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Confessions of a baseball parent

jjinmojjinmo10+ posts
I'm sure most have probably seen this, but I thought it is worth a post for those that haven't. I bet everyone can relate.
jj

PS Love this board!

CONFESSIONS OF A BASEBALL PARENT
I used to have a regular life. (Actually, many of my friends say that sentence should say, "I used to have a life", period.) It doesn't really seem that long ago. Then I became a competitive baseball parent.

I used to think anything over $40 was an exorbitant price for a baseball bat. Now the contents of my son’s equipment bag are worth more than everything else in the house -- including clothes, jewelry, watches, and my laptop computer.

I used to be one of the leaders in my field of work. I still am. (You have to keep a good paycheck coming in if you want to support a competitive baseball habit!)

I used to think a double-header was a long day at the ball field. Now after two games we're just getting warmed up.

I used to look for fancy restaurants that served seafood and prime-rib. Now I'm a connoisseur of nachos and hot dogs and my kids rate a city by the quality of a tournaments snack bar!

Sunflower seeds used to be something I would see at a store and wonder who would eat those things? Now I don't feel comfortable leaving the house with out a bag in my pocket.

My lawn used to be like a carpet. It was green, mowed, trimmed, fertilized, and watered. Now I have two big bare spots fifty feet apart and dents in my garage door from fastballs that got away!

My car used to draw admiring looks and comments. It was clean and waxed and shined and Armor-All'd. Now it only draws attention when it wins the "dirtiest car in the parking lot" prize, or it is covered in "go team" shoe-polish.

I used to have a garage, now I have an indoor batting area.

My friends and I used to spend Monday mornings talking about a round of golf or movie we had just seen. Now I bore them to death with detailed play-by-play descriptions of five or six low-scoring ball games.

We used to sit and talk for hours. We still do-- however, now it's to keep the driver awake when we're headed home late Sunday evening after a tournament.

My summer casual wardrobe used to be made up of color-coordinated polo shirts, cool cottons in bright colors, and the occasional "aloha" shirt. Now I have a closet full of T-shirts that have Tournament Names on the front and competing teams on the back.

We used to spend our summer vacation relaxing on the beach or visiting family. Now we hit the road with 20 of our closest friends in a caravan that could rival some small town parades.

I used to be concerned that I would fall into the trap of living my life through my kid. Now I know that I'm privileged to live my life WITH my kid, and I wouldn't have it any other way!!!

Yes, I'm a Competitive Baseball Parent, what could be better!

Author Unknown
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Lefty34Lefty34100+ posts
Oh my that is so great- I just emailed to my friends and relatives- so maybe now they'd understand that I'm not alone in this world-there are a lot of us out there!! lol

On Thursdays I'm always asked what part of nowhere are we headed to this weekend. I always smile and say where ever there is a field with a game, thats where we'll be.
T TG500+ posts
My kids are fourteen and nineteen. The best part of travel are the rides to and from the games. I've had the best one to one talks with my kids during the rides. When my daughter was in high school I was probably closer to her than a lot of dads whose daughters didn't play travel softball because of the long talks in the car. She told me she thinks of me every time her college team boards a bus or a plane. Being told this is a better memory than any travel hit or win.
Last edited by TG
TXCubFanTXCubFan10+ posts
More confessions...

I used to have space in my freezer for ice cream, now I've got the two bottom shelves stuffed with pitching ice sleeves and various other orthopedic icing devices.

My daughters don't think a thing about doing the sliding pants/jock strap load of laundry.

I have a sign that I bought for myself (in Cooperstown) that says, "This family has been interrupted by baseball season"

My friends and neighbors squinch up their noses and say..."Y'all must really like baseball"...

Every day watching my son play this wonderful game is another day in paradise...(not my quote...but I read it somewhere...PROBABLY HERE!)
Last edited by TXCubFan
T TG500+ posts
Try having a travel baseball and a travel softball player. Half the family heads in one direction. Half the family heads in another direction. I have two remaining goals in life. 1) to not sleep alone on Saturday night in the summer and 2) never, ever again have to use a full porta potty on Sunday afternoon in 90 degree heat.
N nuts4bbMember
Parents “like my sons” used to make me laugh, I would think get a life you losers.
Then one day my son started to play baseball and it was all over, we were hooked, no turning back. Youth baseball has taken us to Cooperstown, Arizona, California and many other great places. We have made friends that will hopefully, last a lifetime. Yes, we too are competitive baseball parents and love every minute of it
D Doughnutman1,000+ posts
My life is great. Baseball every weekend. I couldn't have planned it any better when I was a kid. My wife played softball in HS and ran track in college so she is hardcore too. My son plays travel ball and my two younger daughters play LL. They won't play softball. Yet. All of the travel, early starts on the weekends, eating at different parks, I wouldn't change it for anything. I am active in my kids life, that is something that my father was never able to do because of his job. I will be one sad man when it is over.

My younger brother always gave me a hard time because of all of the baseball in our life. He had daughters first and he and his wife are not big BB fans. His youngest, his first boy is 5 and in T-Ball. From the way he talks about it, I know he is hooked already but doesn't realize it. My hope is that his son enjoys the game enough to play it a long time. Then I can give him a hard time about being a baseball junkie.
G GloveSide10+ posts
Some retired "travel ball parents" have said that if they had it to do over they would have done it even bigger.

Some day that ball players ball playing days will be over. He/She might not get to play after HS. Why not give them the best experience you can.

If I had it to do over I would have gotten involved with travel ball along time ago.
T TG500+ posts
I believe there will be a day where the medical studies will show the physical damage from kids playing five, six games a weekend, nine months a year for ten years.

