major leaguer

But if his father provided the spark that made his son a baseball player, teammate Teoscar Hernández provided the help, guidance and mentoring that made Pages an everyday major leaguer.

And he remembered why he sent Kruger in for the final inning, making him a major leaguer forever.

When it comes to teenagers who look the part of a future major leaguer, Quentin Young of Oaks Christian comes to mind.

“For every guy, I wrote, ‘Fringe major leaguer,’" Uecker said of his days scouring amateur games. "So in case he made it nobody could say, ‘How’d you miss that guy?’

“Any major leaguer can really do that. At the end of the day, you’re not going to have much success when you’re working behind in the count.”