<p>The following is a post that I made on the HSBBW. I thought that I might get a few more relatable responses by posting here, since this is more of an academically-oriented crowd and some of you might have similar questions or have gone through similar situations. If it helps at all, since Oberlin is a D3 school I don't think that whatever summer baseball I play is going to be as intense as it would be in a league with mostly D1 players. Anyhow, here's the post:</p>
<p>As a rising college freshman who's currently employed for the first time, I'm finally understanding the difficulty of balancing baseball with a full-time job. Furthermore, my experiences this summer have led me to realize the importance of networking in good internship positions over the summer in order to position oneself to be employed post-graduation. </p>
<p>Thus, my question is this: how do college baseball players balance the need to intern/work in prestigious and somewhat well-paying jobs and play baseball at the same time? Are there any summer baseball coaches out there that would allow a player (let's assume that he's a pitcher) to only show up on the days that he's pitching? I'd hate for it to come to that but unfortunately I don't see many other ways to get it done. Any thoughts? </p>
<p>I always appreciate the insight of this community and look forward to hearing from you all! Thank you in advance!</p>
<p>I hope you are well. I saw your HSBBWeb post, and you got some good feedback. </p>
<p>I can only give you my son’s experience, situation and thought process. My son was offered summer college baseball but declined both his freshmen and sophomore years to work an engineering internship. He wanted the work experience. Last year, I posted a question on HSBBWeb about the importance of summer college baseball. While the responses were informatative, they did not change my son’s way of thinking given his situation. My son earned a starting pitcher’s position his freshmen year. He worked hard, and he did well. He did the same thing this past season. His team won the conference, went to NCAA regionals, he earned some end of year conference awards. He pitched quite a few innings, and he felt he would be better served in the long run to take time off (from the game he loves) to get real world practical experience. At his school the corporate recruiters will be on campus his junior year (this coming year). </p>
<p>By no means was it any easy decision to forego baseball for an internship. This summer’s decision was more difficult than last year. I think it would be a much more difficult decision if he was not a starting pitcher, but a pitcher that needed innings & experience to become a starting pitcher…i hope that makes sense.</p>
<p>I think it is going to be up to the summer college baseball team to decide if they will allow you to work another job. Typcially that decision will be with the owner or GM. If they agree to it up front, I don’t see a problem. There are a lot of summer college baseball teams that are filled up with D3 rosters. You may have to look quite a bit harder to find the team that will allow you to work. I’ve been to quite a few summer college baseball games this year. Most of the pitchers are guys that did not see a lot of innings on their college team. They are trying to improve to get more innings next year. Your college coach may ask you in the Fall if you want to play summer college baseball. I would tell him “yes” but I’d also tell him that you’d like to work an internship. See what he says. You have nothing to lose.</p>
<p>Best of luck in the Fall, and don’t be a stranger. ;-)</p>
<p>Thanks for the advice, fenwaysouth! I’ve heard about your son’s phenomenal success in the Ivy League, so it doesn’t surprise me that he took a very thoughtful approach to the situation. Did he feel behind at all in fall workouts having not played in the summer?</p>
<p>I’ll keep you up to date with how my first season goes; thanks for the warm wishes! :)</p>
<p>I have a friend whose son just graduated with an accounting degree from a D3 school, where he played baseball. He spent summers all through college playing summer ball. I believe he worked very part time at a local country club pool that was extremely flexible around his playing/travel schedule. Despite the lack of “relevant” experience, he was able to secured a paid internship this summer at a top eight accounting firm, before he returns to complete his master’s in accounting (which I’m told is the usual route). I do think many employers, at least in certain fields, are understanding of the commitments college athletics require.</p>
<p>Not at all. He was working out every other day after work. He knows the exercises and workout routines that he needs to do. He is in great shape. He’ll start throwing in late July/early August to get ready for the Fall while having rested his arm for a couple months. Official practices don’t start until early Sept while captains practices start in mid-August. I think it is real important for players to listen to their bodys, and think long term. If the player’s primary long term goal is play professional baseball then I think it makes the most sense to play summer college baseball in the best league possible with the most exposure. </p>
<p>From what I’ve seen, summer college baseball benefits position players and non-starter pitchers the most. Depending on the league, some of these players see alot of action. The possibility of overuse is out there, so the players need to be careful.</p>
<p>I look forward to hearing how your freshmen season goes. Best of luck.</p>