Should I Walk-On?

Rob Naddelman: Through a Parent’s Eyes

I can’t tell you how many of our Baseball Factory parents and players have asked this question over the past 15 years. For anyone not familiar with the term “Walk On,” it is in reference to a player that decides to attend a college and earn a spot on the baseball roster without having a scholarship commitment, and in some instances, without even being recruited. It certainly is a very tough decision and there is no blanket answer to the above question. Each family and each baseball program is a unique circumstance.

The New York Times had a great article recently entitled, “For College Walk-Ons, a Road Less Traveled Makes All the Difference.” It detailed the stories of Brett Gardner (current CF for the NY Yankees), Ryan Howard (former MVP for the Philadelphia Phillies), and Eric Karros (former 1B for the LA Dodgers). All three of these players walked on to their college baseball programs and then turned into Major Leaguers. While these stories are very inspirational and are a testament to their hard work, it doesn’t mean that “walking on” is the right decision for each family. For every Brett Gardner success story, there are hundreds of players that get cut from their college program and never have a chance to pursue college baseball.

Kelly Kulina, our Senior Vice President of the Exclusive Program, has told me time and time again that when he was the Associate Head Coach and Recruiting Coordinator at the University of Maryland, they had 75-100 players each year that would try to walk on. The program might keep one or two of the players and the rest never had a chance to play college baseball. Kelly believes that the majority of these players could have been college baseball players, just not players at the University of Maryland. They were a better fit for smaller programs and not the right match for the rigors of playing Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) baseball. Most of these players probably didn’t market themselves to a variety of college programs or did not have any other college baseball coaches showing interest. With no other baseball options to consider, they most likely chose University of Maryland for academic or social reasons.

My advice to Baseball Factory families on this topic has always been consistent. Have as many options as possible before making a decision to walk-on. Your son may decide that he wants to try and walk-on, because in the end, there are just too many things about that particular school that he loves and can’t pass up. However, I would want that player to have to say “no thank you” to a number of other schools that have shown interest in him for baseball.

In my mind, if you explore all your options, and can make an informed decision one way or another, you can’t go wrong. It is only when you make a desperate move, or when you haven’t given the process 100% effort that regrets seem to set in.


Rob Naddelman is the President of Baseball Factory. Naddelman is a former two-time All Ivy League Third Baseman at the University of Pennsylvania, where he competed in a College World Series Regional. He has served as the President of Baseball Factory for the past 13 years, and also is the Executive Director of Baseball Factory's charitable arm The B.A.S.E. - H.I.T. Foundation. Naddelman and Steve Sclafani (CEO) have been featured in Business Week and CNN for their work in building Baseball Factory into the nation's leader in player development and college placement.

Torre Tears Into the Yankees

Jason Budden: Un-Common Sense?
Is anything in sports sacred anymore? It used to be that what happened in the clubhouse, stayed in the clubhouse. I don’t know when Vegas trademarked this statement, but these days, What Happens in Vegas Stays in Vegas…and what happens in the clubhouse, is blasted throughout the media and apparently, exposed in tell all books by Joe Torre.

As a lifelong Orioles fan (and Yankee hater) I never disliked Joe Torre. I could list you 50 players on the Yankees that I did dislike, but I always respected Torre. He re-created a dynasty in New York that rivaled the days of Mantle and DiMaggio, Yogi and Whitey, and Ruth and Gehrig. He led the Yankees to four World Series titles in the span of five years, and appeared to do it the right way. He created leaders (Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera) and gamers (Scott Brosius and Paul O’Neill) and managed to get every last drop of talent out of veteran players (Bernie Williams, Orlando Hernandez and Luis Sojo).

But all of that respect is gone with the publishing of a new book called The Yankee Years, by Tom Verducci and Joe Torre in which the book reveals that the players called Alex Rodriguez, “A-Fraud” behind his back. The book claims that A-Rod had a “Single White Female” obsession with Jeter. It also rips general manager Brian Cashman and dishes on the Steinbrenner family.

Now Torre can claim that these comments are Verducci’s words and not quotes (which is true), but his name is on the book. His image is on the cover. He reviewed and approved every paragraph. And he got paid for it.

Why Joe? Does this really make you feel better about how things ended in New York? The majority of the baseball watching world would agree that you got a raw deal. Is this what you remember most about the Yankee teams that you managed? The dirt. Not the championships or the great games or great memories or even the great players you molded into stars? Did you want revenge that badly that you felt it was important for the world to know what happened behind closed doors?

Come on! You moved on to Los Angeles. I’ve seen the commercials. You’re doing yoga and drinking wheat grass. You were managing the Dodgers in October while Rodriguez, Cashman and the Steinbrenners were sitting at home watching. You were the clear winner in this situation. Torre 1, Yankees 0.

So why bring it all up again? Isn’t your success combined with the Yankees’ failure enough to provide closure? How does it help your conscience by trying to humiliate Alex Rodriguez? I assume you don’t need the money, so I lack to see the motivation. Maybe LA really has changed you. You used to avoid sensationalism at all costs, now you are feeding the tabloid frenzy.

