“This stuff is like an FBI file,” says Nick Kamzic about the papers on his lap. “I’m like a secret agent. I can’t tell anyone exactly who I’m looking at, or why. Today is just another baseball game. Let’s just say I’m looking at both clubs. The less I say, the longer I’ll last as an employee. Scouts hate to get their name in the paper. There’s lots of jealousy in baseball. GMs get jealous as hell.”
Sweet-faced Nick Kamzic might have played big league ball himself–if his minor league career hadn’t been interrupted by World War II and a couple of war injuries. But as a scout for the California Angels for the last 30 years (he was one of Gene Autry’s first employees), he’s made some everlasting marks on the game anyway.
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Working out of his home in Evergreen Park, Kamzic is responsible for scouting the National League East for the Angels, recommending good trading material whenever the California organization finds itself in need. He spends a lot of time at Wrigley Field, but he can be called away at a moment’s notice to scout the American League, the minor leagues, or colleges and high schools for the draft. “I’m still punchy from the draft,” he says. “I sat in the office from May 29 to June 5. There were 400 players and we talked about all of them. We drafted 54, and we’ll sign 15 or 20.”
“Lots of clubs fall out of contention by August, and they want to trade for future prospects. And clubs who want to win the pennant go for good established players. It’s up to a scout to make recommendations to his general manager. You talk a lot of trades during the playoffs and the World Series, too, and at winter league in Puerto Rico. There are always a lot of pending trades until spring training. First, scouts will talk trades with other scouts. Then we take the messages to the general managers.
“You need good ears in this game,” says Kamzic. “I can tell by the crack of the bat where a ball is going to go. If I hear a thud, I know it’s a foul.
Today Kamzic is using his stopwatch to time runners to first base, throws to first base, and the time it takes to make a double play. Basically, he just confirms what he already knows about who’s playing–but he’s always on the lookout for a player who may be slipping, or one making a dramatic improvement.
Pitchers are rated on delivery, speed, control, etc, on a scale of 20 to 80. “Gooden–now he’s an 80,” says Kamzic.
