Great Lakes League

I would leave it in your college coaches hands---he will make it work


7 hr drive is not far from home


You are no longer in HS ---realize that and realize that quickly

If you have a DVD player in your rig I'd like to recommend this movie to you for your long drive.


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Does anyone have any info on the Great Lakes League?

quote:

Originally posted by TRhit:
7 hr drive is not far from home


You are no longer in HS ---realize that and realize that quickly

I understand he's not in HS and ultimately he and his coach will work it out but I'd like to know something about the league and what he could expect to get out of the experience, mainly because the hitting instructor that he works out with (when he's not in school) is less than a couple of hours from home. In that particular league I feel he would have to rely solely on coaches that he doesn't yet know and they don't know his swing. They may be good or maybe not. With a North Carolina/South Carolina/Lower Virginia team, he would be close enough to go by and see his old instructor a few of times during the summer and get a visual check of his swing by someone that has been working with him for a while.

GotWood; looks like a good movie and I'll probably end up renting it (while the wife drives).

My son played in both the Great Lakes for Columbus and the Cape. From what I recollect…

1. Competition was fairly good. Many college sophs and juniors mostly from kids who either live or play college ball in the area. Lots of Big 10/Mid American kids.
2. Very few scouts. Overall attendance is not good. Some teams have better attendance than others. Columbus didn’t have a great fan base.
3. League overall is probably middle of the pack at best.
4. Only you or someone who has knowledge of the other leagues can answer that.

My son was promised a summer job that never materialized. If he had a do over I doubt he would have played there. Definitely spoiled from playing at the Cape.

On the plus side, I believe PG Crosschecker had Columbus ranked overall as the 15th best summer team this past season.

quote:

My son was promised a summer job that never materialized

Same here in a different league. Several promises were made to get you to sign. Non were kept.

quote:

Originally posted by Michael'sDad:
I understand he's not in HS and ultimately he and his coach will work it out but I'd like to know something about the league and what he could expect to get out of the experience, mainly because the hitting instructor that he works out with (when he's not in school) is less than a couple of hours from home. In that particular league I feel he would have to rely solely on coaches that he doesn't yet know and they don't know his swing.

If/when your son is drafted will he take his hitting instructor with him. What happens if he's drafted and sent across the country? Will he listen to his minor league hitting instructor? Dad, let son fly. It's time for him to make his way.

A lot of kids would give their right arm to play in that league. The coach may be doing all he can do just to get him placed there and you might not want to give the impression you are ungrateful for the opportunity. It is not like you are a free agent out there and can just call someone up from the Coastal Plain League or other league for that matter.

FWIW - Not sure about directing everything back to one coach and not sure about being so worried about things. Baseball players play for many coaches and need to learn from many of them. If things don't go well, is he going to have a seed planted in his mind that there is only one way to fix his problems? Sometimes I wonder if parents think they are more responsible for baseball success/faliure than the player.

Frank F, now you have me worried. My son was just told he will be playing in the Northwoods League in LaCrosse WI. I've heard good things so far. I thought the main purpose of these leagues was to play with college players from all over the country, stay with host families, experience what minor league baseball would be like.

My question is, how do the coaches decide where you go? It didn't sound to me like he had a choice, they just told him where he was going. Some guys go to Hawaii. He is a pretty agreeable guy and looks at it all with a sense of adventure -More thoughts?

I don't "get" why unsolicted/unfounded/unwarranted criticism seems to have become part/parcel of this board. This gentleman asked for information about a particular league and the very first response he receives is, "You are no longer in HS ---realize that and realize that quickly(?)"

He then feels compelled to offer an explanation (let that be a lesson to others) that makes perfect sense to me (the whole issue could have been raised by his son) and he next gets, "If/when your son is drafted will he take his hitting instructor with him. What happens if he's drafted and sent across the country? Will he listen to his minor league hitting instructor? Dad, let son fly. It's time for him to make his way."

What gives and why? Welcome to the "holier than thou" web-site...

Hey guys;
I'm not negative about the potential opportunity and I'm certainly not down on the league, I just don't know a anything about it other than what is on their website and I would like to know more and figured this is the best place to ask. Also, I'm not in the middle of all this, it is between son and his coach and the coach appears to be doing a great job in this area. In addition, I haven't talked to the coach and am certainly not planning on it.

But, as a parent of a freshman, I am still interested in his long term development (as I assume he is as he brought it up to me) and I would like to have some idea how this stacks up with other options, if he gets any.

