The Intangibles

"The Intangibles" is the Ultimate Guide for Evaluating the Non-Physical Side of the Game of Baseball! Team Owners, Executive Administrators, General Managers, Managers, Coaches, Scouts, College Recruiters, Parents, Fans, Umpires, The Media, The Players, and everyone else in the baseball world use the term intangibles in reference to a baseball player's non-physical attributes. However, when the term "intangibles" is used are we all talking about the same thing? Are we sure we are applying a consensus meaning with similar sub-categories? The purpose of this book is to clarify the concept and makeup of "the intangibles" for those who need to or like to evaluate baseball talent. An adjacent goal is to provide from a baseball perspective consistency throughout the industry with the utilization of the term intangibles and related terms. Finally, the ultimate goal of this book is to help players assess themselves to make the proper intellectual and emotional adjustments to give themselves the best opportunity to succeed!

"The Intangibles" are a cluster of non-physical attributes, traits, and habits. Because the concept of an intangible is non-physical, it is a matter of quality rather than quantity. In simple terms, this means that an intangible must be assessed rather than measured. I think we would all agree that measurement of physical attributes is much easier to attain than an assessment of non-physical attributes. Therefore, this book has been written to help the professional and fan alike meet the challenge to assess the non-physical side of the game of baseball. Topics, such as aptitude, instincts, drive, leadership, and character among others are addressed.

One more point to note, as you read this book about the non-physical side of the game of baseball, i.e. the mental, the emotional, and even to a degree the spiritual, it is written as a guide and is not to be read as an epic of any sort. It is purposely written as a brief easy read and is to be used as a source of reference that could be revisited as many times as needed. Furthermore, even though this book is written about and for skilled baseball players, much of what is written is transferable to skilled softball players as well as to athletes in general.

MEL VELASQUEZ - I was born 20 minutes outside of the Chicago Loop in East Chicago, Indiana. If you are interested, you can locate East Chicago on the Chicago XI album cover. I was raised in the culturally rich and diverse steel mill town of East Chicago, Indiana, on the Harbor side. East Chicago was a sociologist's dream. It was an equal mix of African Americans from down south, Ethnic Americans from Eastern and Western Europe, and Latinos primarily from Mexico and Puerto Rico. Almost every one of us was from a blue collar middle class family, where no one was rich or poor. Everyone spoke English well and most of us spoke a second language, including Southern American English, which we considered a language in its own right.

We lived in a city that was too small to segregate, so we learned to love each other, live together, and respect each other's heritage. But, what really brought us together were sports. We played non-stop baseball in the spring and summer, football in the fall, and basketball year-round (remember this is Indiana). I was blessed to play as a kid with and against superb athletes such as: Big Tim Stoddard of the Orioles, Cubs, Padres, and Yankees; UCLA starting guard and two-time NCAA Champion, Pete Trgovich; the great sixth man of the Milwaukee Bucks, Junior Bridgeman; and, on the school playground with the San Antonio Spurs' Coach, Gregg Popovich, to name a few. This is where I learned to compete and gain a passion for sports, especially baseball.

After graduating from East Chicago Washington High School, I went on to Indiana University to complete an undergraduate degree in sociology and then to Purdue University, where I earned a graduate degree in counseling. Professionally, I went on to have an extensive career as a clinical therapist, administrator, and college instructor. I have dedicated my career to working with underserved populations (e.g. under achieving youth, emotionally disabled adults, and marginalized seniors). My greatest career claim to fame was to serve as the Bureau Chief of Mental Health for the city of Chicago, under three Chicago Mayoral Administrations. I was also fortunate to coach baseball from T-ball to High School. Currently, I am a counselor, a high school baseball coach, and a college instructor in Las Vegas, Nevada.