Genetics are 99% of the Path

lol...my 2023 has just started expressing some interest in girls over the past couple of years and, whenever he mentions a girl's name my first two questions are : how tall is she? and what sports does she play?

one of my coaches, growing up played baseball at the local D1. just so happens one of the stud outfielders (ended up mlb) was dating an all American/POY volleyball player.  he told him "if you guys have an accident and don't want to be parents...can I raise it?

My daughter is 5’10 married to a 6’3” guy. I told her the ball goes in the left hand.

My guy is a D1 baseball player dating one of the best volleyball players I have ever seen. Damn I hope an Olympic athlete is in my future!

Now before TPM and Iowamom jump all over us, yes I know we are sexist pigs  and I apologize for all of us including the next few commenters.

Just remembered I have to go tell my guy "you are  welcome"!

My 6'4" son is going to marry an 5'11" ex-college volleyball player who has two sisters who are 6'+.

Hope springs eternal...

RJM: Ball WILL go in left hand.. 

We are going to do this.

Every sport I ever tried I excelled at, except swimming. Swimming I sunk to the bottom of the pool. Basketball, baseball, football, track, excelled. Didn't care. Nobody got paid back then so..... My best sport was basketball. Came easy, saw the court and reacted. People said that kid knew what the other team was going to do before they did. Too short to white. Baseball, a big left-handed pitcher. Threw heat exactly where I wanted it to go. Didn't care and dad, god bless his soul, burnt me out. Had MLB scouts come to watch me. The golf pro at the club I worked at had tools to measure swing speed. After not picking up any kind of club for 30 years I could push it over 100 MPH. In gym in HS I used to enjoy going into team sports and just embarrassing the jocks, who thought they were so cool. Almost came to blows a time or two.

If I were coming up now, 6' 3" and left-handed and throwing like I did... Well, I guess if ifs and buts were candy and nuts we'd all have a merry Christmas. But the kid seems to have inherited the bat swing speed. That has caught the eye of certain people.

Do remember when the kid popped out wishing he wouldn't be left-handed. Remembered how hard it was for me to find anything where left/right handed mattered. God how misguided was that?

Moms are in on it too. My son was always really tall (23 and 1/2 inches long when he was born). When he was 2, we were at a basketball practice and he was racing this little girl who was his height and it was even--sometime she would win and sometimes he would win. I just assumed she was a year or two older than him. Her Mom assumed the same thing about PTWoodson because her daughter towered over most kids her age. Dads both played basketball in college and overseas and were now playing for a team that played against colleges in the preseason. Her Mom was the ACC freshman of the year and a WNBA draftee.

We betrothed the children on the spot.  

Fast forward, she's the number 1 basketball player in the nation for her class and he's a P5 baseball commit who can play a little basketball.

Alas, they are only friends. Hahaha

When my son was 9 a HS classmate called and said he was putting together a little travel team for the best players of that age--and then asked if we brought the wrong baby home from the hospital.

Husband is 6' tops, played a little HS baseball. I skipped sports. My dad went to college on a tennis scholarship because his college added tennis and couldn't find enough players.

I don't know that work ethic is genetic except in the sense of having parents who expect you to work.

Should the site become HS BB grandparents ?

I'm 5ft 8. Wife 5ft 5.  I was an ok tennis player: a lower guy on a multi year HS state champ team.  Maybe coulda played D3.  Wife was a walk on soccer player at a D3.   Wife's sister was a NCAA D1 ski champ and us ski team member.  Wife's side also has a family member in nfl hall of fame.  My poor 2023 is 5ft 8 r/r mif.  My 2025 is 5ft 10 LHP who projects to 6ft 1 to 2.  I married well.  

My Mom was an incredible athlete and a brilliant mind. She played softball and tennis in college and taught me how to throw a baseball. She would win our burnout sessions in the backyard up until I turned 9 or 10 years old. Later in life she was ranked by USTA as the 26th best doubles player and the 40th best singles player in the nation in her age group. Her competitive nature and her passion for sports was passed down to further generations resulting in 2 of her sons (me and my brother) and 2 of her grandsons ( my middle and youngest sons) becoming college athletes. So yes, genetics have everything to do with it! 

 I am aiming my son(s) at the 5' 2", nerdy Stanford/Ivy/MIT graduate student(s) who will someday own the teams that all of YOUR kids are playing on. 

I was all conference in three sports. But my (ex) wife was a finalist for CIF Section athlete of the year. My family goes back five generations to 1890 in baseball. My father played major conference football before switching to baseball after an injury. Her family goes back three generations in baseball. Go figure I had a college baseball and softball playing kids. She was recruited for field hockey. But she left college after a semester for a modeling contract.

But the Jewish stance on abortion is it’s a living fetus until it finishes grad school. So academics prevailed. We all have grad degrees for two generations except my ex. It’s why I had to leave her. Only kidding!

