Every kid in America dreams of playing in the big leagues and they don't, just because. It's not because they blew out their knee. It's just because they didn't make it.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
When you're a kid growing up, you say you want to make it to the Major Leagues, and when you reach that dream, that's what it's all about.
Today's Little Leaguers, and there are millions of them each year, pick up how to hit and throw and field just by watching games on TV. By the time they're out of high school, the good ones are almost ready to play professional ball.
There are many kids in and out of baseball who think that just because they have some natural talent, they have the world by the tail.
Any time you're in the coaching business or managing in the minor leagues, when you see a player who has made it to the major leagues, you get a thrill out of that.
A ball player has to be kept hungry to become a big leaguer. That's why no boy from a rich family has ever made the big leagues.
The one thing I didn't understand was the Minor Leagues, how that part of the business works. I'd see Todd Hollandsworth out there one game, and the next game he wouldn't be there, and I didn't understand.
Kids don't learn the fundamentals of baseball at the games anymore.
Baseball gives every American boy a chance to excel, not just to be as good as someone else but to be better than someone else. This is the nature of man and the name of the game.
Finally, for all of us but a lucky few, the dream of playing big-time baseball is relinquished so we can get on with grown-up things.
Too many kids today are playing major league ball and don't belong there.