BANGOR, Maine — Randy Meehl had experienced the same childhood dream as virtually everyone else bearing a baseball glove at Mansfield Stadium on this sun-splashed morning.
“Ever since I went to that first Phillies’ game and got a dose of what Major League Baseball was all about,” said the 16-year-old outfielder from Upper Moreland, Pennsylvania, “I thought it would be awesome to play in the big leagues.”
That dream, or perhaps the more immediate goal of a college baseball career, remains to be determined not only for Meehl but for all of the approximately 150 players competing in this year’s Senior League World Series.
But for 45 of those standouts, their big-league dreams were aroused for at least three hours as they took part in a Major League Baseball Scouting Bureau workout Friday.
Three major league scouts put the players through a variety of drills designed to test overall athleticism, foot speed, arm strength, fielding prowess and batting ability. The results of those tests were added to the scouting service’s database and made available to all 30 major league teams.
“We were able to identify some kids who have some talent,” said Paul Mirocke, an MLB scout since 2000. “We were able to identify some kids we need to keep an eye on and keep track of, and hopefully we were able to educate the kids by letting them run through a pro-style workout in a structured environment and let them see what it’s all about.”
The players, up to five from each team in this year’s SLWS, were eager to live at least this part of the baseball dream, even if for a few hours.
“It’s a great opportunity,” said pitcher-first baseman John Doxakis of West University, Texas, a high school senior who already has committed to play baseball at Texas A&M. “When I heard it was happening I thought it would be pretty interesting to get in front of MLB scouts and work on the next level.
“I’m sure that’s everybody’s goal here, to get to the biggest stage, MLB, and here’s your chance to get in front of them and show them what you have.”
The drills in most cases were different from what the players experience during a typical team practice.
“They’re definitely a little unique,” said Meehl. “Usually when we’re doing this kind of stuff we’re doing game situations, but you really have to capitalize on your opportunities because you only get six throws, so you have to make at least three good ones to make them see that you can do it.”
The introduction this year of an MLB scouting showcase at both the Senior League World Series and the Big League World Series for 17- and 18-year-olds that concluded Tuesday in Easley, South Carolina, stems from an enhanced relationship between Major League Baseball and Little League.
“The genesis of bringing the Major League Baseball Scouting Bureau event here was actually started when we were in discussions with the folks from Major League Baseball about how they could get more invested in youth baseball,” said Steve Keener, Little League’s president and chief executive officer. “We had a lot of discussions about [11- and 12-year-old] Little League Baseball, which is what a lot of people think about and know about, but when we explained to them about our teenage divisions and some of the kids who have come out of those programs and gone on to play in the big leagues, they were intrigued with our Senior League and Big League divisions.
“The one thing MLB thought it could do right out of the box was to have a scouting bureau event at each of those events.”
Recent Senior League World Series alumni include current Boston Red Sox shortstop Xander Bogaerts, Los Angeles Dodgers closer Kenley Jansen, St. Louis Cardinals second baseman Kolten Wong, Philadelphia Phillies shortstop Freddy Galvis and Baltimore Orioles infielder Jonathan Schoop.
“Interestingly enough,” said Keener, “down at our Big League World Series in Easley [South Carolina], the director of the showcase came up afterward and said they found five kids there who weren’t in their database and that they would get them into it and out to all 30 clubs to let them know that these are kids who are worth taking a look at.
“That’s what we’re hoping to accomplish here, too.”
While the majority of the players at the Senior League showcase won’t end up in the big leagues, Keener and Major League Baseball officials — including Rob Manfred, the first Little League alumnus to serve as MLB commissioner — hope the exposure provided by the scouting showcase will still enhance their relationship with the sport.
“Rob understands how you learn to love this game as a kid, and whether or not you continue to play into your teen years you can be a fan for the rest of your life,” said Keener. “He gets it in terms of Little League being the best farm system there is in terms of fan development that they could ask for.”
Keener hopes the scouting combine exposure also will serve as a tool to stem the loss of teenage players to emerging travel team programs.
“We lose some kids to those teams because they think that’s what they have to do to advance their individual careers,” said Keener. “What we’re saying is you can still play in your community, be on a Senior League baseball team, come to an event that’s put on in a beautiful part of the country in a great stadium in a great town like you have here, and still have an opportunity for the best scouts in the business to put you through a workout.
“You don’t necessarily have to rely on getting selected to that elite team to have somebody pay attention to you.”
Such marketing considerations weren’t on the minds of the Senior League stars from Old Town, the rest of the United States, Canada, Curacao and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands as they stepped in and out of the batting cage Friday morning.
“It’s incredible, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity because not everybody gets to do this,” said Austin Sheehan, a first baseman who led Old Town to a 2-2 record and semifinal berth in its first SLWS appearance this week. “It’s not really nerve-wracking. I just looked at it as an opportunity to show these people what I can do. I’m not coming out here to try and show everyone up. I’m just doing what I can do.”
Individual grades were not released publicly, but Mirocke said the scouts liked what they saw.
“When I first came in I wasn’t expecting a whole lot, and then the first game I saw [Thursday] night was the Texas team and they’ve got some athletic kids,” he said. “Then we watched today and got to see players from all the teams and I was extremely impressed.
“It was more than what I expected.”
Mirocke also spoke to the players about off-field considerations the aspiring players should keep in mind if they hope to play big league or college baseball one day — such as how they use social media.
“It’s not just what we get out of it but hopefully what we give back to it as ambassadors of the game,” he said. “We’ve been fortunate enough to be in this profession and live this life, and hopefully we can give something back to the kids. At the end of the day they’re the ones who are going to take this next generation on, whether it be at the college level, at the pro level if they’re fortunate enough, or as Little League coaches themselves one day.
“Hopefully we can impart some wisdom that helps them.”
