The odds of anybody at Saturday’s Atlanta Braves tryout at Mililani High making the major leagues might well be somewhere between slim to none.

But, then, the man running the tryouts, Dan Cox, is a poster guy for overcoming long odds.

His has been a roundabout path from Aiea High (Class of ’91) to the Atlanta Braves as an area scouting supervisor.

With a passion, but little baseball background to speak of and zero MLB connections, he has managed to realize the longshot dream “of a place in baseball” in a 21-year career.

Which is part of why the Braves will be holding an annual tryout at 11 a.m. at Mililani (10:15 a.m. registration). Tryouts are open to players ages 16-23 and further information is available online.

“I try to help the players as much as I can because it is so hard for Hawaii kids to get some exposure,” said the 44-year-old Cox. “This might be somebody’s chance.”

Job One, of course, to find and identify potential prospects for the Braves, where he is in the third year of his second stint. But he has taken it upon himself to try to help open doors for deserving players with colleges or independent pro leagues.

“We all have dreams and my dream was to work in baseball,” Cox said. “I just didn’t know in what capacity. I always had a passion for baseball and, I knew early on, that I didn’t have the skill set to play (in college or the pros).”

It was a goal that took him to living on a friend’s couch in San Diego for six months. He would drive two hours each way for a $6-an-hour job with the Angels answering phones as a customer service representative and ticket agent.

He made friends with some people in the front office with whom he shared his aspirations. They encouraged him to attend the team’s job fair. With resume in tow he looked for whatever he could get, parking lot, postgame clean-up, you name it. “They didn’t really have a job for me but they created one as a ‘runner.’ I dumped the trash, ordered pizza, answered the phone …” Cox said.

In the process, he caught the eye of general manager Bill Bavasi, who asked, “Are you that kid from Hawaii that wants to work in baseball operations?” Cox said, “I said, ‘Well, yes sir, Mr. Bavasi!’”

In time he attended MLB Scouting School and was a quick study to the point that, halfway through, was offered a position by the MLB Scouting Bureau.

It paid less than an office job he could have had. But because he lacked history as a player, he sought some on-the-field experience to bolster the resume.

After that would come scouting stints with the Twins, Braves, Blue Jays and, again, Atlanta.

As a scout with Minnesota he recommended the drafting of Kolten Wong out of Kamehameha as a fourth- to seventh-round pick. Instead, the Twins, who didn’t envision a big league future for Wong as a second baseman, chose him in the 16th round of the 2008 draft. Wong chose to return to UH, eventually being a first-round selection of the Cardinals in 2011.

“I really took to scouting and, after that, it was hard to think about going back to an office once you have been in the field,” Cox said. “There’s the competition and a camaraderie. You have your friends in the scouting industry, but it is also a competition to find players who can get to the big leagues.”

Long shots? Cox knows they sometimes pay off because, after all, he was one.

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@staradvertiser.com or 529-4820.