Today, Cubs 2nd base prospect Javier Baez gets
called up to the major leagues. Yawn. Maybe it’s just me, but every time an
exciting Top 100 Prospect gets called up, I lose interest. Maybe it’s because I
was never a highly touted prospect, maybe because I never got heavily recruited
in high school or was never a star athlete in any sense, but I just think that
the “New, Hot, Sexy, Hip” thing is usually overhyped. All of these prospects
have risks attached to them, a lot turn out to be busts (just google Top MLB
Prospect Busts), and most of them, if they make a significant contribution,
will do so later in their careers as a post-hype sleeper, a la Lonnie
Chisenhall this year, or Alex Gordon for the Royals.
As for me, I relish being a relative dodgeball unknown who
came out of nowhere to be a legitimate dodgeball force. Everyone who starts
dodgeball goes through a learning curve, everyone (including myself) sucks
their first season, doesn’t matter if you have a the biggest arm ever or the
quickest reflexes in the history of mankind. There’s just an adjustment period
to figure it out. However, most new people get assessed by the veterans (in
order to build teams for the future) and attributes to look for are how big of
an arm, how athletic, willingness to catch. Well, I had no ability to throw
hard, I don’t look very athletic, but I was willing to catch, probably the
least important skill dodgeball “scouts” watch out for. I was not a prospect
but panned out. TAKE THAT, Javier Baez!
Prospects for dating also tend to fizzle out. I mean, the
biggest pet peeve that I have about online dating is right now is that there’s
so much buildup before meeting face to face, so much introduction, “winking,”
getting to know one another, making sure the other person isn’t a
creeper/loser/fake account, etc., but then the date itself is the big “make-or-break”-
if it’s a break, you don’t ever talk to that person ever again, life goes on
without them. It makes the buildup seem pointless and futile and a waste of
time, and online dating too much work.
It’s really a lot like following a baseball prospect- you scout them
through online dating and “draft them” by making the initial contact. When they
respond back, you feel great, you feel like there could be something here. They
laugh at one of your jokes, equivalent of a home run in Double-AA providing
encouragement. Conversations go back and forth for a week, you get to know the
person, feel like they’re a real person and not just on online
identity/baseball player. Finally the big day comes, the day of the date (the
day of the callup), and the first at-bat you’re ready, but within 30 minutes (2
at-bats of groundout, strike out looking) you’re ready to move on to something
else. That is the deflating feeling of a prospect bust/ date bust. Get used to
it, myself 3 years ago who had different ideas about prospects and way-too
idealistic expectations for dating, because it happens ALL THE TIME!
Fantasize on,
Robert Yan
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