Major league decision for Robson

by Rob Benneian

Multi-sport athlete could go to college or turn pro

A local baseball player hit the jackpot even though he isn’t old enough to buy a lottery ticket.

Jacob Robson, 17, was born in London, Ont. but moved to Windsor as a toddler with his family. He began playing baseball at three years old, and steadily rose the ranks locally until his play began attracting attention nationally. Robson now plays for the Ontario Blue Jays, and is a member of the Canadian junior national team.

This year, Robson was widely recruited by MLB teams and the NCAA. Robson said in all he received 75 offers from college teams. He was projected to go between the third and eighth rounds of the MLB draft, but slipped due to his scholarship offer from Mississippi State.

He must decide by midnight Pacific time on Friday, July 13 whether he will go to school or turn pro and sign a contract with the San Diego Padres, who drafted him in the 30th round of the 2012 MLB draft.

“It’s like he won two lotteries,” said Robson’s mother Jill Schroeder.

Robson has been offered nearly a full-ride scholarship to Mississipi State, where it is expected he would step into the starting lineup as a lead-off hitting center fielder with tremendous speed. Or he could elect to begin his professional baseball career immediately and join the Padres organization.

Grade school athletics could pay major league dividends

Robson went to Glenwood Elementary School, where he played “soccer, basketball, badminton, tennis, all the racquet sports”.

“(Hand-eye coordination) has always been a strength of mine”

While attending high school in the enriched program at Vincent Massey Secondary School, Robson played volleyball, hockey and baseball before ultimately focusing all of his athletic attention on the diamond.

“(Volleyball) helped me in baseball, because in volleyball you’re always jumping and bounding, and when you train those types of muscles, the fast-twitch, it helps with running in baseball and reaction time,” Robson said. “Hockey, the stuff that translated over to baseball was wrist coordination, stickhandling translates to how you handle a bat. A big part that translated from hockey was endurance, I thought I was more conditioned from hockey training.”

Robson, who said he would major in math if he chose to go to Mississippi State, insists he hasn’t yet decided where he will play next season. However, when the topic of conversation turned to life after baseball while sitting around the kitchen table of his south Windsor home, Robson revealed how important an education is to him.

“It does sound like (he is leaning towards college) because I was a late draft pick, and I got a really good scholarship to Mississippi State,” Robson said. “It’s a great school. At the same time, it doesn’t take away from my ultimate goal which is to play in the major leagues. The faster way to do it would be to sign right now, but I think if I were to go to school I’d get a great education too because they’re  a really good school. And I’d be able to play against the best collegiate players in the nation because they’re in the South East Conference, the SEC is the number one conference for baseball.”

“The way I’ve been my whole life is I wanted to play with the best.”

“There’s no bad decision, it’s just what’s right at the time,” Jill said.

Robson’s grandfather Jack Schroder, who also was a multi-sport athlete, signed a contract to pitch for the Philadelphia Phillies in the 1950s. However, a serious knee injury while playing lacrosse finished his career before it had even begun. Robson knows that a freak injury could end his dreams of playing professional baseball in an instant. Despite his professional baseball career coming to a premature end,Robson said his grandfather has been one of the most influential people in helping him to develop as a player.

“He really knows baseball as much as anyone else out there,” Robson said. “He would always give me pointers. He still does. Every time I would talk to him after a game or before a game, he would know what to say and I would always learn something.”

Team Canada important to Robson

Robson credited Team Canada coach Greg Hamilton for helping him on and off the field.

“(Hamilton) helped me flourish as a player, and really understand what I was born with, and what I need to take pride in,” Robson said.

Hamilton, who went to Princeton, has connections in the professional and collegiate baseball world that Robson said have been invaluable in helping him navigate through the difficulty of securing scholarship offers and a spot in the draft.

Robson narrowed his list of teams down to three finalists: Texas Christian University, Vanderbilt and Mississippi State. When Vanderbilt proved impatient with Robson’s decision making process, and TCU did not want to grant him time off from school to play in the World Series as a member of Team Canada, Robson decided on Mississippi State.

It was the excellent scholarship offer Robson was able to secure there that caused him to tumble down MLB teams’ draft rankings, his mother said. Teams were unwilling to spend a draft pick on a player with a scholarship offer to a “powerhouse school in a powerhouse conference”. The Padres called Robson prior to their 16th round selection and asked if he could commit to signing a contract with them. When he said he was unable to make such a guarantee, they selected another center fielder, Central Florida’s Ronnie Richardson. However, San Diego didn’t want to pass up the opportunity to take Robson and wound up selecting him with their pick in the 30th round.

Center Field training

Robson said Adam Stern, 32, who played eight years of professional baseball and now runs a baseball training facility in London, is the person who has taught him the most.

“I’m very, very grateful and couldn’t ask for anything more from Adam,” Robson said. “Baseball wise, and especially hitting, he’s been the best coach I’ve ever had.”

Stern, like Robson, is a speedy, left-handed center fielder. Robson visits his training facility, Center Field Sports, at least once a week.

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Whatever decision Robson makes, he is confident in his ability. He knows that he must play within his means to achieve his dream of playing in the major leagues.

“If you try to be someone else, you’ll never make it.”

 

Robson’s favourites:

Colour: Blue

Number: 7

Pitch to hit: Middle away fastball

Team: Tigers

Player: Jacoby Ellsbury

Movie: Fight Club

Artist: Jason Aldean

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