Great Lakes League

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Originally posted by Dad04:

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ihbb posted: It sounds to me like this is a good sign of how they are thinking of him. Is this something that we as a family pay for?

Being placed for next summer is a good sign, as others have said. There is no "charge" or player fee to the player to play. At least I know of no summer woodbat league that charges, with the exception of the IMG Summer League, which is something different.

and one of those IMG guys coached at my HS many moons ago.....how funny!!

I agree with every post re: summer collegiate. I just posted facts from websites, then made an inference based on those.

I still believe the cream rises(Hafner in timbuktu) wherever one plays!

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Is this something that we as a family pay for?

Generally there is no charge for playing in the better leagues. However, there will likely be a "fee" that you either have to pay the host family and or the team for housing arrangements (I think it is an NCAA requirement).

Last summer we paid $200 for housing and one meal a day which was provided by the team. The only other real cost was an airplane ticket.

To illustrate how rare it is to even be invited to play in one of these leagues - here are some approximate statistics that I compiled from this site and the Internet.

From NCAA-baseball.com - here are the 17 listed collegiate wood bat leagues:

Alaska
Atlantic Collegiate
California Collegiate
Cape Cod
Central Illinois
Clark Griffith Collegiate
Coastal Plain
Florida Collegiate Instructional
Great Lakes
Jayhawk
New England Collegiate
New York Collegiate
Northwoods
Pacific International
Southern Collegiate
Texas Collegiate
Valley

Assuming about 10 teams per league and about 25 players per team, that leaves about 4250 spots.

From this site, there are about 25,000 players at the NCAA D1-D3 levels. There are approximately 400 JUCO's out there which yields approximately another 10,000 players and about 300 NAIA schools which provide approximately another 7500.

Thus, with about 4250 spots and about 42,500 players at the collegiate level, there is about a 10% chance of finding one's way on to one of these rosters. The percentage is actually a bit higher in that college seniors are not eligible to play in the summer leagues. It is not easy to be placed on to one of these teams and it is not easy for coaches to find spots for players. It truly is an honor to be invited.

CD, good post that illustrates the privilage extended every summer league player.

Thank you for that very humbling post. As with any bits of good fortune that come our way, we accept them with the utmost graditude and try to pay it forward to other players however, and wherever we can.

Thanks too for all of the info, becoming educated in this world of baseball, makes me very proud of my son and his accomplishments thus far, he has worked very hard, and without much fanfare.

To all those who took time enough to provide information about the Great Lakes League - thank you.

CD you have to allow for guys who don't want or can't play in the summer. I know a lot who have worked hard all season and want a rest or need to work or take courses.

To back up CD.

Its a couple years old, but here is a better site for summer leagues:

http://www.cstv.com/sports/m-basebl/summerleagues-05.html

Here's leagues that are affiliated with the NBC, some of who aren't listed above and no telling how many teams in each league:

http://www.nbcbaseball.com/Leagues_/index.cfm?NavID=11&SubNavID=0

I know the Rocky Mountain Baseball League has eight teams made up of college eligible players.

Plus I'm sure there are even more that aren't listed anywhere. I know some players who played in a 18+ league in NH that's probably no where to be found except maybe in a local paper.

IMO, if you want to play summer ball it can be done. Just goes to show how impressive/selective the top leagues are. As CD stated, it is an honor to get selected for one of them.

FrankF has a PM

Back at ya.

Michael's Dad,

Just saw this thread and hope it isn't too late to offer some insight. My son played in the GLL in the Summer of 2006 and had a great time. I'm not sure what level your son is at in college, but my son went there after his freshman year. It was a perfect opportunity for him. He feels that the competition was very good and it gave him the chance to build on his freshman year from school with wood bats and what he thought to be some extremely competitve ptiching. And you learn quickly as an observer (me being the observer) that there are many good players out there, not just ones who necessarily come from name baseball schools or conferences.

By the end of the Summer, my son felt that he had been challenged and learned a great deal. He had the added benefit of living away from home with a terrific host family, seeing a part of the country that he had very little experience with (where the people seemed uniformly friendly and welcoming), and playing for an organization where the people in charge (both on the field and off) knocked themselves out to give these kids a well-rounded experience. The fan base was spotty, maybe because many of the GLL teams are not in a typical vacation destination like the Cape, but he didn't care. He got to play competitive baseball everyday and make some good friends that, but for this league, he likely never would have met.

