This trend toward "year-round baseball" seems to follow baseball's evolution in the United States, as more and younger athletes continue to play on some type of traveling team after the normal spring/summer season ends.

The thinking must be, "If everyone else is playing all year around, then I must play as much as possible to remain competitive."

The Alabama Baseball Coaches Association provides a positive example of how to administer a showcase.

For the last five years the ABCA has organized events around the state during June when the athletes are in-season.

In 2004, 650 players worked out at the association's one-day trials held at strategic locations around the state. Twenty-five athletes were selected to attend a two-day skills seminar and including a round of games before 50-60 college coaches and professional scouts. There is no cost for the workout day.

The cost to attend the two-day seminar averages $75; that includes room and board at a university. Association executive director, Barry Dean notes, "It's a win-win situation for everyone involved."

For those players who dream of playing in front of "upper deck" fans, omnipresent showcases provide opportunities to demonstrate baseball tools. Their quest to excel, when undertaken in improper circumstances or under potentially damaging methodologies in the showcase environment, may result in injury, permanently canceling their trip to the "Show".

Dr. James Andrews