By Eric Valent - "Weakness"

Last week it was Desi Relaford.  This week it's Eric Valent & Dover Cassidy (The Wife of the Greatest Minor League Player You've Never Heard Of).  Each of these personas has agreed (under blood oath) to write bi-weekly columns twice a day for Jimmy Scott's High & Tight.  It's great to have them.  As you read with Desi's column, these three can offer perspectives about The Baseball Life that you probably haven't thought of before.  Today, Eric writes about his transition from player to coach to Phillies scout and where family fits into the equation.  Read, learn, love and tell your friends.  Twitter me, hit me up on Facebook or comment here with your reactions.  Eric would be pleased if you did. 

By Eric Valent - "Weakness"

It was the end of May in 2005 and Willie Randolph gestured me into his office. My face started to burn as I walked into the manager's room in Florida. They were sending me down to AAA and my time in the big leagues was done. I can't blame them. I was struggling through my first 45 at bats or so and the team wasn't scoring any runs. The 25th man on the team is going to be the first to go. I finished the year in AAA that year and then went to Japan the next year. I chose to go to Japan because I was 29, a corner OF who couldn't steal bases, and a streaky hitter at the plate. The odds to get back to the big leagues were slim, and I believed the time was right to give Japan a shot.

The Japan experience lasted one year, and the next phase of my life was about to begin.

When I got drafted by the Phillies in 1998 as a 1st round supplemental pick, I always said by the time I was 30 yrs. old, if I'm not in the big leagues for good, I was going to retire. I was turning 30 the year after Japan and was going to give it one more shot if a AAA job became available close to home. Nothing came to fruition and my baseball career was over. I could have gone to AA, but I chose to retire and begin the next phase of my life. It was almost like a relief off my shoulders. As a career .234 hitter in the big leagues and .264 hitter in the minor leagues, the GRIND finally came to an end. I felt grateful for the career I had and know that I earned everything I received during my baseball career.

I worked as hard as I could and got the most out of my ability. The only thing I regret is I wish I would have had more fun. I took the game way too seriously at times. It's easy to sit back and say that now, but it's hard to have fun in the game of baseball when you're a fringy big league player. I don't mean that in a snobbish way to those who never played in the big leagues. I mean it in the sense of how tough the game is.  I didn't have the opportunity to have too much fun because of the daily grind of big league at bats. People don't realize how good baseball players are who can stick in the big leagues for over a 3 year period. Let's put it in perspective. A .300 hitter is still failing 70% of the time. That won't get it done in any line of work except the game of baseball.

The old saying goes, "it's easier to get to the big leagues than it is to stay there." That is the absolute truth. With advance scouting covering players all the time, a player's weakness is quickly identified. It's up to the player to make adjustments or risk being sent back to the minor leagues. I experienced the latter. I tell people all the time, I wasn't good enough to play everyday in the big leagues, and I wasn't a pure hitter who could hit off the bench. When you're stuck in the middle like that, the game squeezes you out. That's the nature of the beast. I'm not a pessimist at all saying that, but it's just reality. My ability took me through parts of 5 big league seasons and I was fortunate enough to get that amount of time in the big leagues. Some people never spend a day in the big leagues, so I can't sit here and feel bad about my career. I lived out my dream.  It just didn't last as long as I thought.

I became a coach with the Phillies organization in 2007. At the same time I began finishing my college degree because I left UCLA after 3 years. I only have 2 classes left and I'll receive my diploma 10 years after leaving school. I was always a good student so it wasn't too tough to finish up.

The Phillies are a first class organization. I got drafted by them and played 5 years with them before moving on the Reds, Mets, Padres, and a year in Japan. I always knew I'd be in baseball my whole life. Just like every other big leaguer, I remember telling my teachers in grade school that I was going to play in the Major Leagues. The dream came true and now I get to still stay in the game I love so much.

I really enjoyed my year in coaching, but one has to remember that a coach's schedule is the same as the player's schedule. You're away from home from mid-February through August. This was tough because I have two young children and a wife who is unbelievably supportive of what I do. I was going to keep coaching and was happy doing it, but I also was intrigued by scouting. My friend Gene Schall, who was the Northeast Area Supervisor with the Phillies, became the Phillies East Coast Crosschecker. He always knew that I was interested in scouting and I interviewed for his previous position. I got the job.

There's still travel involved, but my family doesn't have to worry about packing up their things and coming to see me. It's tough to do with a 4 1/2 year old boy and a 19 month old boy. But, I also felt guilty too. As much as I miss my family when I'm gone on the road, it's more important for them to be around family and friends. My wife lived in enough apartments throughout the summers for six years and I wanted my family to have a home base. Scouting provides this for us. I'm on the road throughout the year, but they can stay home and not miss any activities with their friends. I don't want to make this sound like it's easy, because it's not. My wife is a rock and believes in what I do because of my passion for the game. Anybody who has a job in professional sports does it because they love it. You have to because it's not a job where you come do your 8 hours and then go home. It's a career more than a job, and I don't know anything different. 

Scouting allows me to be around baseball and utilize my experiences throughout my career to help the Phillies organization. Having been a good amateur player, a minor league player, a big league player and a coach provides a good foundation to build on a career in scouting. My playing career took me all over the world playing against players from all over the world on different levels. I can relate my past playing experiences from my amateur days and professional days to compare the players that I'm watching today. That's what scouting is all about.

The first year is going well and I'm looking forward to see how the draft unfolds in June. I've seen many high school and college games since the end of February, and will see games through the middle of May before our organization starts preparing for our draft meetings. It's been a learning experience driving through my territory in the Northeastern part of the U.S. and have put on my share of miles on the car. But it's nice being able to sleep in my own bed every now and then and spend quality time with my family.  One thing the Phillies stress is family.  I can't agree more.

Eric Valent
Phillies Northeast Area Supervisor