My son played this past Summer in the Cape and I can tell you that he feels that his experience in the GLL helped tremendously, both on the field and off, both when he returned to college as a sophomore and when he went to the Cape.

Good luck to your son.

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Originally posted by fhl526:
Michael's Dad,

Just saw this thread and hope it isn't too late to offer some insight. My son played in the GLL in the Summer of 2006 and had a great time.

And you learn quickly as an observer (me being the observer) that there are many good players out there, not just ones who necessarily come from name baseball schools or conferences.

I observe the same thing. There are many good players.

For a pitcher that goes to these Leagues - what do they do? They don't pitch everyday...do they play other positions, or how does that work?

They wait their turn.

I guess that's a part of pitching, the waiting.

You bet. I have been to camps where you sit around and don't get to throw until the 2nd day. can be tough being a pitcher.

iheartbb:

Every team is different, with that being said, last summer the team that my son played for in the GLCL, many of the pitchers got to play in the field.
There were esentially 4 starting pitchers and 7 relief pitchers. Additionally, there were two position players that would occasionally pitch.

The starting pitchers would generally start every 5 days. Between starts they would generally get a game either playing 1B or in the OF. They would also be used as pinch runners. This is on top of the regular bullpen sessions they would do every few days.

The bullpen pitchers would generally pitch every 2-3 days.

It was quit clear that in these summer leagues, given the number of games and the frequency, the pitchers were getting more than enough work.

Thanks for the info. I am glad to hear they are active, otherwise, seems like a long summer.

I think pitchers playing a postition is based on the team and the skill set of the player.

The teams are there to win.

Back to the original comment by Michael's Dad of working with a hitting instructor, some teams will practice and work to develop players, where others just play games.

many just play games with little or no practice.
Having pitchers play a position is risky especially if they are iexperienced. Many are concerned about injury .

I agree with BHD, no college coach wants his pitcher only playing position. It may have been that the player was a pitcher and position player.

Some leagues will have starters relieve and relievers start. But I never heard of true pitchers playing positions or swinging the bat.

When my son played he began in relief moved to starter and then closed on occassion. Good managers as well as good college coaches, who want to win, use their staff effectively with their best interest in mind. DK himself busy by selling tickets for some promo or helped retrieve balls. They find a way to keep busy when not pitching.

He also worked camp everyday, up very early, and then onto the gym before loading the bus or a home game. Some of the everyday position players didn't work and some I know of took online classes, some just enjoyed the beach and took day trips to keep busy. It's a very long summer for a college player with games usually played every night, gives one a good glimpse of what goes on in pro ball. It's your responsibility to keep yourself busy, managers only want to see you show up for your games. They don't babysit.Many freshman make early commitments to summer ball but after thjeir season change their minds.
It's early to determine exactly where one will end up next summer.

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He also worked camp everyday, up very early, and then onto the gym before loading the bus or a home game. Some of the everyday position players didn't work and some I know of took online classes, some just enjoyed the beach and took day trips to keep busy.

Must have been nice.

BHD,
I know lots of players that played summer leagues that didn't have jobs, didn't have the beach, didn't have gyms to work out. But they had a blast none the less.

Summer leagues are not all created equal, in terms of things to do other than play baseball, it's up to the player to make the most of his situation.

It's also up to the player to decide if this is something he really wants to do, not what the coach wants him to do, it's his summer, if any doubt, take off summer. Mine had an opportunity to go play freshman year, he was tired, he decided he needed time off. Two weeks home and he headed back to South Carolina, worked camp (and got paid) and in the gym, it worked out well for him and he was happy with his decision.

TPM I agree on one hand but it is important to give the other side aswell. i didn't want to get into a Pro/Con disscusion about Summer Ball but I think it is important to hear both sides.
Most of my son's College teammates had great expeience but not all. They played in several league including the Cape. Most had outstanding results. I am sure there are people that would like to know both sides. To me it is important to understand that not all enjoy the experience. In my son's case it is mostly his fault and partly mine for insisting he honor his committment. It is the old you can lead the horse to the trough but you can't make him drink.

I agree, it's a big commitment that should be thought out carefully.