Russell Wilson the baseball player possessed "solid average" speed and an "average" arm but was seen as having a chance to crack the majors, thanks to obvious overall athleticism, good instincts and the kind of work ethic and attitude coaches dream about, baseball executives and scouts said.
A few baseball evaluators went so far to say they felt sure he'd make it to the bigs despite obvious early flaws and uninspiring minor-league stats.
"There was no doubt in my mind -- and some call me crazy -- that he would someday have worn a major-league uniform," Joe Mikulik, Wilson's manager in 2011 at the Rockies' South Atlantic League (Class A) affiliate in Asheville, N.C., said in a phone interview.
Seeing Wilson run and pass vs. NFL defenses, it's hard to understand how baseball evaluators deemed his speed and arm strength to be anywhere near average. But those evaluators explain baseball speed is somewhat dependent on a jump out of the box (he was an average 4.25 down the line from the right side) and point out the throwing motion differs in the two sports.
Those same evaluators saw no tool showing well above average in his two partial minor-league seasons, batting .229 with five home runs in his two Class A stops at Tri-Cities (Wash.) and Asheville. Not yet, anyway.
Even so, all the scouts and execs still suggested he might one day make it because of his drive. His makeup was "so far off the charts," according to former high-ranking Rockies executive Bill Geivett, who went so far as to say he couldn't recall anyone who worked harder at the craft of baseball. That is really something when considering Wilson was working just as hard at football while weighing which sport to pursue.
Coaches and managers would arrive at the ballpark around noon, only to hear Wilson was working on his hitting with the equipment manager since morning.
"Russell had it in him," Geivett said. "He's a very determined guy."
Wilson had ample smarts (he graduated from North Carolina State in three years) and understood he was probably 1,500 to 2,000 at-bats away (and at least three more years) from starting to understand his baseball future, thanks to a youth split between the two sports. When he chose to accept an invitation to use as final year of NCAA football eligibility as Wisconsin's quarterback, he told his Asheville teammates he would be leaving them. While he didn't say it, he probably also understood he'd be leaving baseball for good.
While no one could have guessed this sort of greatness, Geivett told him at the time, "I don't see any reason why you're not going to be successful in whatever you do. It's up to you."
When Rockies people drafted him in the fourth round despite the fact Wilson was only a platoon baseball player at N.C. State, they also were hearing he might be only a seventh-round NFL talent, with a future most likely in the Canadian Football League. That shows how imperfect scouting can be.
"They're wrong in their sport, just like we are. They make mistakes just like we do," Rockies scouting director Bill Schmidt said.
Football evaluators probably were hung up early on the fact Wilson is only 5-feet-11. But they couldn't measure his heart.
Wilson told Rockies people he believed he could throw with anyone in college ball, then he proved it. He surprised many by leading the Badgers to the Rose Bowl in his year in Madison. The rise was meteoric.
He became a third-round draft choice of the Seahawks, then he beat out expensive free agent Matt Flynn for the starting QB job right away, set the rookie record for passer rating (an even 100.0), tied Peyton Manning's rookie record of 26 touchdowns and led the Seahawks to win after win.
The Seahawks were in the playoffs his first year, finally falling in the second round. They won the Super Bowl his second year, and he now he has the chance Sunday to become the first quarterback to win two Super Bowls in his first three seasons.
While it's clear to everyone he made the correct call to play football, just about all his former baseball bosses believe in hindsight Wilson would have willed his way to the majors at some point. Though of course, success would not have come nearly as quickly as it has in the NFL.
"He didn't have a lot of at-bats," Mikulik recalled.
The 1,500 necessary at-bats might actually have kept him in the minors through 2014. Pitcher Tyler Matzek, a No. 1 draft choice, and outfielder Corey Dickerson, who had 32 home runs for that 2011 team, are the only two players who've made more than cameo appearances in the majors from that Asheville club.
Wilson, 26, had far less baseball experience than most because he split time between sports. But folks still saw a future.
"He was a good athlete and a tremendous teammate," recalled Schmidt, the man who drafted him for Colorado. "He had a lot of passion and amazing work ethic. It was going to take a lot of at-bats. But I thought he had a chance."
"I wouldn't put it past him," said Rangers GM Jon Daniels, whose team won Wilson's baseball rights in 2013 (technically, he is on the Triple-A Round Rock roster). "He wouldn't be outworked. He would have had to do more offensively than defensively, but I would not bet against the man if he committed himself."
Texas used a Rule 5 draft choice to take Wilson a couple years back, if only to get him to spring camp in hopes his passion and work ethic rubbed off on others. When Daniels called him to let him know they had selected him, Wilson took the 6:30 a.m. call at the Seahawks' training facility, where he was working out.
The Rangers invited him to spring training, where he took grounders, signed autographs, then talked passionately to 150 Rangers minor leaguers, who sat in rapt attention. The keys, Wilson told them, are sacrifice, dedication and preparation.
"He's got such a strong inner drive," Daniels said. "It's evident that [coach Pete] Carroll and [GM John] Schneider and their organization have put something special together and Russell is at the center of it. It seems like they feed off each other and he has such a genuine belief in himself and the rest of their group. It's pretty powerful to be around."
Wilson didn't look bad taking grounders at Rangers camp, either, leading scouts to wonder what might have been.
We'll never know, as he never got to play enough baseball to find out how good he could have been. Schmidt said he was getting better at second base, others noticed a little pop and everyone said he had about the best attitude and work habits they've seen.
There were flaws, like a little loop on his swing. But he had barely played. He needed to become acquainted with the spin of the breaking ball. There was a long way to go.
But, as Mikulik said, "From the git-go, you could see the real passion and desire and work ethic. He was really driven to be the best baseball player he could possibly be."
But a little thing called football got in the way.
Source: http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/writer/jon-heyman/25015106/baseball-evaluators-say-drive-could-have-carried-russell-wilson-to-mlb
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