Character Is What College Baseball Coaches Actually Buy

Your son’s character is how he is defined. Is he a hard worker or the shortcut guy. How do teachers talk about him? How does he treat the kid who isn’t starting? Those are all questions college coaches try to answer when they start doing background checks. Unless he’s throwing 95, they want to know what kind of person he is.

There are dozens of kids in the country who throw like him and hit like him. When a coach is comparing two of them, he takes the one who will be an asset to the program — on the field and off it. A great teammate is part of that. So is how he carries himself when nobody important is in the stands.

The worst thing for a staff is a liability issue. Trouble off the field. Drinking. Ineligibility. A problem in the clubhouse. Immaturity is not an excuse for a player. What he does in high school is usually a preview of what he’ll do at 19.

Make sure he treats everything like a coach is watching, because you never know who is. Work in school. Watch the language. Watch who he hangs around. His name is really the only thing he has. Protect it.

You can’t fake this with a highlight tape. You can live it in the car, in the classroom, and on a Tuesday when nobody important is there. Sit next to him. Model it. Then let him be the one who walks over.