It’s a favorite anecdote of a number of scouts — the fact that at one time Randy Johnson was considered by most scouts to be a non-prospect. I love this idea, because it goes to show how much ambiguity there is in the craft. I guess it could be viewed as frustrating as well, but it’s the ultimate “don’t give up on a player” that might be doing something well kind of story.

That’s just the subject of Gene Wojciechowski’s Scouts Weren’t Always On the Mark, a story about the scouting of Johnson as a teenager throwing 87 mph for Livermore High School in California, and then The Unit, nearly three decades later, beging presented with said scouting reports in the Giants locker-room.

But back in April 1982, Johnson was a 6-9 baseball oddity. One scout wrote, “Randy threw well today; he is improving rapidly — he showed excellent arm strength today. … Needs work on CB [curveball] — lacks command of his CB — needs work on keeping the same release point for all his pitches.”

Johnson’s reaction when he sees the report nearly three decades later?

“I didn’t even have a curveball back then,” he says. “Honestly, high school? That was Livermore High. I didn’t have a curveball back then. I think I just threw a fastball, and I had enough trouble throwing fastballs for strikes, let alone curveballs.”

I’m not sure if the reports on Stephen Strasburg coming out of high school were as extreme, but I do know he wasn’t anything like the prospect he was today. He was considered overweight, lazy and out of shape coming out of high school. Time will tell if he can become anything close to the pitcher Johnson is.

The above photo is of the Donut Wheel in downtown Livermore, where Johnson mostly grew up and went to high school. I’m imagining him parking his bike there and buying a dozen of old fashions and a pint of milk.

Wait, no I’m not.