I marvel at how blessed other states are with how many baseball games you all can play. We are only allowed 20 regular season games, with a max of 25 if you go to the state championship.
Writing this more for myself as a humbling reminder how hard baseball is, and that one learns more from "failure". Hopefully, son will learn from this, and turn it into a positive moving forward. Season had been goin very well, esp from pitching perspective. Came up against bigger, stronger, good hitting team. Usual approaches against hitters didn't work as well. Lots of errors and soft contact that ended up as hits, and some HHBs that brought runs in. Suboptimal adjustment off of particular pitch that hitters were getting contact on despite movement. Loss of emotional control, lack of focus and garbage body language after things snowballed. He's been summarily punished, not for end result or errors, but for inexcusable & selfish body language leading to loss of focus. Tale of the tape reveals much that can be improved upon as far as approach to hitters. Execution was there, mental focus and adjustment were not. What's the definition of insanity? Repeating the same... no it's a 15yo. Often times seemingly, the WORST thing that can happen to a young mind is success out of the gate, much like winning the first time in a casino...
HS baseball in PA starts this week. Today is opening day for my son.
I'm just glad that it will be 60F temp today, not the 30F that we had on Sunday.
Last night in the 50's with cold northerly breeze... today in the 70s... tomorrow 80s... I was very glad to have learned taking the layering approach and that my outer shell could accommodate a tshirt, underarmor, jersey, and "cold weather" jacket... My friends from up north say I've gone soft now - there's something to be said about getting used to a certain temperature.
@Grateful NTX lurker
I was talking to one of my son's coaches the other day. He's got well over 25 years experience coaching at a collegiate level. We were talking about batting averages and other stats. and how I don't share my son's with him during the season. ( He has since figured out how to get them on game changer). He said it's important never to get too wrapped up in the highs and lows of game and try to remain on even keel. Easier said than done.
Also the 14/15 yo brain is still very much learning emotional regulation no matter how much they appear mature on the outside. Our sons are so driven and motivated that occasionally frustration and disappointment poke through. After all no one is perfect. But it's just part of learning experience of growing up. It's just tough to watch sometimes. But I think we tend to learn much more from our failures than our successes.
I feel the pain, 15 year old brains are hard to deal with sometimes. Mine is very hard on himself and it has been leading to confidence issues. He can hit a left center gap double on a second pitch and on the car ride home he talks about the swing and miss he had on the first pitch of the at bat that he says was a better pitch.
We are playing our first outdoor scrimmage today. The item of note today is where we are playing - League Park. You might say, League Park - so what? League Park opened in 1891 in Cleveland and the first pitch was thrown by Cy Young. Babe Ruth had some of his greatest games at League Park. As far as I am aware, only three parks still exist where Babe Ruth played and that is Wrigley Field, Fenway Park, and League Park (new Yankee Stadium is not where the old one was). League Park is on the same grounds but in no way does it remotely resemble the way it looked when Ruth played as most of the original structure has long since been torn down. There is a museum there and surrounding the park is some of the old stone walls that were there when the park was built. My Paul Harvey story for the day as it relates to this thread...
Here is a nice article from the Cleveland Plain Dealer and Ruth at League Park.
Update: our season is going really well, which is totally a subjective thing to say. It’s going really well for my 2026 (fr) and the starters, that is. Personally, I’d like to see more game time for some quality players not on the first team, but I hear there are other factors contributing to their lack of playing time like being in time or attitude.
My son has done really well and I’m really enjoying seeing him progress. Everyone started the season as mostly unknowns and things have worked themselves out for him by proving it on the field and in practices. His progression so far - he started at the bottom in every category possible:
Fielding: a non starter in preseason to shared time to owning 1B. He has shown he’s the man to dig out nearly everything thrown his way and made some heads up plays. His hitting probably a big factor here too.
Batting: non starter, nearly last in line up in preseason (everyone hit in scrimmages, all 18) to hitting 7-8th in lineup, to batting cleanup as a starter. His stats are great but I personally like that he changed his approach on his own or by listening to the coaches. I like to talk about stuff with him but I’m not knowledgeable enough to give advice, and when I ask about something, he usually chuckles and says I still don’t know anything 🤣. From my eyes, I like that he barrels more 1st pitch strikes and also has the best QAB stats.