My great-grandfather also played football and ran track in college. It’s the way athletics was in 1890. I saw a letter from the team captain about preseason training ...

In a week when you return we only have one week of practice before our first football game. Please cut back on smoking starting now for the season.

@57special posted:

 I am aiming my son(s) at the 5' 2", nerdy Stanford/Ivy/MIT graduate student(s) who will someday own the teams that all of YOUR kids are playing on. 

The Harvard chant is, “You may be beating us now. But you will be working for us later.”

Hey @57special don't think you can't do both! That's the great myth. I'm with @RJM. Our expectations have always been classroom first. We kept sports as low key as possible until the kids expressed their passion and it became apparent athletics would support and even advance their academic goals.   

P.S. I supplied the nerd genes ...with just enough height to not completely offset my husband. 

P.P.S. I lied. I'm barely 5'4" and my husband is 6'5". I have no idea how I didn't keep PTWoodson from passing his Dad...and my daughters have me by about a half a foot. But at least I'm athletic.  

P.P.P.S. I hope we all know this is in great fun. The thread certainly made me smile. And maybe @Iowamom23 is on to something. We can start a matchmaking service on HSBaseballweb... 

@PTWood posted:

Hey @57special don't think you can't do both! That's the great myth. I'm with @RJM. Our expectations have always been classroom first. We kept sports as low key as possible until the kids expressed their passion and it became apparent athletics would support and even advance their academic goals.   

P.S. I supplied the nerd genes ...with just height to not completely offset my husband. 

P.P.S. I lied. I'm barely 5'4" and my husband is 6'5". I have no idea how I didn't keep PTWoodson from passing his Dad...and my daughters have me by about a half a foot. But at least I'm athletic.  

P.P.P.S. I hope we all know this is in great fun. The thread certainly made me smile. And maybe @Iowamom23 is on to something. We can start a matchmaking service on HSBaseballweb... 

Lets play the Dating Game!  

I don't know.  My husband and I are bookworm nerds.  He loved comic books and played the drums in a garage band in high school.  We both quit the high school sports we played after ONE year, and got involved in the drama club.  Knew absolutely nothing about baseball (or most sports for that matter) when our 5 year old son insisted we take him to sign up for rec ball.  We figured it would be a one season thing.

All along the way we have marveled at his athletic ability.  They must be  generation skipping genes!

I’m the shortest male in my family at 6’2”. Everyone else is above 6’4”. My wife’s dad was an all American lefty pitcher, 6’3”, and made it to AAA and invited to spring training where he promptly tore his rotator and ended his career. My wife’s moms side is a bunch of sub 5’ Olympic gymnasts. We weren’t sure what to expect. My son was always on the small side but has shot up to 5’11” and the doc says he’s still going. 

Yes I seem to remember a chant at Northwestern football  games. "HoHo Hey hey you're going to work for us some day!"

To become really good it is both. An average athlete who works hard won't become an mlb star but guys who don't work hard won't get to the top either, at least not long term.

Some mlb guys have the reputation of not working hard (usually non white players) but I think people would be surprised how much even those guys have trained.

On the other hand people also underrate how athletic the "non athletic" mlb players are.

Even dan vogelbach ran a 7.15 according to PG and he already was fat back then. 

https://www.perfectgame.org/Pl...ofile.aspx?ID=178635

99%...that is a stretch but genetics certainly helps.  My father was a gymnast in college..alternate on an Olympic team . I played tennis in college.  I wasn't the best player or most talented, but I had the highest winning percentage over 4 years.  I was a grinder.  I tried 2 pro tournaments after college and got my a$$ kicked.  My oldest son was a decent college pitcher and married a college soccer player who was left footed.  My son threw right and hit left.  Whether a boy or girl, I'm hoping for that healthy intelligent baby with a lefty bat or lefty throwing or the total package of speed and totally leftyness.  

It's undeniable that genetics are huge.  I'm a mom and I still preach about marrying a "breeder"  My kids always tell me that I messed up the gene pool because I'm only 5'6.  My husband was drafted out of hs, his brother was drafted out of college.  Both pitchers, son is a pitcher.  There is a reason all the MLB questionnaires ask if anyone in your family was drafted or played in college, genetics play.

fenwaysouth you reminded me of a great golf book. The fine green line. A scratch golfer tries the pros. A well known tennis pro retires and tries gold. Also gets killed.

@Good Knight posted:

 

Now before TPM and Iowamom jump all over us, yes I know we are sexist pigs  and I apologize for all of us including the next few commenters.

 

I never realized what a talented group of folks we have here on the HSBBW!

