Reply to "High School Baseball"

MDBallDad posted:

I reviewed the posts on here and with few exception this is a summary of what I believe are the points of agreement.

1. At the high school varsity level coaches are expected to place their teams in the best position to win
2. At the high school varsity level coaches are supposed to accomplish this while developing players to improve the odds of winning consistently as a program
3. These objectives are not mutually exclusive
4. At the high school varsity level coaches work with the pool of players that attend that school
5. Based on the quality of youth programs, travel programs, middle school, freshman and JV programs in the area the level of that pool of players is hugely diverse.
6. Some catcher are capable, at some point in their HS Varsity career both by baseball acumen and psychological make-up of calling games on their own and achieving # 1 and #2
7. Some catchers as not capable,  at some point in their HS Varsity career both by baseball acumen and /or psychological make-up of calling games on their own and achieving # 1 and #2
8. Communication between the coach/sand the pitching staff and the catching staff helps the coaches know where individual players fall in spectrum of skills, knowledge and capabilities.

With these common understandings the answer to the question is like most answers to strategy question in baseball...IT DEPENDS.  Do you bunt a player from first to second with 0 outs?...IT DEPENDS,  do you play the infield up with 1 out and a man on 3rd? IT DEPENDS...do you play outfielders "no doubles" in the last inning with no one on base and a 1 run lead? IT DEPENDS. 

This is why they're are coach's.  Someone has to make decisions regarding all of the IT DEPENDS moments that impact players, games and programs.  No two coaches will always make the same decisions in any given scenario.  At the end of the day the beauty of baseball is that it is alive...what was "right" in the 1920's (Like letting pitchers throw 200 pitches in a day) would be considered crazy today and frankly I did not see a lot of "shifts" against Ruth or Aaron...the game changes and the best coaches and players adapt. 

IMHO, trying to argue that there is a definitive right or wrong to this topic is like teaching a pig to dance...it embarrasses you and annoys the pig...I LOVE BASEBALL!!!!!

I love this response! This one of the reasons I love baseball too!

I just gotta say that numbers 4-7 are key. I am envious of the parents on here whose high schools are full of talented players. Not everyone has that luxury. Probably most schools don't have that luxury. You work with the talent and commitment level you have and you make choices about how to develop the kids to give the team the best shot.