And he’s off...

  Just keep 'em on for a while.

Great starts sure make things a little easier... new adventures comin'.  

Great day in his life, MAM. Yours too. Best of luck to both of you.

Congrats, MAM!  One of my son's HS teammates is now a teammate of your son's!  Really admire your son's program, and new coaches, not to mention the college.  A great experience awaits him!

JCG and Smoke — Good luck to both of your son’s as well.  Looking forward to comparing notes with you as our boys get their first taste of fall ball in a couple weeks.  That will be a wake up call for sure.

Cabbage — no doubt.  Looking forward to seeing what this new chapter has in store.

MAM,

Your son has just begun  the most difficult yet exciting time of his life.  There will be tough times the first year, after that things get easier.  

Waiting for room keys right now. Kid has a cold. Good for him to get that out of the way. Hopefully he will be able to enjoy the next few days - first part of orientation for him is surfing and camping on the beach!

Congrats MAM, and best of luck to your son!

Really exciting.  Would love to hear from parents like yourself - or for that matter players - about what happens once they get to college - the new challenges they face and how the players address them.  Maybe that's a new forum topic?

TPM — Right now he’s on a pink cloud and I hope he enjoys every second, because it will end at some point.  I honestly think the struggles will teach him more than the successes.  

Thanks Fenway...

Congratulations!

Great school and outstanding staff!!

Midwest Mom posted:

Really exciting.  Would love to hear from parents like yourself - or for that matter players - about what happens once they get to college - the new challenges they face and how the players address them.  Maybe that's a new forum topic?

The admins always pin a new college topic to the top of general each season. 

I will send an alert so you all can discuss happenings.

MAM posted:

TPM — Right now he’s on a pink cloud and I hope he enjoys every second, because it will end at some point.  I honestly think the struggles will teach him more than the successes.  

I think parents worry more than they should but I am guilty of that myself.  

I love college baseball, you all will too!

When we dropped our daughter off at college, I turned to my son, pointed a finger and said, "Now we're going to know who did it."

You know the reality show Survivor - where the host Jeff Probst says - "you've done all you can do in this game, now it's up to the jury"...  well that can strangely apply to the first year experience...  Remember those "long conversations" you had the last few years  that usually were very one sided... You'll miss those as now you'll get very short text messages... Try calling and you'll get I'm busy, can I call you back! Don't be offended - it's better than the alternative, I hate it here, please come get me...  Early morning lifts, breakfast, class, lunch at 1230, nap, practice at 4, dinner at 7, studying/homework/social activities until late at night...   My son's coach once said to us, they don't realize they're just on a 4 year vacation. I'm sure those like me also on the backside of the college experience will agree - it goes very quickly (time *and* money). If you think now that it felt like yesterday that he entered first 1st grade - well compress that by 1/3 and you definitely don't get the feedback of the first 4 years of school.

I remember dropping off a few for the freshman year....  wife was sad, i was happy....  got one going back to Boston in a week.  I said to him last night, only 5 days until you go back..... and he said, I can't hardly wait...  GF is up there already....  part of the deal.... first kid, first semester, always the worst.... by the 5th kid I'll be dropping them off in the fire lane and telling them to hurry the heck up...

bacdorslider posted:

I remember dropping off a few for the freshman year....  wife was sad, i was happy....  got one going back to Boston in a week.  I said to him last night, only 5 days until you go back..... and he said, I can't hardly wait...  GF is up there already....  part of the deal.... first kid, first semester, always the worst.... by the 5th kid I'll be dropping them off in the fire lane and telling them to hurry the heck up...

Hahaha...  I was a 5th kid.  That parent attitude started way before I was dropped off at college.  More like as soon as I landed in the crib  

bacdorslider posted:

I remember dropping off a few for the freshman year....  wife was sad, i was happy....  got one going back to Boston in a week.  I said to him last night, only 5 days until you go back..... and he said, I can't hardly wait...  GF is up there already....  part of the deal.... first kid, first semester, always the worst.... by the 5th kid I'll be dropping them off in the fire lane and telling them to hurry the heck up...