Pitching: middle of the pack in preseason, worked up the ranking pretty fast. He’s middle of the pack in velo, so could’ve been a factor early on. He is a command/control guy and that proved to be what gets outs. The other successful pitchers are also better at command/control too. The varsity coach randomly struck up a conversation with me recently and commented that he likes to see his pitchers work efficiently and that too many of the younger pitchers are chasing strikeouts rather than weak contact, which gets them deep in counts most of the time (I’m paraphrasing). My son chases Ks as do all the rest. The most challenging part of pitching in HS for him is understanding he isn’t going to pitch every inning. He gets to start but the coaches hold them to 50-60 pitches and sometimes just 2 innings. There are a lot of arms that need to get work and I like that approach.
We are about 3 weeks into district play. What I’m really interested in seeing is if he can maintain this level of success through the next month or if he fails somewhere, how he handles it. He failed in some categories in 14u and did well to adjust but hated not being near the top, which is great motivation.
One last note, there are a few players that belittle or talk s$$t to their teammates. None of them are starters. All of them probably think they should be starting. I don’t think the coaches know because I think it happens away from the field. Coach is very adamant about being a great teammate and supporting your team. Son and I talked about it because there’s a lot of social BS that happens at this age (14-15) and through HS. So it’s not all about baseball.
And in some parts of the country, the HS season is just about to start!
Temperatures with the wind have felt like 30s for games - brutal. To my surprise, son, a 2026, has been lucky to start in nearly every game for the JV team at his very large school (roster is the largest by far of any team we've ever been on, so we certainly did not expect this). He has been contributing and has helped win games. Now hoping for warmer weather!
@TexasLefty posted:One last note, there are a few players that belittle or talk s$$t to their teammates. None of them are starters. All of them probably think they should be starting. I don’t think the coaches know because I think it happens away from the field. Coach is very adamant about being a great teammate and supporting your team. Son and I talked about it because there’s a lot of social BS that happens at this age (14-15) and through HS. So it’s not all about baseball.
Congrats to your son on his good season. With respect to your quote above, I suspect it is happening in every dugout in the country because the same things are happening here. Maybe a kid is not gracious enough to actually pull for a teammate when they are sitting on the bench - I get that. At least don't open your mouth then and say negative things to someone. Of course, I forget, the guys sitting all would be hitting 1000, never make an error in the field, and all have 0.00 ERA's if only the coach were smart enough to play them.
@ClevelandDad exactly🤣🤣🤣
The dugout talk can be tough. Here's another sort of talk. Son is a starter and is one of the top performers in AVG, OBP, RBI, SB, etc. Yet, he's the only one pulled in the 4/5th inning for unknown reasons. Son is pondering in silence "why him"? The dugout talk is all about his situation. Teammates repetitively saying, "Why'd you get pulled?", "I had no idea it was possible for someone that is 2 for 2 to be benched", "I have no shot at ever playing if this guy's not even getting to play", "Does Coach hate you?"
@Momball11 posted:The dugout talk can be tough. Here's another sort of talk. Son is a starter and is one of the top performers in AVG, OBP, RBI, SB, etc. Yet, he's the only one pulled in the 4/5th inning for unknown reasons. Son is pondering in silence "why him"? The dugout talk is all about his situation. Teammates repetitively saying, "Why'd you get pulled?", "I had no idea it was possible for someone that is 2 for 2 to be benched", "I have no shot at ever playing if this guy's not even getting to play", "Does Coach hate you?"
Just watching our games and from what we have observed, is this possibly when his team has a healthy lead? I have observed early on in the season that the coaches are giving more kids opportunities than they have in the most recent games. We saw a bit of this early on, but it is gradually diminishing as coaches seem to be settling into a lineup with starters.
@ILoveBaseball04 posted:Just watching our games and from what we have observed, is this possibly when his team has a healthy lead? I have observed early on in the season that the coaches are giving more kids opportunities than they have in the most recent games. We saw a bit of this early on, but it is gradually diminishing as coaches seem to be settling into a lineup with starters.
