The Little Things?

Dominik85 posted:

Alanj posted:

In our park the small field is steal - steal - steal.  Most of the time the kid gets to first and he is at 3rd 2 pitches later.  What does that teach him - not much.  He is not going on the pitchers motion - he is just going because he knows he can beat the throw.  SO what does that teach them.  Youth coaches try to control to much in the game now.  My son did play one game in MS against a team that was really good.  The coaches stayed off the field and the kids coached the bases.  I thought that was very interesting.

Alan

I would actually like closed bases for longer when Kids start to pitch. the arguement is that open bases teach baserunning, but if every guy on first automatically advances to third that doesn't teach much with regard to baserunning.

That is exactly right and I'll take that further down the road...  our JV runners are taught most of the right things to do but they get away with so many mistakes and sloppiness with reads, jumps, rounds, etc., because of the low level of competition, the weak pick moves, slow leg lift to home times, poor catcher mechanics and arms, etc.  So, they don't actually learn what they've been told/taught until they are put in a competitive situation where "proper" must be practiced.  If they run from 2b to 3b in a non-force situation with a GB in front, they often get away with it.   Break on a hit-and-run on first move and then run upright, looking at the hitter the whole time, they get away with it.  And on and on...  When I get them at V, there is so much relearning that has to take place.  It is not acceptable but it is also more difficult for the JV staff to teach when there is not much learn by example.

More specific to your comment, our local youth baseball league made the big change about 6-8 years ago from LL to a Ripken version.  Just as you describe... big mistake.  Our area and league are not big enough or deep enough.  Almost always, a runner reaches 1st base and you might as well place him on 3rd.  Very few P/C/MIF combos capable of stopping a runner.

cabbagedad posted:

 

More specific to your comment, our local youth baseball league made the big change about 6-8 years ago from LL to a Ripken version.  Just as you describe... big mistake.  Our area and league are not big enough or deep enough.  Almost always, a runner reaches 1st base and you might as well place him on 3rd.  Very few P/C/MIF combos capable of stopping a runner.

The flip side to the base running is learning to control the running game.  That was a huge focus on my kids first TB teams.  The catchers/pitchers put in a ton of time working on it.  Not much else you can do indoors in a gym over the winter.  I just with our HS spent half as much time.  Opposing teams steal on us at will.  Walks are triples.   

Iowamom23 posted:

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My son played little league one last year two years ago. Son was catching with runners on first and third. Coach starts yelling at second baseman to get on the bag in case of a steal. My son turns around and says coach, I told him not to cause I'm not going to throw down with a runner on third. Coach says I don't care, I'm the coach, he should do what I say. Son shrugged and said okay. Still didn't throw, and was reminded why he quit Little League. Nice enough coaches who didn't know the game as well as the 14 year old. 

Why would you give up a base and let a runner get in scoring position just because there's a runner at 3b? Only way it makes sense is if he has a horrible arm or his team simply can't play catch. Our freshmen have 3 different 1st and 3rd options and none of them involve holding the ball because we're not good enough.

justbaseball posted:

Our younger son's HS coaches taught him more than I would have ever imagined.  He was so prepared for college baseball both on the field and off - it would be hard to overstate it.  There isn't a single thing I would change about it.

In fact, so good that I don't think he woulda played D1 baseball without that HS program.  So many folks seem to take credit about how many of 'their players' have moved onto higher levels.  Some of that is poppycock to me.  But this program could very legitimately take tons of credit for their players - yet they rarely seem to do that.

Archbishop Mitty HS, San Jose, CA.  Coach Bill Hutton (now retired) and staff.

I feel similarly about 2019Son's high school program.

This thread has been kinda, sorta a coaches vs. players thing (players show up unprepared, or coaches don't teach the little things), but the little things involve teammates and umpires, too. Case in point: JV game yesterday against a talented team that is part of a good program (Varsity currently ranked in Top 50 in the country), runner rounding third and heading home, the on-deck batter says nothing, no indication that the kid should slide, get down, nothing . . . throw comes in and runner is tagged right before be touches home plate (standing up). The runner then went over to the on-deck batter and had a, uh, let's say conversation before heading into the dugout.

Another example is when the umpire takes a foul tip -- on a team that does the little things right the catcher will ask for time and go visit his pitcher. 

Etc., etc.

2019Dad posted:

justbaseball posted:

Our younger son's HS coaches taught him more than I would have ever imagined.  He was so prepared for college baseball both on the field and off - it would be hard to overstate it.  There isn't a single thing I would change about it.

In fact, so good that I don't think he woulda played D1 baseball without that HS program.  So many folks seem to take credit about how many of 'their players' have moved onto higher levels.  Some of that is poppycock to me.  But this program could very legitimately take tons of credit for their players - yet they rarely seem to do that.

Archbishop Mitty HS, San Jose, CA.  Coach Bill Hutton (now retired) and staff.

. . . throw comes in and runner is tagged right before be touches home plate (standing up). The runner then went over to the on-deck batter and had a, uh, let's say conversation before heading into the dugout.

 

Um, if you don't, SLIDE! Especially at the plate. Conversation is good but accountability is better.

If you play on a good travel team that teaches baseball, your HS season can be even more painful.

ironhorse posted:

2019Dad posted:

justbaseball posted:

Our younger son's HS coaches taught him more than I would have ever imagined.  He was so prepared for college baseball both on the field and off - it would be hard to overstate it.  There isn't a single thing I would change about it.

In fact, so good that I don't think he woulda played D1 baseball without that HS program.  So many folks seem to take credit about how many of 'their players' have moved onto higher levels.  Some of that is poppycock to me.  But this program could very legitimately take tons of credit for their players - yet they rarely seem to do that.

Archbishop Mitty HS, San Jose, CA.  Coach Bill Hutton (now retired) and staff.

. . . throw comes in and runner is tagged right before be touches home plate (standing up). The runner then went over to the on-deck batter and had a, uh, let's say conversation before heading into the dugout.

 

Um, if you don't, SLIDE! Especially at the plate. Conversation is good but accountability is better.

I agree. But it was the other team not sliding -- and getting tagged out -- so no complaints on this end!

The "little things" is a subjective term. 

I deleted a couple of paragraphs and will just say this.....It is hard to win an argument with a smart person, but it is darn near impossible to do with a stupid one.