Skip to main content

Reply to "My Son Wants to Quit Baseball..."

To all of the posters who insist that there is no difference in talent in the middle 75% or that politics or chemistry between coach and player are often to blame, I say this:

Determining who will start is always subjective. One pitcher has the highest velocity, another pitcher has the most control, a third pitcher throws the best off-speed stuff. Who you gonna start? One position player has a stronger bat, but another player has more speed and agility and has a better arm. A third player has limited range and is not a power hitter, but he is very consistent and reliable with both his fielding and his hitting. Who is "best"? There will always be those who disagree with who is starting, but it usually boils down to the legitimate preferences and priorities of each coach and the needs of each team. To say that coaches are not putting the best players on the field is an insult to their abilities to coach.

ndmom, that was indeed an awesome story about your son. I have never seen him play, but one phrase in his write-up did stand out to me: "power potential." It is possible that your son has tremendous college potential and yet does not possess oustanding present ability. Perhaps he has yet to bulk up and the coach wants to start someone who may not be a college prospect, but has current power in his bat to help the team achieve its goals. You mentioned that your son played 1B and right field. The coach may have been waist deep in players for those positions, thus requiring him to make some hard decisions regarding who to start. You may be surprised at how he agonized over who to put on the field.

On my son's team, 13 players have hit HR's this season. Three of those players rarely get to play. I am sure their parents have been extremely frustrated that their sons are not starting, but such is the game of baseball. There are only 9 players on the field at any given time and there will always be some who are deserving, but for one legitimate reason or another, just can't quite make the cut.
Last edited by Infield08
×
×
×
×