Well congrats Joe. We now have no winners, just a bunch of losers, with your name on top of the list.

(check out Buster Olney’s blog for some good reading on this subject)


Jason Budden is the Vice President of Operations and Marketing at Baseball Factory. Jason joined the Baseball Factory in 1997 while still a junior in high school. After going through the Baseball Factory's college recruiting program he was placed at Johns Hopkins University where he played two years of college baseball before graduating with a degree in Economics. After working part-time at the Factory throughout college, Jason joined the team as a full-time employee in January 2002 when he was promoted to Director of Marketing. He currently oversees all marketing projects and sponsorship opportunities at Baseball Factory. He is also in charge of development and marketing for Baseball University, the leader in online baseball education and a division of Baseball Factory.

Farewell to Dodgertown

Rob Naddelman: Through a Parent’s Eyes

On December 30, 2008 the last baseball event was held at the hallowed grounds of Dodgertown, the Spring Training home of the LA Dodgers. The final event happened to be Baseball Factory’s Christmas Camp and Tournament. Dodgertown has hosted Spring Training for the Dodgers since they resided in Brooklyn New York. Dodgertown holds a very special place in the history of baseball and it is sad to see the facility coming to an end due to the Dodgers moving their spring home to Glendale, AZ starting in 2009.

Baseball Factory has been calling Dodgertown home for its Player Development events since 2000. Dodgertown’s door opened to us based upon a personal relationship I had with Kevin O’Malley. Kevin was my teammate at the University of Pennsylvania and is the son of former Dodgers owner Peter O’Malley. I told Kevin that Baseball Factory wanted to hold a Pre Season All America event to showcase the best players we had seen throughout the calendar year and we needed a premier facility to host the event. He introduced us to the General Manager of the complex and the relationship grew from there. Fast forward to December 2008, and we have held 24 similar events at Dodgertown over the past nine years including our August World Series, November Select Training and Competition, and our December Camp and Tournament. Thousands of players and parents have traveled to Dodgertown to participate in Baseball Factory programs and left with such positive feelings and emotions for this iconic facility.

Here are my Top 10 most memorable Dodgertown moments, from these past nine years and 24 events, that I will always cherish:

1. The Dodgertown Staff. What a pleasure they were to work with (especially our contact Vicki Hahn). The whole staff made us feel at home and worked hard to provide our players with the best baseball experience of their lives. The grounds crew, conference center staff, and dining room workers treated our kids like big leaguers and they will be missed by our staff.

2. The Dodger Memorabilia and Nostalgia. Dodgertown was like a baseball museum. It was amazing to see the photos of Gil Hodges, Sandy Koufax, Roy Campanella, Jackie Robinson, and many, many others. As a baseball fan, you couldn’t help but get chills thinking about staying in the same hotel rooms as these former great players. The Dodgertown staff would always remind me that the room I stayed in each time was Tommy Lasorda’s favorite.

3. In January 2000 during our All America event, watching a young Galvin Floyd (current White Sox pitcher) toe the rubber at the bullpen strings mound as a HS Junior and light up the radar gun for the fifty plus college coaches and pro scouts in attendance. Anyone who was there that day knew we were watching someone who was going to be pretty special at the MLB level.

4. In January 2000 and 2001 at our All America events, watching in awe of a young 3B from Virginia as we moved through the defensive workout and batting practice rounds like a polished veteran. He was also the most respectful player that I have interacted with over my many years of running Baseball Factory. I knew that not only would this player excel at the MLB level, but he would be the type of personality to build a franchise around. This player was David Wright, perennial All Star and the face of the NY Mets.

5. In January 2000 at our All America event, watching a relationship build between a young RHP from NJ that I knew intimately over his development, and a scout for the Baltimore Orioles. This RHP from NJ had participated in Baseball Factory events going back to his 7th grade years. He was a diamond in the rough that nobody knew about besides Baseball Factory. The scout from the Orioles took a liking to him and drafted him out of college. The big RHP grew into his body, developed a devastating fastball, and exploding off-speed pitches. He made his debut in the Oriole bullpen in 2006 and is named James Hoey. The scout was Dean Albany, who was just recently named National Crosschecker for the Baltimore Orioles.

6. In January 2001 and 2002 at our All America events, watching the three best HS athletes I have ever seen in person, Lastings Milledge, Delmon Young, and BJ Upton. Lastings hit six consecutive home runs in his batting practice round at Holman Stadium, Delmon jumped on the mound in a joking manner and touched 92 mph with his first pitch, and BJ glided all over the field as a young HS shortstop. These three guys were all 5 tool players with incredible upside.

7. In January 2000 and 2003 at our All America events, watching two HS arms from Florida that were destined to excel in the bullpen for any MLB club. They both made their debut in 2008 with the St. Louis Cardinals (Mark Worrell and Chris Perez) and should have fine pro careers. Those guys were bulldogs in high school with a ton of competitive flair.

8. Hearing the incredibly moving and motivational speeches from Clint Hurdle and Rick Sofield. These guys can really get you going and know how to push players to achieve greatness.

