Attitude - The baseball Attitude by Mark Cresse

This is baseball coach Mark Cresse and I’d like to talk about the
attitude and work ethic it takes in order to play baseball at a high
level. It is becoming very competitive at many of the larger high
schools here in Orange County. The competition to just make the team is
getting tougher and tougher so I have decided to give you my opinion of
how a good attitude and work ethic is a must in order to play baseball
at a high level of play. One of the first questions I ask the campers on
the first day of camp is "how many of you want to play in the major
leagues some day?" No surprise, every hand goes up high into the air. In
our 26 years of teaching baseball to the youth of Orange County, we have
put 12 players into the major leagues. Two of those players, Mike Piazza
and Jeff Kent, have a chance of being elected into the baseball hall of
fame. The reason I am bringing up this point is to remind all you
campers how tough the competition is to play in the major leagues. Only
7% of all the players that sign professional contracts make it to the
major leagues. The following tips will help give you the best chance of
making your dream come true!

I would like to start by giving you some true stories about a couple of
the players that I coached during my tenure with the Los Angeles
Dodgers. The first player that I would like to comment about is an
outfielder named Daryl Strawberry. There are some people in this world
that are born with so much natural talent that they are going to play in
the major leagues regardless of the effort that they put in as a
youngster growing up. Daryl Strawberry was this kind of natural talent.
He played at Crenshaw High School in Los Angeles and was the first
player picked in the professional baseball draft by the New York Mets.
Strawberry was 6'4" tall and had muscles on top of muscles. Most people
have to go to the gym every day to get a body like his, but Daryl got
his without lifting a weight. He was a star player for the Mets and came
to the Dodgers as a free agent. He had an opportunity to become one of
the best baseball players of all time, but he threw it all away by
making a very bad decision to try cocaine. He was eventually suspended
from baseball and his great career came to an abrupt end. He is a
perfect example of a player that was given a gift and although he did
play several seasons in the major leagues, he fell considerably short of
his potential. There are not many youngsters that are given this "golden
ticket".

The next two players that I would like to talk about are the complete
opposite of Daryl Strawberry. The first player was a great pitcher named
Orel Hershiser. Orel won the Cy Young Award in 1988 meaning he was the
best pitcher in the National League. Eric Karros was a National League
All Star first baseman who played for the Dodgers for over ten seasons.
Both players had long major league careers. Another thing that both
these players have in common is that both of them were cut from their
high school baseball teams the first time they tried out as freshmen.
Karros was actually cut his sophomore season as well. Hershiser went on
to play his college career at Bowling Green University and Eric Karros
went on to walk on to try out and play at UCLA. It would have been easy
for both of these players to give up and quit after they were told that
they were not good enough to play at their high schools, but both used
this road block to help motivate them to work even harder so that they
would come back the next year and change the coach's mind. The message
here for you campers is to not let anyone tell you that you cannot do
something until you have done everything within your powers to change
their mind!

The last story that I would like to share with you is the true story of
how Mike Piazza got his chance to play professional baseball. Mike
Piazza grew up in a small town in Pennsylvania. Mike's father, Vince
Piazza, was a childhood friend of Dodger manag
er, Tommy Lasorda. Mike
Piazza had a good high school career but was not recognized as a
potential professional baseball player by any scout that saw him play.
After his high school career ended, Mike went and played his freshman
year of college at Miami Dade junior college in Miami, Florida. After
his freshman season ended, Mike's father called Lasorda on the phone and
asked him for a favor. He asked Tommy if he would arrange a try out for
Mike with the Dodgers. This is the only time that I have ever heard of a
private try out like this. Lasorda called the Dodger scouting director,
Ben Wade, and arranged the tryout at Dodger Stadium. There were only
five people at the tryout, Mike Piazza, Vince Piazza, Ben Wade, Tommy
Lasorda and me. I was there to hit ground balls and throw batting
practice. I say hit some ground balls since Mike Piazza played first
base his entire high school and college career. Mike's defensive skills
as a first baseman were below average, but his hitting was very
impressive. I threw about 80 pitches to Mike and he hit about 30 of them
over the fence at Dodger Stadium. Once the hitting session was over,
Lasorda walked over to Ben Wade and asked, "What do you think Ben?" Ben
answered by saying he was interested and would like a copy of Mike's
college schedule for the next season. Lasorda then replied, "Ben, if
Mike was a catcher and he hit balls like he did today, would you sign
him?" Ben Wade did not even hesitate when he answered "If he was a
catcher, I would sign him today!" Lasorda then replied, "Then sign him,
because as of this minute, Mike is a catcher". They went upstairs and
signed a contract and Mike was now a catcher in the Dodger organization.
Mike worked his way up through the minor leagues and the rest is
history!

During your baseball career you will come across various types of
opportunities to play baseball and show people what you can do. You
never know who is watching as you play so whenever you run onto a
baseball field never give less than 100% every time you play.

This is what you have to think about as your player heads closer toward
his high school career. In some of the larger schools in Southern
California, over 100 players will show up to try out for the varsity
team. Most coaches in high school carry 17 or 18 players on their teams.
That means 82 players go home without a uniform and a frown on their
faces. I want my campers to go home happy with a uniform in hand and a
smile on their face. It all starts with the development of a great
positive attitude. Coaches like to see players that look like they are
having fun when they are playing baseball. Always look at the coach in
the eyes when he is talking to you and listen to what he is telling you.
Never show up late for any meeting, practice or game. Better than that,
be the first player on the field! Hustle everywhere you go on the field,
never walk when you can run. If the coach tells you something, avoid
responding with a “yeah” or “nah” and respond to your coach with
a “yes sir” or “no sir”. Good manners will impress your coach!
Try and get your body into the best and strongest condition that you
can. Your diet and what you eat and drink is a very important part in
developing your bodies. Another thing that your player needs to learn is
how to compete. Too many young players do not know how to deal with the
highs and lows that are a part of competing in a team sport. You need to
teach your player to win with dignity. Just as important is the ability
to learn to deal with a defeat. How a player deals with these highs and
lows is a very important part in the development of a good player.

I hope that you enjoyed some of my thoughts and you can share them with
your player.

Respectfully Yours
Mark Cresse
Bullpen coach, L.A. Dodgers (1974-1998)