Baseball instruction for the young ball player has certainly changed...

I sat on a bench at the Centerfield Baseball Academy last night and eyed my grandson, Jadon Price, as he listened first to his coach's instruction and then proceeded to complete the drill that had been mapped out for him...and his teammates.

As I watched intently, I thought back to the mid 1950s. I remember a young boy, with a bat in one hand and a ball in the other. I remember a park on the east side of Tucson. I remember the young boy throwing the ball up with one hand and then grabbing the bat with both hands and swinging as hard as he could as the ball caromed off the wired backstop. There was no one around to train with...or practice with. Just the boy, the ball...and the bat.

That certainly was a different time...and man how things have changed. Club ball! The best of the best. The best 10-year-old players. The best 11-year-old players. All training in unison to become the best ball team in Tucson. Top-notch instruction from a former major league player -- in this case, George Arias. Indoor batting cages, pitching areas, catching areas, instruction rooms...everything right there in an 18,000 square foot complex.

My goodness, by the time some of the Centerfield Royals (10-and-under, 11-and-under) club players reach high school, chances are they will have seen 10,000 fastballs and an equal amount of curve balls and breaking pitches. They will not only be ready for high school pitching, but maybe even Nolan Ryan, himself. The instruction out there nowadays for the young ball player is mind boggling.

I was born too soon!

CBA Update: George Arias, who played in the majors and in Japan, coaches my grandson at the Centerfield Baseball complex at 1861 W. Grant Rd. Suite 107. Arias played at Pueblo High School and led the Warriors to a state title in 1990. In fact, he is the only major league player to come out of Pueblo. The CBA's director and the man who put the baseball academy into play is Ricky Scruggs, a former professional player and an outstanding all-conference player at UNLV. Also on the staff are Brent Strohm, former Cleveland Indians pitcher, and Samantha Hoffman, a former University of Arizona hurler.