"...first kid, first semester, always the worst...":  Heading into that black hole this weekend.  Slider, your words: so comforting! 

  Two more boys to go!  I can imagine what you mean!

From an old grizzled vet: (1) Take lots of photos; (2) Go to as many games as humanly possible; (3) After games, only talk about baseball if he wants to talk baseball; (4) On academics, don't hesitate to ask questions...and evasive answers are not a good sign; (5) Stay clear of the whiny coach-criticizing parents (yup, they exist in college ball too);(6)  Just be there for your son-he will have huge ups and huge downs-and the next 4 years will blow past you faster than a MLB fastball.  We're now several years since our youngest finished his college career and I have occasionally heard both sons talk about how nuts their parents were to travel so much, sometimes only to watch a game and then a brief hug and a "bye" as they got on the charter to head back to school...but they felt the love.  

so we are 2 weeks in to the freshman fall...we went from the this is awesome - to holy sh!t how am going to do all this work to - I am smarter then many of these kids to - I can't write that many papers in one semester- to I need to adjust my study habits - to I need to get in better shape - to I am working on a plan for how this is all going to happen....the boy has grown up more in the last 2 weeks then he did in the last 2 years.

I am sure there will be more bumps in the road but he has come a long long way very quickly. Unfortunately he also has a long way to go!

I was very happy when we dropped my son off to college, simply because I know this is his start to the rest of his life.  Real adult life.  Two weeks into classes and start of baseball workouts.  Son keeps us updated frequently. He's very motivated and pumped.  Exciting time for us here.

Had my first “real” conversation with my son last night — it as so nice to talk baseball.  Ten days into the fall ball and I could hear in his voice how happy he is.  Said his first two bullpens went great and will throw at least one inning this Thursday in the team’s first fall intersquad scrimmage.  Fingers crossed.   Academics aren’t going to be easy that’s for sure as he is quickly learning just how many papers and how much writing he is going to be doing these next four years.  

After we hung up — got a text from him saying that he has never been more happy than he is and that he found a perfect fit.  

Hokie — Thanks for the tips and suggestions.  I can already see how fast this all will go by.  Thank goodness I am a consultant now, so that I can figure out ways to travel to Iowa catch a weekend series as often as I can.   

Hope everyone else’s 2017s are settling into their first year successfully.

Forgot one thing: the most important thing for  the frosh to learn: TIME MANAGEMENT!

old_school posted:

so we are 2 weeks in to the freshman fall...we went from the this is awesome - to holy sh!t how am going to do all this work to - I am smarter then many of these kids to - I can't write that many papers in one semester- to I need to adjust my study habits - to I need to get in better shape - to I am working on a plan for how this is all going to happen....the boy has grown up more in the last 2 weeks then he did in the last 2 years.

I am sure there will be more bumps in the road but he has come a long long way very quickly. Unfortunately he also has a long way to go!

My son had the same issues his freshman year.  He had good grades in HS, but it came real easily for him.  I cant count on one hand how often he ever had to bring books home or really do any kind of studying for a test.  Things changed real quick in college....a lot more work, more time consuming, oh...and this thing called baseball that took up a lot of time lol.  He didn't have a great freshman year grade wise, but figured things out and is doing great now.  Your son will get used to it....

Best of luck to all the incoming freshmen baseball players in this thread.  For many parents this is a leap of faith as it was for all three of my kids with or without baseball.  Let's face it, they are calling the shots in what they do with their time and you hope they learned something over the last 18 years!  My wife and I had concerns with our oldest son taking on college baseball and a difficult major.  We thought he was not very organized and just got by on smarts in high school.   As it turned out his high school had prepared him very well and actually gave him a leg up in an extremely competitive academic environment.  He felt incredibly average among his incoming freshmen peers, where as before he was an academic star in high school.  Baseball was the same situation....he was incredibly average among his baseball incoming class and teammates.  What we found out is that he has a tremendous work ethic (gets that from his mother) that we had never seen before, because he wasn't challenged as he would be in college.  College brought out the best in him and really challenged him over those 4 years.

Good luck to all! 

I'll be sad when the day comes, but can console myself with the extra money in the household. Even if I had to send the kid $1,000 spending money every month, I'd come out ahead.  

