Column: Drafted by Pirates, White faced with complex choices
The scene from Moneyball is still seared into my memory.
Billy Beane, sitting in an airplane, reflects on the critical decision that would come to define his perception of the game of baseball, scouting, and his role as the GM of the Oakland Athletics. Flashing back to his high school years, Beane is at his kitchen table with a pair of Mets scouts and his parents, taking in an offer to forgo college at Stanford to immediately begin a career in professional baseball.
Told how special he is as a player by the well-intentioned scouts, Beane is described as a “potential superstar,” to his hesitant, uncertain mom and dad. Countering that their son had been accepted to play college ball at Stanford, the Beane family suggestion that Billy does both - get an education while playing at Stanford before beginning his professional career - was turned down by the scouts as an impossibility.
“Unfortunately, he can’t do Stanford and professional baseball,” the scout says. “He would have to pick one or the other. If he wants to be the centerfielder for the New York Mets, if he wants to be a baseball player, he really needs to accept this as life’s first occupation, really, first career.
“We’re all told at some point in time, Billy, that we can no longer play the children’s game. We just don’t know when that’s going to be. Some of us are told at 18, some of us are told at 40, but we’re all told. But this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. We want you badly, and we think that this amount of money expresses that desire.”
Certainly, one can imagine Lonnie White Jr., having a similar conversation very soon.
Selected with the 64th overall pick in the Major League Baseball draft on Monday afternoon, the star Malvern Prep multi-sport athlete now has a decision to make. Committed and signed to a National Letter of Intent to play as a wide receiver for the Penn State football program, the 6-foot-2, 210-pounder could continue along that path or, his place in the Pittsburgh Pirates organization now secured, opt to begin a career in professional baseball.
But, like young Billy Beane, the 18-year old White now must make a decision.
In Moneyball, the coming montage of Beane’s playing career serves as a cautionary tale. To the voiceovers of radio announcers, Beane is described as a “can’t miss prospect” immediately before confidently stepping into the batter’s box and striking out haplessly. Sorry for the spoilers, but the whole endeavor doesn’t go as planned, and certainly not as expected even in a worst-case scenario. His talent doesn’t translate at the professional level and, having passed up the opportunity at development that Stanford might have provided, Beane can’t go back in time to do it over again.
Signing the contract with the Mets, today valued at roughly $400k, Beane’s path and that of White diverge significantly in some ways, however.
A first-round pick by the Mets, White’s second-round selection provides something of a parallel in how they’ve been evaluated professionally. But with initial estimates that the Pirates could offer a guaranteed $1 million or more to White, the financial sum at stake is potentially markedly different.
Another differentiator for White is the possibility that is included in his football excellence. Rated a four-star talent by Rivals, his place as the No. 247-ranked overall prospect in the Class of 2021, and the 23 major college football offers that came with it, are a recognition that his football talent is also significant.
As much as White will share in Beane’s choice to either attend college or not, the bigger question to answer is whether or not now is the time to devote himself exclusively to one sport.
Slated to play football and baseball at Penn State, White could continue to keep his professional playing options open as he concurrently works toward a college degree. An option that wouldn’t necessarily preclude a future in baseball, the reality is that excelling in one sport is hard enough at the college level. Excelling in two is reserved for the very few, and doing so while also carrying an academic course load is even rarer of a feat.
How big of a determining factor is the guaranteed money? Which sport does White enjoy the most? Are injury concerns in football relevant to White’s decision?
All considerations White will have to navigate as he decides with his family, the future is one very much still to be determined in Lonnie’s case. Whether it plays out like the movies remains to be seen, but, given the montage treatment or not, the moment is one he won’t forget anytime soon.
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