Future Stars Program15 Shines Light On Emerging Baseball Talent

Jeremy Booth has vast baseball experience as a former professional player and talent evaluator for Major League Baseball. The Southern California native grew up around greats such as Hall of Fame inductee Rickey Henderson, Dave Stewart, Eric Davis, and Darryl Strawberry, and learned the executive side of the game from Sandy Alderson and Bob Watson.

So, the high school participants in Booth’s Future Stars Program15 at Islanders Field in Lathrop on Nov. 1-2 found themselves in a baseball-rich environment.

Islanders Field supervisor Don Johns gave the Future Stars event, which included player development and live action, high marks.

“Great to play the game, better to learn how to play the game so you can have success as a player and advance to the next level,” Johns said. “Jeremy had successful MLB players working on the player development and it was the best I have seen being offered to the amateur player. Great for Islanders Field and Northern California baseball.”

Booth’s Future Stars program hosted one of the top amateur events in the world, the Future Stars International Week, Sept. 25-26 at Fenway Park and Manchester, N.H., home of Toronto’s Double-A affiliate. It featured many players who could be day one selections in the 2021 draft.

So, Islanders Field has a big league dance partner.

“We are the Global Initiative in New Balance Baseball; player development, player identification across the planet; operating in 13 different countries with events; and all that stuff kind of funnels into our signature event in Fenway Park, which has had quite a bit of success over the last four years,” says Booth, Program15 Founder, CEO.

“This year we’re the only amateur association to have an event in a major league stadium and the first game in a year with fans in a major league park, which is kind of cool, before the playoffs,” he continued.

Clearly, Johns considers the marriage among Future Stars Program15, NorCal Baseball club headed by Rob Bruno and Tony Crivello and Islanders Field a home run.

Booth does too.

“Don’s a first class human being,” Booth says. “Islanders Field is an exceptional venue. Don’s made it available to us pretty much any time we need to come in there as he tries to bring in high impact, credible events to your area. It’s been good to be able to have that relationship over the years.”

Booth’s program has more than 20 MLB clubs actively on its Advisory Board and 15 World Series rings on the staff between evaluators and coaches. Booth has over 20 years experience as a pro player, coach and talent evaluator. The focus of the program is on player development and advancement.

“Something has to help these kids move on,” Booth says. “We’re never about the one day; we’re always about the future and the cumulative.”

Booth says there’s a mentorship component as well.

“These young men are looking at you as a conduit to help them achieve their goals,” he says. “… You certainly want to impose the discipline, the structure, the lessons, because these guys are far more likely, whether it’s play in the Big Leagues first or not at all, to go back into their communities with other players they run across and teach them the lessons they’re learning.”

ISLANDERS FIELD OF DREAMS: Plus, you can’t beat the vibe for amateur baseball at Islanders Field, a 5,000-seat gem nestled by the San Joaquin River, located in the master-planned River Islands community.

What’s not to love?

“The community sense is why we like it so much too,” Booth says. “It’s a beautiful ballpark. It’s immaculate. Don does a great job. It’s private and yet public; it’s fun to be there. There’s the Bradshaw Crossing Bridge that’s pretty to see from the field. … It’s a real fun environment to be at, a little bit of ‘Field of Dreams’ to it.”

A RICH BASEBALL BACKGROUND: Booth was basically born into the game. His dad, Aaron, now an attorney with offices in Carlsbad and Los Angeles, was a player agent when Jeremy was a child. A gifted communicator, Jeremy has been a baseball analyst for CBS TV KHOU 11 in Houston the past four years and co-hosts the Extra Bases Podcast.

Moreover, Booth says the West Coast is “very important” to him. California has a rich baseball tradition, ideal weather, and always turns out top talent.

“California itself has had more than 20 percent of the Major League Baseball players every year for the last two decades. It’s an environment that’s home, whether it’s SoCal or NorCal, so I try to make sure I get there (to Islanders Field events),” Booth says. “We always have a big turnout in Northern California, so it’s fun to see that.”

Jeremy’s dad went to UC Hastings College of the Law in San Francisco, which brought Jeremy into the A’s environment of the 1980s. He was around former Oakland A’s second baseman, the late Tony Phillips, and A’s outfielder Darrell Brown, among others.

Booth’s initial organization, Program15, was modeled after a documentary on Amazon called “Harvard Park,” about how a small baseball field in south central Los Angeles became the proving ground for several legendary pro baseball players, including Eric Davis and Strawberry.

“I grew up out there as a young kid every spring,” Booth says of Harvard Park. “Those guys were kind of like my uncles, Chris Brown and Straw and Eric and those guys I mentioned, there were very active in that light.”

EXECUTIVE CONNECTIONS: Booth was exposed to the highly respected Alderson, the new president of the New York Mets, at a young age and has observed how he’s done things “for a long time with the utmost respect,” Booth says. “He’s always been open to spend time with me.”

Alderson’s extensive front office experience includes time with the Oakland A’s (1981-98; 1989 World Series champs; 2019 senior advisor of baseball operations), San Diego Padres (2005-09), Mets (GM 2010-18), and in the commissioner’s office (1998-2005).

Also, the late Watson, a SoCal native and former A’s hitting coach who played for several MLB teams, had a key role. He was with the Astros front office when Booth started his program.

The current Future Stars program boasts mentors such as Bobby Heck, Special Assistant to the Tampa Bay Rays GM; and Milwaukee Brewers Scouting Director and Special Assistant to the GM Ray Montgomery.

Former Seattle Mariners GM Jack Zduriencik also had a big impact on Booth. “His energy and attention to detail was always something I valued and appreciated,” Booth said of the connection.

Sacramento resident Deron Johnson, the Twins’ Special Assistant to the GM, is also one of Booth’s mentors.

So, the event at Islanders Field brought teenage prospects together with some baseball legends.
A Field of Dreams, indeed.

For more information visit https://futurestars.com