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Interview with the scouts of the Pittsburgh Pirates by moscowbaseball.ru
Interview with Des Hamilton
- Would you introduce yourself, please?
- Des Hamilton, scout for the Pittsburgh Pirates. I've been in professional baseball scouting for 15 years, I'm a second-generation scout, my dad was for 45 years. I played baseball at the collegiate and professional level and coached at high school level and now I'm scouting at professional level and I'm also help with the college team in Jacksonville, Florida at Florida Community College.
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- Where have you played professionally?
- Minor leagues, for the Cleveland Indians organization back in mid 1970-s.
- What is your action field as a scout?
- My responsibility is more a special assignment, I do in my areas like North Florida, Central Florida, South Georgia. I do those international wires and cover professionally amateur games, more special assignments to my supervisor, our scouting director. So they can send me, and I've been in Puerto Rico and Dominican Republic.
- Who is your supervisor?
- My scouting director is Ed Creech and Dave Littlefield is a general manager for the Pittsburgh Pirates.
- What is the purpose of your visit to Moscow?
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Des Hamilton and Adam Souilliard |
- Basically to work with a couple of youth kids, a few clinics and also to see Russian kids, how strong they are and basically do some scouting. To say when I informed Ed Creech about this visit he was very ecstatic. Because it's an untapped area of young men who want to learn the game and strong young men and there is not too many professional clubs that come over here or to Russia to do the scouting and they thought its gonna be a good visit and wanted me to do it, so very positive.
- Have you been here before?
- No, first time.
- How do you find Moscow?
- Beautiful. Beautiful. Beautiful country, good people.
- What did you expected to see here and what you actually see here, both in general and in baseball.
- We really had no expectations. Had come over here knowing that I would see good kids, meet good people and had a chance to see young man who want to play the game of baseball and also who want to at least learn a little bit more about what professional clubs look for in that, you know as far as there are good tools etc. So that's I come over to look for.
- You've been here for a week already. What do you think about the players whom you saw here?
- Good looking young men, strong bodies, willing to learn, skill level is just needs to practice the skills a little bit more, but that's ok. They are willing to learn, eager to learn. They look like they are enjoying the game. It's a different game, but they enjoy it.
- Based on things you see here: players, coaches - do baseball have a future in Russia?
- Yes. They are doing a very good job in teaching, the skill level and the young men are looking and recruiting on it, so just a little bit more time working here, you could see those things, their willingness to learn. And I think that there is an untapped talent in Russia for young men who play this game.
- What do you think is the single most important thing for the development of baseball in Russia?
- Probably more throwing and catching and then the hitting approach would probably come after that. Strong arms, but more catching for development of softer hands. The approach to hitting the baseball, its not much with working the count at the plate but the approach to hitting as mechanically what they do to hit the ball, knowing the mechanics and the physics behind hitting. Once they learn that it's easy. That's what good hitters - they learned how to hit with the approach and may become better hitters.
Interview with Adam Souilliard
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- Would you introduce yourself, please?
- I'm Adam Souilliard, I'm the field director of the North-Central Florida scout team and also an assistant baseball coach at Gainesville High School.
- Why you are here?
- We are here with coach Hamilton to run a baseball clinic for the youth baseball and softball leagues at British-American School.
- What do you think about the Russian players?
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MGFSO players at the clinic |
- They are very receptive to what we are to bring, what we are teach them and it's been a lot of fun. The great strong young men, these guys I would like to have on my team in America.
- What is the age limit for the players at High School level?
- It's 14 - 18 years old.
- How you would compare these guys with ones of their age in the US?
- They would be at varsity team.
- How successful they would be in the US?
- They are good strong young men with a lot of skill and they would be very successful in the American system.
- Is it possible for foreign players to play on High School teams?
- As far as I know, yes. As long as they are enrolled in School, they have an ability to play on the High School team.
- How long you've been coaching?
- This is my fifth year coaching. I was at another High School before in the area of Gainesville, just north of Gainesville at Santa Fe High School for 2 years and this is my third year with Gainesville High School.
- Have you played professionally?
- No, I haven't. I didn't get to play professionally or in college. I've decided to go to school and to pursue an education, higher education and went to the coaching field instead.
- How do you find Moscow? Have you been here before?
- No I haven't, and it's a very beautiful city, exceeded expectations because, you know, you hear about the history and what it used to be, and it's an awesome city and I hopefully would to come back again.
January 25, 2005, moscowbaseball.ru
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