How to Become a Pro Baseball Player

Almost every Little League kid dreams of making it to the major leagues. Of course, the odds against that ever happening are incredibly high. But, if you follow these steps, you might be able to get a leg up on the competition.

Difficulty:

Challenging

Instructions

1. Practice baseball basics until they are second nature. Fielding hard-hit grounders, shagging fly balls in the outfield, perfecting a quick throw to first base and hitting must become natural to you. You can team up with a friend when you can and book time at the batting cages every chance you get.

2. Begin playing organized baseball at an early age. Working within the more formal context of a team is a skill that should be learned early on.

3. Protect your arm while your body is developing. Shoulder and elbow injuries are the most common youth-baseball injuries, and over-use is one of the most common causes of injury. If your arm hurts or feels overly tired, stop throwing. And don't worry about throwing a curve until you get into high school. Throwing curves any sooner and you run the risk of permanently hurting your shoulder.

4. Pick a position at the age of 12 or 13. It is at this age where you will begin to hone specific position-related skills, particularly if you choose to become a pitcher or catcher. If possible, work with an individual coach. Many former Major League Baseball players are now offering this service. If this is not possible, go to training clinics. They occur year around.

5. Begin a supervised, general body-building and strength program.

6. Choose a high school with a good baseball reputation--you might have to consider a private school. In high school, you may want to limit yourself to baseball only unless you are a high quality, multi-sport athlete.

7. Choose college over accepting a professional baseball contract (should you be a late round draft choice directly out of high school). High draft choices are often offered large signing bonuses, which make signing a better lifetime decision. Without such a signing bonus, taking a college athletic scholarship is a the more logical choice. Should your skills develop quickly while in college or junior college, you can always enter the draft at that time.

8. Work diligently when you finally begin play as a farm club member--whether it be in a D-level rookie league or at the triple-A level. Baseball is a sport where patience really is a virtue. Many diligent players finally make it to the "bigs" when more talented but less disciplined players do not.

Resources

• Website that links to hundreds of baseball clinics.
• Website that has journals of players and what it's like to become a major leaguer.
• Article that discusses pros and cons of a career in professional baseball.
• Description of the minor league system.