Travel Baseball Teams in Louisiana

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MLB Players Born in Louisiana

There have been plenty of Louisiana-born players in the history of U.S. baseball. There are 28 active players (http://www.baseball-almanac.com/players/birthplace.php?loc=Louisiana). Among them are Taijuan Walker, Aaron Loup, Josh Prince, and Vernon Wells.

Taijuan Walker

Pitcher Taijuan Walker was born in 1992 in Shreveport. His first sport was basketball. He took up baseball, though, at age eleven. He had the opportunity to play a little travel ball. To play a lot, he notes, would have been beyond his family's means. Fortunately, as a high school student, he had talent... and a fastball in the mid 90s.

Fresh out of Yucaipa High, Walker was a 2010 1st round draft pick by the Seattle Mariners. Walker played for the Triple-A Tacoma Rainiers. He made his MLB debut in 2013 at age 21.

Vernon Wells

Vernon Wells was born in 1978, also in Shreveport. He, too, was involved in youth sports. He played in Little League, at 2nd base and later center field.

Wells’ father painted portraits of professional ball players, and young Wells got to meet a few. In fact, he once had big leaguer Dave Stewart at his Little League game.

Wells graduated from Bowie High School, an acclaimed outfielder, named by USA Today as Texas High School Baseball Player of the Year. He was a first round draft pick in 1997 -- number 5 overall. Many were surprised that he went as high as he did, and some criticized Toronto. But Wells made a successful -- and quick --trek through the minors.

Wells' minor League teams included the Class A St Catherines and Hagerstown Suns, Double-A Knoxville Smokies, and Triple A Syracuse SkyChiefs. Wells also played in the Australian League during his time in the minors. He made his MLB debut in 1999 at age 20. He has been an All-Star three times. He also won the Gold Glove Award three times.

Part of giving back has been helping undeprivileged kids participate in baseball. One project he has involved himself with is Toronto Community Housing Rookie League, which provides summer baseball instruction to youth between six and thirteen. He has won the Branch Rickey Award.

Aaron Loup

Aaron Loup, a more recent Toronto pick, was born in Raceland in 1987. He claims to have played baseball from just about the time he could walk (http://gregorchisholm.mlblogs.com/2012/07/13/aaron-loup-qa/). As a teenager, Loup pitched for Hahnville High. From there, it was on to Tulane University.

Loup was selected by the Toronto Bluejays in the 9th round of the 2009 draft.

His major league debut came in 2012 when he was 24. Before being called up to the majors, he was on the Double-A New Hampshire Fisher Cats (http://www.milb.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=milb&t=p_pbp&pid=571901).

Tomorrow’s Ball Players

Kids can benefit from team sports, even if they never make it as far as the majors. They can also learn something from the lives of these stars.

A player should be prepared for some setbacks. Though Wells was quick to get called up to the majors, he would find himself back in the minors again for a while.

Baseball, like other skills, takes hard work as well as talent. “Hitting is just repetition. The more you hit, the better you’re going to get,” Wells has said (http://www.jockbio.com/Bios/Wells/Wells_mysay.html).

IMG Academy counts Wells among their most notable alumni and trainees (http://www.imgacademy.com/sports/baseball/notable-alumni).

It can be important to have role models in the sport. For Loup, it was family. "The people that influenced me were probably my grandpa and my dad," he has said. For other players, the inspiration comes from youth or high school coaches. For a juvenile Wells, it came from pro ball stars.

Travel Baseball Teams in Louisiana

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