Genetic are important and helps (or is a hindrance) in their journey.  Looking back wife and I probably contributed ZERO athletic genes since neither of us played high school varsity sports (does park/rec count?).  When I met scouts for the first time I never understood why I felt they were making a mental note of my physical appearance, now I know why.  Genetics can also be stretched though to include other things such as work ethics, perseverance, ethics, etc. all of which effects upbringing.  Combine all this with the normal baseball traits, throw in some luck and being in the right place at the right time, and there may be a slim chance baseball can continue for many years.

PS.  Come to think of it, I was a pretty good at Asteroids, Centipede, and Pong.  Wondering if those genetic traits were passed onto son for his hand/eye coordination??

Trust in Him - were any of your son’s Grandparents skilled athletes?  Or skilled at hand/eye stuff?

Genetic traits can skip generations, or be visible in aunts or uncles instead of the parents.  My wife and I are average height (6' and 5'-7"), but my wife's brother is 6'-5" so somewhere in the family tree is a lot of height, and my son got benefitted from this.

When son was young and on a travel ball team, I would sit next to a fellow dad and when his son would get thrown out running to first he would always say, "Damn I should have married a Jamaican sprinter."   Seriously though, this post is a little depressing since my son has zero athletic heritage on either side of the family.  I was a decent distant runner.....but dont think this helps much in the big 3 sports.   I guess we are fortunate that he did make to college as a pitcher.   

Genetic potential is one piece of the puzzle but not the be all end all, if we are talking strictly about physical tools.  A lot of things have to come together for an athlete to reach their genetic potential and also apply it successfully.

I think a lot of families have some athletic heritage if they look hard enough.  On my side of the family, within my 2nd cousins and closer, I have an NFL starting QB that played in the league for 17 years, a Pan American Games record holder, a Power 5 four year football letterman who was drafted and an all ACC golfer who later made the cut at a PGA event. On my wife's side there is some serious size and a 6'6" tight end for a big time university in their national championship heyday.  All of that and $3.95 Will get my kids a latte at Starbucks😁

A friend (6’4”) was an All American pitcher at a P5. He also played two years of basketball. His first wife (5’2”) had no interest in baseball. It caused problems leading to divorce as he tried to work his way through the minors. He made it to AAA and gave up at 28. He’s been happily married to his second wife (5’8”) for thirty years. He had a kid with each wife.

His son is my son’s age. Despite all the help dad provided the kid was mediocre and didn’t make the high school baseball team. The second kid with the second wife became an all conference P5 volleyball player.

One time we were talking about our kids. He told me never to repeat the following to anyone who knows him ... I must have polluted the family gene pool with the first wife. 

@3and2Fastball posted:

Trust in Him - were any of your son’s Grandparents skilled athletes?  Or skilled at hand/eye stuff?

Nobody on either side played athletics beyond high school, he was the first.  Everyone who went to college was just to get an education.  Even when son received a baseball scholarship we stressed to use baseball as a way to get a good education at a discounted price.  Didn't know how much playing time as a freshman he would see.  He loved the playstation stuff but wasn't great at it.  He did excel during travel ball but was never flashy or stood out.  Then again  his travel team was basically for fun and enjoyment, comprised of left over kids from the 2 "elite" travel teams in our area.  They were very good though, were ranked in the top 50 I think for the state.  Nobody knew anything about the scholarship process until his Jr. year.  I remember talking to some scouts (after he was playing in college) and they didn't believe me that nobody played beyond high school.  Even now I find out things and are just amazed that this is how it's done, this is how the athletes live.

@stayfocused posted:

When son was young and on a travel ball team, I would sit next to a fellow dad and when his son would get thrown out running to first he would always say, "Damn I should have married a Jamaican sprinter."   Seriously though, this post is a little depressing since my son has zero athletic heritage on either side of the family.  I was a decent distant runner.....but dont think this helps much in the big 3 sports.   I guess we are fortunate that he did make to college as a pitcher.   

As per my testament never give up if you love the game.  With hard work and some luck things may happen.

My guys grandmother scored 43 in a basketball game and played against the first women's professional player. 

The more I have thought about this the more it has made me think about my son's childhood.  Yes genetics plays a roll, but as many of you have said there is a lot more to it.  My son was a very good youth and highschool athlete.  He was good in baseketball and football but excelled in baseball.  Like I said before no genetics to link this to based on his parents.  But this post made me think back about when he was a little kid.  Almost every single day we were in the backyard doing some sort of sport.  Throwing and catching football, baseball, playing basketball in the driveway,  we even did soccer!  Anyhing that could be a competition he and I were doing.  We did not do the video game thing much.  We were always outside.  When he was about nine I would challenge him to try and throw a baseball from across the yard (30 yards or so) between two flower pots without hitting them as a challenge.   Over and over.  I always found some sort of "game" to challenge him. When we would go on vacation I would take balls, bats and glove and we would find a field to hit and throw on.   Year after year we did this.    So maybe if I had married a Jamaican sprinter he might be pitching on a P5!   He is 20 now, a college sophmore at a competitive JUCO.  As I have posted before, I see the sunset on his pitching, but I pray that he goes out with a bang this upcoming season.  I have really enjoyed this site over the years and will try to come by and give you all an update on what is going on in our lives.  Thanks again for all your insight over the years.  

