作者:
searoar (æš—å‘大豆)
2011-02-11 17:27:57推 Sizemore24:Pujols 被選上應是 scout 厲害，另外當時紅鳥 FO 可是 02/11 15:15
→ Sizemore24:開給他第一份 offer 還被打槍咧。 02/11 15:16
→ Sizemore24:但話說回來，到 13 輪才被選上，對照現今成就，也可以 02/11 15:17
→ Sizemore24:說當年三十隊的選秀可能都有問題。 XD 02/11 15:18
推 alex710707:第13輪選到這種選手不是球探厲害 是中樂透好嗎? 02/11 15:31
http://tinyurl.com/6dcus6p By Wright Thompson
From discovering Pujols to working at Wal-Mart
Dave Karaff doesn't have to work right now. Five days a week he stocks
grocery shelves at the local Wal-Mart, but tonight, he settles into the
comfy, oversized chair to watch his beloved St. Louis Cardinals in the
World Series.
The man's got a right to love them. He spent seven years as a Cardinals
scout before being let go in 2003. His biggest signee was the guy walking
up to the plate right now: reigning National League MVP Albert Pujols.
Yes, that's right. The scout who signed Albert Pujols stocks groceries in
an Arkansas Wal-Mart.
How's that for an organizational thank you? Some guys get bonuses. Others
get watches. Karaff got canned.
Karaff, a friendly 64-year-old grandfather, doesn't mind if you come watch
Game 2 with him, but under one condition: He's not gonna talk about Pujols.
Though the slugger is wildly talented, he's also as sensitive as a junior
high cheerleader and is still peeved because he believes Karaff said he
wouldn't make it to the big leagues. In reality, Karaff felt like he was a
talent but not a sure-thing first-rounder. Clearly, every other team agreed.
But after Pujols popped off earlier this year, it's best not to start any
drama. So Karaff isn't gonna talk about Pujols, not a word about the guy who
looks like he might walk off the high-def television at any moment. Not a word.
Doesn't want to cause any problems. Well, you know, maybe a few words won't
hurt. After all, signing the probable Hall of Famer is the highlight of his
career.
"I will say one thing," he says. "If there's anybody that can stand there
and tell me truthfully this is what they thought he'd do, I would call them
a liar to their face and never flinch."
Karaff sits in his chair and watches Pujols watch the pitcher.
"When he's going bad, he really floats to that front side," Karaff says.
"That's what he did in high school."
He ought to know. Karaff has spent his entire life around the game. For
almost two decades, he coached Hickman Mills High in Kansas City. He worked
as a scout for the Seattle Mariners and, starting in the mid-'90s, for the
St. Louis Cardinals. He'd always been a Redbirds fan; he had his car stolen
at the 1985 World Series and, instead of calling his wife, he bought new
clothes at a discount store and went to the next game.
Scouting for his favorite team was a dream job, one he took seriously. For
130 or so nights a year, he rated players. He went everywhere. Three years
before he was fired, for instance, he was assigned Minnesota, North Dakota,
South Dakota, Iowa, Nebraska, half of Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma and Arkansas.
The highway was his home. His car logged more than 40,000 miles a year.
Mostly, he charted people who'd never spend a day in the big leagues.
Then there was this young man in Kansas City. Albert Pujols. He had obvious
skills. The Cardinals' scouting form gave players a grade between two and
eight, Karaff says, with each prospect getting a present and future score
in each category. A "five" is considered major-league average.
"I probably made him a six hitter future," Karaff says, "but he probably was
a four hitter present."
The rest, of course, is history. Though he slipped to the 13th round of the
1999 draft, Pujols made it to the bigs in 2001, won Rookie of the Year and
now has 250 home runs in just six seasons. He is arguably the most feared
hitter in baseball. He's a superstar.
And Karaff? He was fired in 2003. The team decided to go in a different
direction, and there was a massive shakeup in the scouting department. Lots
of people were left to wonder what they might have done better. Karaff figured
he should have sold his players harder.
"That was probably a weak point of mine," he says. "I sold them on paper,
but I don't think I did a good job talking them up. Until the end. If I'm
gonna struggle or if I've got a chance to lose my job, I'm gonna put 'em on
the line. That's what they want you to do."
Three years later, the wound is still fresh