. But, I knew I didn’t have much time to get ready since the Brewers had tryouts every July. That only gave me five months to get ready.
Here are the three ways I got myself ready for a Major League tryout:
First, I needed to get myself in shape physically. I started running. The first time I went out, I was out of breath after three blocks. It was kind of shocking since I had considered myself an athlete. After going out on daily runs, it didn’t take long until I was able to run a couple of miles no problem.
The other part of my game I needed to work on since I hadn’t played baseball in 10 years was to go to the batting cage. I played softball a couple of times a week, but hitting a baseball is completely different. I was going regularly to the batting cage to hone my skills. I needed to become a hitter again.
The second part was to get myself mentally prepared. I had to get into a baseball mindset. I went over scenarios in my head. I visualized games where I had played well. I also re-read Charlie Lau’s The Art of Hitting .300. It was like my bible growing up, and anyone who wants to be a great hitter should read it.
The final piece was to get myself ready emotionally. I knew it was a long shot to make the team. I hadn’t played consistently for about 10 years. There were going to be players there that were at the top of their game. I decided that above all else, I was going to have fun with the tryout.
As spring rolled into summer I was getting ready. I saw a flyer at the batting cage announcing a tryout with the Philadelphia Phillies at Nathan Hale High School in West Allis at the end of June; just a month before the Brewers tryout. I figured this was a great way to gauge where I was before I tried out for the Brewers and see what I needed to work on.
When I showed up the morning of the tryout, there were about 90 players gathered; a lot of them teenagers. I could see they were nervous as we lined up to register. This was probably the biggest thing in their lives up until that moment. Since I knew I was a long shot I started making jokes and having fun. I wasn’t nervous at all.
The tryout started well. The first thing the scouts did was time us running. I was one of the 10 fastest guys there. I saw scouts looking at me and comparing notes. Major league scouts were talking about me! Things were looking up.
Next, I went to the outfield and took some fly balls. I started joking around some more. Channel 4 had a reporter and cameraman there. They saw how I was making everyone laugh. They asked me for an interview which I was happy to do.
It was my turn and I took some fly balls in right field. My arm was hurting but I didn’t want to hold myself out of this part of the try out, but in hindsight it wasn’t the best move. I was supposed to catch the ball and throw it to third base but when I caught the ball I quickly bounced it into second base and it slowly rolled to third. The next was barely better, at least it bounced around short.
I went in to hit. It was near the end of the day and there weren’t any catchers and the pitcher wasn’t throwing strikes but it didn’t matter, I was swinging anyway. I got wood on a few of them that I popped up in the infield, but no solid hits. What started out so well, ended quietly. I walked to the parking lot, without any scouts running after me, and saw one of my friends waiting for me. We talked about the entire experience. I had a Major League tryout!
Channel 4 did a spot on the tryout for the 6:00 news cast. It was really cool to see myself on TV taking fly balls and being interviewed. I had fun like I had set out to do and I had made a bunch of kids, who were nervous as heck, relax a little. I felt that I had done what I set out to do.
Since I knew I wasn’t going to improve my game much more in the next few weeks, I decided to skip the tryout with the Brewers; although I should have done it just to say I walked on the same field as so many great players.
If there’s something you’re pursuing make sure you are prepared physically, mentally, and emotionally for the experience. If things go your way, you’ll be ready to perform at a high level, and if things don’t go as planned at least you can take away something positive from the experience to help you grow as a person. You may even make a few people laugh in the process and end up on TV.
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