The best seats in the house to watch a great pitcher is down low near the screen in the center. You get to see what the batter, the catcher and the ump see which can’t really be seen on TV. If you have the chance to sit in those seats even in the Minors, do it. The break on a curveball is a thing of beauty and the tumbling of a circle change and splitter are a sight to behold.
In many ballparks those premium seats were always reserved for the grizzled scouts who 
were lifers in the business. The scouts did the work out of the public eye and almost in anonymity with no glory and low pay, but they live for it. As those seats by the netting became too valuable for revenue, the teams started to move the scouts out of those seats.
These scouts see what few see, and the great scouts find the diamonds in the rough. Sure, there wasn’t a scout with a brain that thought Bryce Harper wasn’t a future star, but how many teams for a variety of reasons passed on the “northerner” Mike Trout who slipped to the 25th pick of the Angels. Click: Bryce Harper & Mike Trout Scouting Reports
The Colorado Rockies didn’t get to draft Derek Jeter and that didn’t stop them from 
scouting the Kalamazoo Michigan prodigy with Eddie Santa who worked the northeast for them. It is most difficult to assess the High School players early on as they are growing and maturing where the failure rate is much greater to make it in pro ball.
The Yankees as we know got Jeter and he proved to be the star that the smart scouts watched and projected as a Top 10 pick and the Yankees got him at #6. Even with the high draft picks, top pick status doesn’t always prove out to be a sure thing. How did Chad Mottola work out for the Reds at the pick before Jeter? Not good. Who was #1 overall pick in the Jeter draft? Hint: He just interviewed with the Nats for the manager’s job. Initials are P. N.
Don Sutton said, “I knew the only way to get to the majors was through these amazing men who almost had halos on their heads: scouts.”
Now to segue to a new technology for scouts called the Scoutee. It’s available to the public and a great tool if you’re near the field (130 feet from the baseball). This new product replaces the big bulky radar guns plus the Scoutee software tells you pitch type and so much more.
SCOUTEE pack for a special price of $149 (50% off the RRP)! Hurry up, only 30 hours left: https://t.co/ipXW6Uj2q1 pic.twitter.com/pQH9pW2lCv
— Scoutee (@ScouteeRadar) October 21, 2015
If that isn’t cool enough, you could buy this in a “Kickstarter” campaign at this link:
Click here for the Kickstarter Pledge for SCOUTEE
Maybe you will see scouts in the future with these or some of the fans at Nats Park. I have ordered mine with a delivery date in April 2016.
