A few things I've learned from HSBBW

Beau-ti-ful, thanks for sharing jp24 ~ this is spot on! 

The cumulative knowledge and experience here is matched only by the willingness to share here.

 

2017 recently had his first "conversation" with college coach set up through his HS coach.  2017 called me and said he was asked to call college coach - He was nervous and was wanting some guidance.  Not 2-3 weeks earlier there was an excellent thread about first offers and how they played out.  Had some offline discussions where real life examples were laid out in front of me.  As a result, I was able to calmly (sort of) walk 2017 through what the call might be.  The call ended up being quite similar to many who described the first "get acquainted" calls and all is well.  Without HSBBW I am sure that 2017 would have been far less prepared.  Hope there are more to come.

 

I will add that some long time posters have stopped soft peddling their recommendations and prefer to cut to the chase.  I have had fun going back and reading earlier versions of the same recommendations which are a little less direct.  Most experienced posters don't want to discuss hypotheticals and prefer to address issues based on current facts - this may detract from some just-for-fun posting (to run or not to run) but really a good idea when addressing someone's actual real life future. 

 

Last but not least, please stop bashing PGStaff for the $5 parking fee (I hope they use the same five colors at our next tournament - I have them all stashed in my glove compartment).  

 

Once again, thanks to all.

"Last but not least, please stop bashing PGStaff for the $5 parking fee (I hope they use the same five colors at our next tournament - I have them all stashed in my glove compartment). "

 

Sounds like something that I would do except I wouldn't tell anybody about it so that maybe they wouldn't change the colors.  In reality, I would probably not know where I put the passes when needed them the next year, though.

 

Something that I have done recently is go back and read some of my early dialogs (PM's) to various of y'all (especially Fenway and TPM) . My perspective, my knowledge, my views have all changed somewhat. My son's experience is the same as some but vastly different than many so that jades my views/comments to a certain degree.

 

One last thought, some things that I felt were really important turned out not to be important and/or was something that I couldn't do anything about anyway.

 

This reminds me of how little has really changed over the last 25 years in terms of communication within internet forums.  I'm remembering my days in the AOL forums back in the early 90's.

 

One stark memory was when I meant one of the people I was having a virtual knock-down drag-out fight in an AOL forum over some points that I was an expert in and it seems like he was someone I just couldn't get to like.  As it turned out, he didn't live far from me and one day we arranged a meeting. It turned out he was actually much different from what I thought on line, as did he, and we got along great (even better thereafter on line . . .. though we still disagreed about some points).

Excellent OP and follow ups!

 

I couldn’t agree more with JP24’s comments on perspective and RFF’s comments on things that seem so important at the time turning out not to be.  Spot on.  It seems that every time I thought I knew what was around the corner or what was truly important, I was wrong!  I couldn’t imagine this journey without the knowledge imparted here. 

 

I’ll add two observations … I did go back and read some of my early posts and DM’s and the responses. Ironically, the posters that I originally thought were a bit heavy handed or a little over the top in their responses are now the one's I seek out first for their take on relevant topics …. Perspective! 

 

Secondly, a quick anecdote:  My son is in week 4 of his Freshman 5 week summer bridge program.  He’ll be home for a week and then back to school for the Fall semester.  He’s just beginning to get a taste of the academic and athletic demands that come with being a D1 freshman baseball commit.  I sent him a post from Coach May from an old board topic about being successful in your Freshman year.  His response?  “Dad, do you know the guy that wrote that?  Because he just nailed it!”

 

I don’t “know” Coach May or Fenway or any of the other dozens of posters, but I sincerely appreciate their knowledge, wisdom and their ability and willingness to share it with guys like me.

 

Not only our perspectives, but our son's perspectives.  They become men very quickly.

Just like we always tell our kids they don't know who is watching you at the ball field, many of us don't know who we are talking to here, especially when we're brand new. You never know who may be able to help you down the road. Be willing to listen, always post with respect and be willing to engage. There is so much knowledge here that it can sometimes feel overwhelming and confusing. Hang in there and you will get to know some amazing people.

When I came here, I knew nothing about PG, showcases, the rules for recruiting or the recruiting process. There is no other place where you can learn about the process in such detail.

And finally, don't assume everyone on here is a man. I've learned a lot from both moms and dads.

       
       

This is also so true. My brother has two 7 year olds that are starting to play baseball. He was obsessed with everything about it. Their swing, how they threw the ball, feeling like daddy ball was going on. But mostly obsessed with swing mechanics. It got very irritating to me. All I could think was - None of this matters, just let them have fun. Which, to an extent, is true.

I was kind of complaining about it to my son. He told me - Dad, it's his first time doing this, he's excited. Cut him some slack. Well, that piece of wisdom hit me pretty hard.

We are all coming at this from different perspectives. What some of us see now as not that important, is very important to people going thru things for the first time. Sometimes we need to be a little more patient with the "newbies". After all, we were there once. Everything was a big deal. We didn't know any better. And even with all that, most of our kids turned out pretty good.

• The cumulative knowledge and experience here are unmatched anywhere.

 

So, I constantly remind myself, LISTEN even if it's something I don't want to hear.

I learned everything about the recruiting process on HSBBW. The two most important things I learned where:

1. Control what you can control.

2. RHP throwing 85 are a dime a dozen

I did not want to hear either at the time, I still wanted to look through my rose color glasses. But once I took that advice the process became easier to navigate. 

• Our perspectives really do change as our sons get older.
• What seems critical today often looks insignificant in the rearview mirror.
• The majority of contributors here want to help others see their sons through clear, informed eyes.