Yes, still early on in the season for sure. Inconsistent with the "healthy" lead though. I would say justifiable if the lead was comfortable because that's a perfectly good time to let players on the bench get some playing time. But that hasn't always been the case. Last year son was in the first man off the bench position, but when the team had a healthy lead he didn't get put in. Guess the coach has changed his tactics, but it's definitely odd that my son is the only one that gets pulled. I question if maybe it's attitude/behavior...but no, that's something we/he gets complimented on the most. I sort of wonder if it's to appease the parents of the one replacing him and they figure my son will be "understanding" and/or his parents won't throw a stink. I just tell myself and son that sometimes life just isn't fair, keep working, support your teammates and make sure you encourage positive conversations/talk in the dugout.
@Momball11 posted:I sort of wonder if it's to appease the parents of the one replacing him and they figure my son will be "understanding" and/or his parents won't throw a stink. I just tell myself and son that sometimes life just isn't fair, keep working, support your teammates and make sure you encourage positive conversations/talk in the dugout.
Your intuition is probably right. There are only two things a player can control - his attitude and his effort. Your son's attitude sounds great and that reflects nicely on his parents as well. It is up to him if he wants to be the hardest worker on the team but it sounds like he checks that box very nicely as well. You cannot control what other parents or players say and it can be ugly at times. Cannot control a coach's decision. I encourage kids that even in practice, if you are shagging balls on the infield or outfield, dive for a ball if you can get to it. Carry the water cooler if necessary with a smile on your face. I gave my son that same advice when he was originally redshirted in college. In high school, he had to scratch and claw his way into the lineup as a junior. Might only see one at bat in two games. That is the lot he had. He had to produce with one at bat and it was the same in college. Imagine your whole career depending on what you did with one at bat.
One of the most frustrating things about HS baseball is trying to understand what is going on in the coach's mind. They don't explain much - and, given how much guff they take, you can't really blame them, since anything they said would probably be misinterpreted by someone. But that leads to even more frustration and speculation.
We understood some of it better by the end of senior year. Some of it we have never understood. But you know what, we see the coach occasionally and I could now ask him about those things - but it never even crosses my mind!
I read an article about the do’s and don’ts about getting drafted back when my son was around 10 or 11. I wasn’t being prophetic, just one of those reads that sticks with you.
There was a bunch about not wearing your college gear, don’t bring a car if you can avoid it, and strategies for eating healthy. What really stuck with me was “Don’t play the GM game”. Which boiled down to keeping a positive mental attitude while others advanced and you didn’t, even if your stats seemed to indicate you should. I still feel like this is great advice for parents and players.
From fighting his way back into the baseball class after playing basketball as a freshman, not making JV, only pitching 12 innings his juco freshman season and the host of setbacks that most every competitive athlete suffers, he stayed driven and positive. I did some internal second guessing, but never bit on the negativity coming from the parental peanut gallery that’s at every level of youth sports.
As a parent you can’t help wondering what’s up sometimes, but unless there’s physical/emotional abuse or some massive demonstrated bias, imo you should try to stay positive and supportive to the program/process. Us parents aren’t always the most objective when it come to our kids.
Good luck this season, and enjoy the HS baseball experience, it goes by so fast. Looking back, even the drama will mostly be good memories.
@JucoDad posted:What really stuck with me was “Don’t play the GM game”. Which boiled down to keeping a positive mental attitude while others advanced and you didn’t, even if your stats seemed to indicate you should. I still feel like this is great advice for parents and players.
From fighting his way back into the baseball class after playing basketball as a freshman, not making JV, only pitching 12 innings his juco freshman season and the host of setbacks that most every competitive athlete suffers, he stayed driven and positive. .
Thanks for sharing this. I’m not as knowledgeable as most of you and my son is just getting started in the high school realm but I think these words are gold. Thanks
Got some nice words from one of the assistants about both of my boys. Hard workers, great kids, and least important, good ball players. 2023 hit the ball real hard yesterday but a diving catch by the cf robbed him of a hit. Played a great game in the field. 2027 ( playing on freshman) is going very well. Game tonight, weather permitting 🤞