@Trust In Him posted:

Nobody on either side played athletics beyond high school, he was the first.  Everyone who went to college was just to get an education.  Even when son received a baseball scholarship we stressed to use baseball as a way to get a good education at a discounted price.  Didn't know how much playing time as a freshman he would see.  He loved the playstation stuff but wasn't great at it.  He did excel during travel ball but was never flashy or stood out.  Then again  his travel team was basically for fun and enjoyment, comprised of left over kids from the 2 "elite" travel teams in our area.  They were very good though, were ranked in the top 50 I think for the state.  Nobody knew anything about the scholarship process until his Jr. year.  I remember talking to some scouts (after he was playing in college) and they didn't believe me that nobody played beyond high school.  Even now I find out things and are just amazed that this is how it's done, this is how the athletes live.

I understand that.  It’s interesting.  That said, you didn’t directly answer my question.  I asked if anyone was a skilled athlete, not whether they played beyond high school.  Many people (myself included) could have played in college but chose another path.  There must be some very big talent in your family tree.  The ability to focus beyond the norm?  Confidence beyond the norm? Intellect beyond the norm?  There’s a lot more to being an athlete than “I hit ball, I run, I throw ball”

If you are gonna tell me that your entire family tree is just average everyday Joe’s who never accomplished much in their chosen paths, I’m gonna find that difficult to believe.  How far back in your family legacy do you know about?

I asked a friend if he grew up playing sports in Lebanon. He asked if bomb dodging, missile dodging and bullet dodging qualify as a sport. He must have been a hell of an open field runner. He came to college in the US and never looked back.

My sons shoulda/coulda been big.  My father in law was 6'4" and his dad was 6'5".  My dad is the shortest of 4 brothers at 6'2".  Father in law was a scratch golfer with both hands and navy marksman with both hands.  Too bad he chose alcohol over his family.  Died of alcoholic liver at 50.  Would not agree to abstain from alcohol so they would not put him on liver transplant list.  Only saw my oldest son play one t-ball game and he is, I think, one of the reasons my sons are good athletes.  All state in 2 sports in high school.  My side of the family also has my mom who is 5'0" and grandmother who was 4'10".  My dad and grandfather were good athletes in high school.  Wife was a softball player and I was ranked tennis player and played open slow pitch softball for highly ranked teams for years.  You have to figure out what fits you.  Was 5'2" 120 pounds when I graduated high school.  Genes are there but my guys worked hard to get where they are.

I agree that genetics are huge factors, but as with anything, there are always exceptions to the rule.  And thank God for that!  I came up just shy of 5'11" and my EXwife (also thank God!) is 5'4".  Neither side of my son's family has anyone above 6 foot.  And that sucks!  My son is currently 5'9" and I am not sure there is anything left in there.  But what he's able to do with his 5'9" 160 lb body is pretty impressive.  He's going the JUCO route, but has line of sight to playing D1 ball after that.

I was a terrible athlete.  Stopped playing baseball in 8th grade and football after 9th grade.  I was maybe a C level football player, but a D- baseball and basketball player.  Awful.  Horrible arm (both in strength and accuracy) and largely uncoordinated.  The one thing I had was some speed, but I couldn't do a thing with it.  In my "prime," had I run a 60, I'll guess I'd have run a 6.8.  My exwife was maybe a C+/B- athlete, but not quite as fast as I was.

My son was cursed with our genes from a frame standpoint, but everything else is an aberration.  Big arm, highly coordinated and quite a bit faster than his parents were.  His athletic prowess does not come from genes - plain and simple.  You can't find anything like him no matter how deep you dig into either side of his family, except...  His 13 year old volleyball-playing sister looks to be equally gifted.  The difference is, she simply doesn't care as much as he does.  But yes, even a broken clock is right twice a day.  And thank God that's the case because it's far more fun to watch youth sports when your kids excel.  #blessed

After reading through this post (and laughing to myself a few times) I think what most people are trying to say is SIZE - HEIGHT - GENETICS (whatever you want to call it) plays a large portion of what it takes to succeed in sports. Have an older cousin who was a stand-out MIF in college (many moons ago). He was invited to try-out for a couple MLB teams with the numbers he had posted in college. When he came back home, I asked him how it went. He simply stated "I wasn't big enough". They had guys there that could do what I did, but with more power.

So I guess what I'm trying to say is maybe % varies depending on how one defines "the Path"

@RJM posted:

The Harvard chant is, “You may be beating us now. But you will be working for us later.”

"That's all right - that's OK - you're gonna work for us someday"