Yep, yep and...yep!!!  I think a mistake many early posters make (ha! including me back in 2003!! )  is to assume the advice they are receiving is just coming from some mean old guy/gal that just doesn't understand their situation...now.

 

The reality is, we (old guys and gals) are just trying to help folks avoid the same mistakes many/most of us made ourselves!!

One of the things I ended up realizing early on is so many of the posters here have had son's go through what mine WILL go through. So why wouldn't I listen to their advise and see how it applies in my son's situation.

 

That still continues today post college baseball and in the working world....

so what things did y'all think were so important, that with time took care of themselves or were really never as important as you thought?

 

thanks...

The 1st thing that comes to mind is continued coach contact. You should contact the college initially if you are interested....maybe 2-3 on the staff with one email (HC, RC, PC if a pitcher). This will show that you are interested but IF they want to get hold of you afterwards, they will!!!!!!!!!! You may not even have to contact the colleges but most we did. My son also received some "cold calls". (Keep in mind that there are dead periods when coaches cannot contact you, etc)

I know that I will think of more as I mull over it.

When I found this site I had already been through the process with my daughter and softball. Talk about two blind squirrels finding a nut! We were totally at the mercy of fortunately, a very good travel program. 

 

For or my son I understood the process. This site taught me where to look. And when he tore his MCL and PCL at the first showcase after junior year experiences posters talked me off the ledge. Then when he had shoulder separation surgery falling during rehab the same posters talked me off the ledge again.

 

It's not uncommon for many of the poster's players here to get through high school ball without facing any adversity. It was helpful to have the calming affect of those whose kids hit adversity in college or pro ball. What I discovered is if a kid wants it badly enough it all works out. 

 

I'm out of kids. Know that I've learned so much I don't have the kids to mentor. It's probably why I'm still here.

the above just needed to be reposted. it is staggering to me how much they change and grow up.

I think RHP throwing 85 are more rare than we think.  I think D1 recruiters probably see a lot of RHP throwing 85 that want to get into their program. 

Lion, I agree 85 is rare. Not a lot of kids can throw that. Not many in HS can for sure. In D1 though, from my experience, everyone can throw that. I think it becomes more rare in D1 to see 87-89 consistently. Of course, the bigger the program the less rare that is as well. My son's team has 14 pitchers on the roster last year. 3-4 could consistently hit the 87-89 "cruising" mark. His team played Illinois in NCAA, talked to some of there parents at hotel. Most of their pitchers could sit there. But the were in top 10-15 in nation

Control what you can control is the biggest one that I repeat to son.   You can't control how quickly you grow, but you can control working hard and getting better every day.  

 

After this summer, I was feeling like every pitcher was throwing 85 and every catcher had consistent sub 2 pops.  Then he played with little brother on local school/rec team, and I realized this isn't the case.  It's all relative, I guess.  Reinforces that it's important to make sure player is on the right team and playing at the correct level, and having fun doing so.

 

Son will be talking about something baseball related, and will often ask "what do your baseball people say?"  then off I go to HSBBW.  I think just about every question he has had has been answered numerous times.  I'm grateful for the knowledge that everyone continues to share.

 

 

i love that Baseball Chauffeur handle...  should change mine to "money for gas", though clueless still applies ;-)

 

 

Haha!  He just got his license last week so I was considering changing it to "cash dispenser" or "rolling in at game time".

 

Don't worry about being clueless, I still feel like I am, but you've got tons of time and you've found the right place to look for answers!

you say that now, but unless he is playing 15 - 30 minutes or less away from where you live, I bet you drive. Only because you don't want 2 cars going to same place an hour apart. Still do that and my oldest is 27 and just married. we are going over to my brothers house on labor day weekend and it is about 2 1/2 hours from my house. Piling 8 in our van so they don't have to all drive. There will be 7 licensed drivers in that car and you can bet, I will be the one driving   

OK, I'm only claiming to be guilty of SOME of these things and will chalk up others to what I have "observed" ... 

 

-accomplishments instead of memories

-athletic performance instead of acts of character

-receiving accolades instead of giving anything of need to anyone in need

-telling a 10 year old how much work it's going to take to "make it"

-routine play fielding error

-looking at that pitch he KNOWS he should have swung at

-irritated by other players/coaches with too much "flare" to my liking

-how badly that umpire ruined my 13 y.o. son's image/chances/career

-all the positive smoke blown up our butts at camps

-the outcome of every pitch from the age of 7 - 14

-missing a practice for something more "fun" 7 - 14

-not to take a fishing/amusement park/ski.... trip due to team commitment 7 - 14

-need to practice all three sports at least a little bit all year

-can't miss that fall ball/local camp/HS clinic/ex-pro XYZ speaker opportunity

-you didn't pack the right food/hydration/equipment!?!?!?!?!?

-varsity as a freshman

-the second/third uni for travel ball at age 11

-the bat

-him watching all nine

-his numbers

-all-league, all-city, all-county, 1st team v 2nd team

-spying other teams in tourney

 

Oh crap, this really isn't looking good.. I think I'll stop there.

 

 

Expensive out of town travel tournaments under the age of 15.

We refer to those out of town tournaments below 15u as family vacations, and I would do them again.  It isn't about exposure under 15u it's about getting to play baseball while on vacation.  Prior to travel ball I didn't make the time for vacations, now they are built into the summer, it works out well for my family.

Yeah....about that time at 13U when i went to Frank Brown park straight from the beach...................