Man, the original post left a pit in my stomach.  My 2019 is my first of 2 kids; the sister is 8 years younger.

What a moment, for both of you.  Much different than my parents, we said our goodbyes in a Costco's parking lot, 5min from our home and 4 hours from the campus......

Please continue to share the updates and best of luck to your boy in health, preparation, game time and chasing the.......grades.

Not to spoil this, but can you table a question for May - August of next year?  I'm very interested in how current players navigate into year 2, related to the incoming key recruits, or rumblings of transfers in and out of the program. 

I sure do remember how exciting those first days are. I also remember how the reality of what it takes slowly settles in during that first semester. And watching the young man as he faces that reality, and makes the decision that he is going to do it. 

There may be some kids that instantly thrived while meeting the demands of college baseball and academics. My son was not one of them. But watching your son get forged into a man in this cauldron is something to behold. 

Any updates guys? Just brought my 2019 to a football game this weekend where he is committed and I can’t help but to imagine what things will be like in a couple years!

Quick update as my son’s first fall ball is now over and he had his coach's meeting.  Something clicked for my son and he had an amazing fall.  He only gave up one hit and one walk over 18 innings of intrasquad scrimmages.  Coach told him he will be one of the four starters this spring based on his performance. Pretty happy for him considering the coach brought in 9 pitchers this year.  Academic wise...school is HARD… I don’t think he is getting a lot of sleep.  

MAM,

Wow, congrats on the baseball part! 

Stay in touch with him frequently regarding the academic aspect so proper additional resources can be tapped into in a timely manner if necessary.

Wow MAM!  I can only dream that someday my son could get that type of Baseball start! I keep telling my 2019 the academics part will be a challenge but I’m not sure he understands what that will be like! Thx for the update!!

My kid went 10 hours away and may well be dead now for all I know. Last time I heard from him he was doing well at both baseball and school . DI power five.

HaHa, Somebaseball Dad, I texted my son last Saturday to call me so we could catch up. He texted back with a touchdown Video from the most upper deck of "Death Valley",  "Sorry, can't @ Clemson football Game".  He & his roommates drove 7.5 hours to watch Florida State vs Clemson!  A trip I would have loved to take.  It is not always about baseball @ college.

MAM posted:

Quick update as my son’s first fall ball is now over and he had his coach's meeting.  Something clicked for my son and he had an amazing fall.  He only gave up one hit and one walk over 18 innings of intrasquad scrimmages.  Coach told him he will be one of the four starters this spring based on his performance. Pretty happy for him considering the coach brought in 9 pitchers this year.  Academic wise...school is HARD… I don’t think he is getting a lot of sleep.  

 

Kinda the same here. Kid came home for Thanksgiving so we've been able to talk without the distractions of collage life. He said the coaches have told him he's going to pitch (doing really well in the cage also so not worried about PO at this time). They are going to use him a lot and he needs to be ready when the season opens. He's excited but also a little worried because he was recruited for his bat and he's concerned all the work on the mound will take away from cage time.

He's slept about 18 of the 24 hours he's been home.

I feel like coaches need to spend a little more time talking about sleep. My daughter isn't an athlete, but is a junior. She developed a serious coffee habit to get maintain all she does (including her 3.8 GPA), and she basically sleeps most of the time when she's home. Don't see how that will compute when my 2018 heads off to school next year.

Saw son yesterday for the first time in a month or so, other than a few minutes last weekend when he ran in to grab some clothes...said hey, then ran out.   He was wearing a t-shirt that looked like it was 3 sizes too small.  He has put on some serious muscle the past 2 months.  He told me they are working with the football strength guy and it's been tough, but he is more than happy with the results.  He was 183 at the start of fall, 197 on Tuesday morning...and at one point tipped the scale at 202.  Probably the first time since he's been born that I don't think I could take him in a wrestling match lol.    He's getting back to throwing in a couple weeks.  Will be interested to see what the weight does to his throwing...and his bat once spring comes around.

Buckeye.... 183-202...WOW that’s almost scary! What are they feeding that guy!,