You don't get rich as a baseball scout, but it's very fulfilling. A smiling Bernie Beckman, a Dutch national team scout who was in the stands before Wednesday's United States-Venezuela game at the Premier 12 at Taoyuan Stadium, could tell you that much.
His career says it all. Ever since signing a professional contract with the Detroit Tigers organization at age of 16, Beckman has fully been involved in the sport in various ways.
As a player, he was a pitcher, the highest level he reached was Triple-A. According to baseball-reference.com, he was 71-81 in 10 seasons the minors.