There's a moment, and every scout who's been in this industry long enough has felt it, where you stop writing on your notepad. Your pen goes still. You look up from the clipboard and you just watch. You're not evaluating anymore. You're witnessing. Your mind has been made up for you. Now you're just taking it in.
Scouts felt it more than once with Bobby Witt Jr. They began seeing shades of greatness when he was just 15 years old. And his development never slowed.
Some evaluators know when they're watching a superstar. Some leave little doubt.
Colleyville, Texas is a comfortable suburb wedged between Fort Worth and DFW International Airport. Strip malls. Youth sports. The kind of place where a good high school ballplayer can get lost in the crowd. Bobby Witt Jr. never had that problem. He couldn't hide if he tried.
The name, of course, carried weight …