9. Seeing former legendary college coach, Jim Spooner, share his knowledge of the game with thousands of players. Spoon was the Baseball Factory’s version of Don Zimmer. Sadly, Coach Spooner passed away this year after a long battle with Leukemia.

10. Watching countless high school players learn, attack their weaknesses, improve their game, and develop into fine college players with great careers due to the great programs that Steve Bernhardt, our EVP of Baseball Operations, put together for these boys.

Thank you for the memories Dodgertown! Although Baseball Factory has some very exciting plans for new events in 2009 that will be released shortly, Dodgertown will always be remembered fondly in our hearts.

Rob Naddelman is the President of Baseball Factory. Naddelman is a former two-time All Ivy League Third Baseman at the University of Pennsylvania, where he competed in a College World Series Regional. He has served as the President of Baseball Factory for the past 13 years, and also is the Executive Director of Baseball Factory's charitable arm The B.A.S.E. - H.I.T. Foundation. Naddelman and Steve Sclafani (CEO) have been featured in Business Week and CNN for their work in building Baseball Factory into the nation's leader in player development and college placement.

Playoffs Disappointing for Top Teams

Jason Budden: Un-Common Sense?

The Cubs and Angels came into the playoffs as the consensus favorites for both leagues, but will have to wait until next year for another shot at the title. As the divisional round of the playoffs come to a close, let’s take a look at each series:

Cubs vs. Dodgers
What happened? The Cubs were the best team in the National League for most of, if not all of the regular season, yet they looked more like the Seattle Mariners during their series against the Dodgers. As a team, they struggled on offense, especially their top players. Alfonso Soriano, Aramis Ramirez and Geovany Soto were 5-36 combined in the series. It didn’t help that they committed six errors during the three game sweep, including four errors during Game Two.

On the other hand, the Dodgers are looking more and more like the team to beat. Led by Manny Ramirez, the series never looked in doubt. With arguably the best bullpen left in the playoffs, the Dodgers can see a title getting closer and closer.

Phils vs. Brewers
Not quite as lopsided, the Phils were able to take advantage of a Brewers team that seemed to run out of steam. This time, C.C. Sabathia wasn’t able to deliver on three days rest. He has been a machine during the last month of the season, basically putting the Brewers on his back and carrying them into the playoffs. In the end, pitching performances by Cole Hamels, Brett Myers and Joe Blanton led the Phils into the NLCS. The starting pitchers for the Phils gave up only five runs in 25 innings. Mix in key two out home runs by Shane Victorino and Pat Burrell and the Brewers were overmatched.

Rays vs. White Sox
Similar to the Phils/Brewers series, this one never truly seemed in doubt. The Rays looked very strong in taking games one and two in Tampa. Good performances by the starting pitchers and especially by the bullpen, plus timely hitting from Evan Longoria, Akinori Iwamura and B.J. Upton. The White Sox seemed a bit worn down after battling the Twins for the AL Central crown. They even admitted after the series that they lost to a better team in the Rays.

“They played better than us. There’s no doubt. They pitched better. They execute better. They got big hits,” White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen said. “They really did a tremendous job.”

Whether right or wrong, Guillen is never shy to voice his opinion. This time he got it spot on.

Angels vs. Red Sox
What a great series, especially if you are a Red Sox fan. Each game was close and exciting. Game One was dominated by two aces, Jon Lester for the Red Sox and John Lackey for the Angels. Lackey made one mistake, giving up a two-out home run to Jason Bay. Lester didn’t make a mistake, striking out seven while walking only one. In game two, J.D. Drew returned from injury to hit a two-run game winning home run in the top of the ninth. The home run came off of Francisco Rodriguez, the Angels closer who in 2008 set the single season record for saves in a season with 62.

The Angels pulled out a 12th inning victory over the Red Sox as the series returned to Boston for Game Three, setting up even more suspense for Game Four. Lester and Lackey returned to duel again and once more, Lester got the better of the matchup. Lester went another strong seven innings giving up no runs while striking out four. Lackey again gave up two runs to the Red Sox and left the game behind. The Angels rallied and got two runs off the Red Sox bullpen, but in the bottom of the 9th inning, the Jed Lowrie came through with an RBI single, driving in Bay who had doubled.

Both League Championship Series should provide us with some suspense and fireworks. The Red Sox and Rays are very familiar with each other and there is no love lost. The Dodgers are arguably the hottest team in baseball, but are going up against a team and a city that are anxious for a championship.



Jason Budden is the Vice President of Operations and Marketing at Baseball Factory. Jason joined the Baseball Factory in 1997 while still a junior in high school. After going through the Baseball Factory's college recruiting program he was placed at Johns Hopkins University where he played two years of college baseball before graduating with a degree in Economics. After working part-time at the Factory throughout college, Jason joined the team as a full-time employee in January 2002 when he was promoted to Director of Marketing. He currently oversees all marketing projects and sponsorship opportunities at Baseball Factory. He is also in charge of development and marketing for Baseball University, the leader in online baseball education and a division of Baseball Factory.