@anotherparent posted:My son has been fortunate to have very good host families, although certainly he has had to adapt to different ways of living, which was a great experience. And he has played in the north, so the weather has been beautiful - I can't imagine doing summer ball in the south. The atmosphere at the ballparks was great. He didn't get paid, but we didn't have to pay (much) for him, either.
But let me get this straight:
- according to every thread ever on this site, college baseball is a grind, and you'd better really love the game if you want to do it.
- according to PABaseball and Francis7, players hate playing the game they supposedly love in summer leagues - "they're having their summer, their only time off, taken from them" - they would rather be at the lake with friends, or working in offices
- according to old_school, D1 players are jerked around in college, don't get playing time, know they are likely to be cut, are told they have to play in the summer if they want a hope of PT, then still don't get it in the college season no matter how well they do in summer ball
- but that's maybe because the pitching in summer leagues is not great, because the good college pitchers are pitched out during their seasons and don't go. So if D1 bench players hit well against bad summer pitching, it doesn't matter, and if they do badly it's even worse.
- no-one has the hope of getting drafted any more
- it's not enough just to enjoy playing the sport you love all summer and entertaining fans who come to ballparks by the hundreds or even thousands to have a nice summer evening of baseball, beer, and family fun
- because according to Fenway, no-one likes baseball any more anyway
So, what are we all doing on HSBBW, then?
@anotherparent great summary. I might try to create a infograph.
And you are absolutely correct, IMHO HSBBW is here to help inspiring baseball players of all level to navigate the journey.
I've learned significant amount of insight from this community and still remain humbled by the knowledge base.
Here is your laugh for the day.
When I joined, it reminded me of Seinfeld "Soup N...", I put my head down, commented when possible adding some context, listened and shared.