I'm watching kids who started intense travel several years before my son having arm problems at fourteen and fifteen years old. Some started having problems at eleven and twelve. These kids aren't any better than my son (some not as good) for playing USSSA starting at 10U rather than 13U.

Pros don't play more than two a day. Colleges don't play more than two a day. Legion doesn't play more than two a day. These are physically developed athletes. More isn't always better. There's a point where more is just more.

There are times I think it's the parents that get hooked on the travel lifetyle, not the kids. It gives them a life and some sort of perverted bragging rights to how they spend all their time and money on travel. My daughter has aged out of 18U softball. Some of the parents don't have any idea what to do with themselves without tournaments to hang out at every weekend. They joke single games (college) seem over before they start.

While I enjoy the game and the travel team, I can't wait until Legion ball when a majority of my son's schedule will be playing single games three or four times a week.
Last edited by TG
play baseballplay baseball1,000+ posts
quote:
Originally posted by TG:
I believe there will be a day where the medical studies will show the physical damage from kids playing five, six games a weekend, nine months a year for ten years.



I believe that day has come already. Talk to any orthopedic surgeon and he/she will tell you that their patients are younger than ever before and they have more serious injuries requiring surgeries. Not just baseball, but all the other sports, too. Year round sports and specialization is very detrimental to a young athlete's body. No, make that an athlete's body.

quote:
I'm watching kids who started intense travel several years before my son having arm problems at fourteen and fifteen years old. Some started having problems at eleven and twelve. These kids aren't any better than my son (some not as good) for playing USSSA starting at 10U rather than 13U.

Pros don't play more than two a day. Colleges don't play more than two a day. Legion doesn't play more than two a day. These are physically developed athletes. More isn't always better. There's a point where more is just more.

There are times I think it's the parents that get hooked on the travel lifetyle, not the kids. It gives them a life and some sort of perverted bragging rights to how they spend all their time and money on travel. My daughter has aged out of 18U softball. Some of the parents don't have any idea what to do with themselves without tournaments to hang out at every weekend. They joke single games (college) seem over before they start.

While I enjoy the game and the travel team, I can't wait until Legion ball when a majority of my son's schedule will be playing single games three or four times a week.


Great post.

The situation that my family is in is that we have experienced travel ball with my two boys--both whom have had surgeries--one Tommy John and one labrum. We learned quite a lot from our orthopedic surgeons. But now that we know what we know, we sure do not want to allow the same things to happen to our softball-playing daughters. Only thing, the other families on the team and the coaches don't seem to realize what we have learned the hard way and do not cut back at all on the softball schedules.... training, practice, fall ball, etc. There is no shut down at all for them. Of course, it will NEVER happen to their daughters. So we are the ones who have a "bad attitude"--when in fact, we don't--we just don't want any of the girls to have happen to them in 4 to 5 years or sooner what happened to our boys--at age 17 and 19. It's a real dilemma.
Last edited by play baseball
T TG500+ posts
quote:
Originally posted by play baseball:
quote:
Originally posted by TG:
I believe there will be a day where the medical studies will show the physical damage from kids playing five, six games a weekend, nine months a year for ten years.



I believe that day has come already. Talk to any orthopedic surgeon and he/she will tell you that their patients are younger than ever before and they have more serious injuries requiring surgeries. Not just baseball, but all the other sports, too. Year round sports and specialization is very detrimental to a young athlete's body. No, make that an athlete's body.

quote:
I'm watching kids who started intense travel several years before my son having arm problems at fourteen and fifteen years old. Some started having problems at eleven and twelve. These kids aren't any better than my son (some not as good) for playing USSSA starting at 10U rather than 13U.

Pros don't play more than two a day. Colleges don't play more than two a day. Legion doesn't play more than two a day. These are physically developed athletes. More isn't always better. There's a point where more is just more.

There are times I think it's the parents that get hooked on the travel lifetyle, not the kids. It gives them a life and some sort of perverted bragging rights to how they spend all their time and money on travel. My daughter has aged out of 18U softball. Some of the parents don't have any idea what to do with themselves without tournaments to hang out at every weekend. They joke single games (college) seem over before they start.

While I enjoy the game and the travel team, I can't wait until Legion ball when a majority of my son's schedule will be playing single games three or four times a week.


Great post.

The situation that my family is in is that we have experienced travel ball with my two boys--both whom have had surgeries--one Tommy John and one labrum. We learned quite a lot from our orthopedic surgeons. But now that we know what we know, we sure do not want to allow the same things to happen to our softball-playing daughters. Only thing, the other families on the team and the coaches don't seem to realize what we have learned the hard way and do not cut back at all on the softball schedules.... training, practice, fall ball, etc. There is no shut down at all for them. Of course, it will NEVER happen to their daughters. So we are the ones who have a "bad attitude"--when in fact, we don't--we just don't want any of the girls to have happen to them in 4 to 5 years or sooner what happened to our boys--at age 17 and 19. It's a real dilemma.
Girls physically develop earlier. My daughter started playing travel at eleven. But she played up at B level through age fourteen. She didn't want to tie up her summer with softball every weekend. She started playing 18U/G at fifteen after being all-conference in high school. She probably should have played A level starting at thirteen, but didn't want to. I don't force my kids to play to my expectations. I only tell them to practice and play hard.

From twelve to fourteen I was told my daughter would never develop into a college player. It was never apparent she wanted to be one. When she started excelling in high school she caught the bug. She became obsessed with softball. She also grew to 5'10". Her idea of an ideal shopping day was going to Longstreth's (big name online women's sports supplier ... they're local).
Last edited by TG

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