Below is the latter half of a two-part segment with 610 Sports baseball analyst, salesman, and Royals' post-game show co-host Greg Schaum. In this segment, we delved further into Greg's background in baseball and which websites he uses in his baseball research.
Editor's Note: There were originally two questions that were supposed to be asked and answered, but, unfortunately, technical difficulties prevented Greg's comprehensive answer from being submitted to yours truly. My apologies.
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Royals Nation: Do you have a specific background in baseball besides radio? I've heard you mention you took several classes on scouting.
Schaum: I played college baseball at a top NAIA program in Riverside, California. It was a school called California Baptist College. Current Royals Minor Leaguer Aaron Hartsock pitched there. We had three guys get drafted from the team I played on. It was a great league and definitely a tough transition coming from the midwest. The talent pool in California is unreal. I wanted to become a scout before I started here at 610 Sports. I was talking to several Minor League teams about scouting opportunities. I took classes through Sports Management Worldwide (SMWW), which is basically a networking program, but a very effective one as the job placement is fantastic.
Royals Nation: This may sound like a vague question, but how did you obtain so much information about players in baseball? Which websites do you use the most to aid you the most in your analysis? (i.e. Baseball America, Hardball Times, etc.)
Schaum: I perfected my reading skills as a youngster with baseball cards. At one time, my friends could grab one hundred or so TOPPS cards and cover up the name and I would never fail to know the player. I have been and still am an avid baseball card collector. I love collecting vintage Minor League cards too. My best Minor League card is John Elway of the Oneonta Yankees. The Internet has allowed me to gather a lot more information than I ever could have dreamed of as a kid. At that time, Street and Smiths and Athlons were the keys to early spring baseball cravings. I would sit in class and predict stats for every player on each team's 40 man roster. About five years ago, I got involved with a website called mlbcenterforum and I did prospect reports for them. I got really involved with them and provided some comments about each prospect. Basically, I would take requests on players and provide commentary. I would do fun things like who I compared the players to and what their stats would be in their best years. Today, I am a big fan of Royals Corner off of the Scout.com site and The Baseball Cube, Baseball Library, and Baseball Reference. Also, I like Rotoworld for my guilty pleasure rumor threads, Baseball America, and a few others like Baseball Prospectus. I used to really like the John Sickels site Minor League Ball, although I have to admit that I do not frequent that site as much since the look changed. Another guilty pleasure baseball site is the Cardboard Gods site.
Royals Nation: How did you obtain most of your information about the players?
Schaum: I did most of my research through the web and also great baseball prospect books like the Baseball America Prospect Handbook and John Sickels' books. Also, I would use Baseball America, The Baseball Cube, and good old Google for more research.
Royals Nation: Pardon me if this question sounds obvious, but have you ever interviewed Royals or baseball players in general? If so, which players are your favorite interviews and why?
Schaum: I have chosen (thus far) to not interview the players. It really is not my job.
Royals Nation: Do you visit the Royals blogosphere often? I've read much from you over at Royals Corner. Do you ever cruise through other Royals-related content on the web?
Schaum: Of course. I don't think there is a Royals site I have not visited. They are all good and it is encouraging to see so many creative and knowledgeable fans.
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Once again, a special thanks goes to Greg Schaum for agreeing and taking part in this exclusive interview. Tune into 610 Sports (KCSP) for the Royals' post-game show, to listen to Greg Schaum and Marty Wall discuss that day's game and Royals baseball in general.
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1 comment:
I like that Greg's prized card is the Elway Oneonta Yankee card. The first college I attended was Cobleskill College, not far from Oneonta and Cooperstown. My first roommate was an avid baseball fan and worked at the baseball HOF during the summers. He had an Elway autographed baseball from an Oneonta game. I always thought ut was a cool item.
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