As for other hitting instructors, I agree, it is probably good to get some additional input. The one he has at school, he feels is doing great. My son says he is very similar to his pre-college instuctor, except slightly more detail oriented, but has the same basic philosophy.

kb --
I've been noticing the same thing, but being a "newbie", I didn't want to sound like a whiner. (Really, why should I care what some of the people here would think of me?) Unfortunatlely, the words and the "tone" of some responses are belittling and scolding. I know for myself, that has me keeping some of my questions off the board. And that's a shame, because there are a lot of very helpful, knowledgeable, people here. There have been some other recent posts that have received the same treatment as this one about the GLL. I feel badly for parents who ask a question, and then get snide put-downs in response. This is the "high school baseball web". We shouldn't have to be experienced, or "experts" to take part.

So now I'll get off my soap box. No offense meant to all the truly wonderful people here. It's all JMHO.

#1) great lakes is a good summer league, there were 3 or 4 1-rst round draft choices out of it in last 5 yrs & many other top picks

#2) Cape is the #1 pitcher's league only

iheartbb,

As CD said, the coaches make decisions based on where he feels a player is best to fit in. Since this is done way before season, it's sometimes hard to find the right fit.

Yes, some summer leagues are better than others, just like some college programs are better than others, just like some MILB and MLB teams are better than others. That's life.

The summer leagues are designed for a player to play everyday and for the overall experience. Good or bad, it's a great experience because that is what you are going to experience if you chose to play pro ball someday (living with a host family, cr*ppy fields, long bus rides, time on your hands before a game, wood bats, etc.) Not everything is equal. It's best to find out sooner than later, IMO. The cape is a great experience because it is an established league with many years of learnng how to run a league the right way, but I know some who did not like it there either.

My suggestion, it's time to stop worrying about hitting coaches, finding summer jobs, scout attendance, etc. if you are a freshman, go play because that is what you want to do, and maybe if you grow and mature and improve, you might get to the better leagues.

Your sons can make the decision and sign their contracts but they do not have to go if they chose not to. They just cannot go play for another team in the collegiate league.

My sons teammates played in the Northwoods leagues and loved every minute of it.

Welcome to LaCrosse...too bad he's not 21...

kb

It is not a "holier than thou" attitude---it is simply saying college ball is different than HS and there comes a time when daddy and mommy need to be out of the picture and will his "hitting coach" be with him everywhere he goes---I think not

Sorry if my attitude offends you but I would rather be blunt and truthful than offer the feel good opinions that many want to hear even though the player is in his college years

quote:

1) how is the competition, 2) does it attract many scouts, 3) how does it stack up against some of the other wood bat summer leagues (I know the Cape is #1), 4)is it worth it to go so far from home (7 hr. drive) during the summer when there are a number of Coastal Plains and Southern Collegiate teams within an hour to two hour drive of our home?

My son played in the Great Lakes League last summer and had a gas. He felt that the competition was good, not great, but good. As was previously mentioned most of the kids are from the midwest, lots of MAC and Big-10.

Other than the all-star game which is set up more as a scouting combine, scouts are rare. I am not saying that games are not scouted, however, I would expect to see a few scouts each week.

The Great Lakes league is definitly one of the 6-7 best leagues in the country. The league is well run, the teams are competitive and the kids seem to all have a good experience. Just finishing his freshman year it was perfect, he enjoyed the baseball, the experience in Ohio and was able to succeed which he hopes will open more doors this coming summer.

A 7-hour drive, you are practically next door. If I wanted to go to a game it was a 5 hour flight. One of the great things about the league is virtually all the games are either audio or video broadcast over the internet.

The Columbus team is very well run. They play there games at Ohio State. Last summer, they went to the Cape and did a week of pre-season games against several Cape Cod teams.

quote:

Originally posted by iheartbb:
Frank F, now you have me worried. My son was just told he will be playing in the Northwoods League in LaCrosse WI. I've heard good things so far. I thought the main purpose of these leagues was to play with college players from all over the country, stay with host families, experience what minor league baseball would be like.

My question is, how do the coaches decide where you go? It didn't sound to me like he had a choice, they just told him where he was going. Some guys go to Hawaii. He is a pretty agreeable guy and looks at it all with a sense of adventure -More thoughts?

I didn't mean to worry anyone. It was simply my son's opinion on the league. I do believe it is a good league and agree with Bee about the Cape being a pitchers league. My son said there were better hitters in the Great Lakes but probably because of the amount of juniors who typically don't get asked to play at the Cape.

My son had other options but chose the GL as a favor to one of his teammates and one of his best friends who was going to play there. He was asked back to YD at the Cape, but had already committed to Columbus and my son is one of those "my word is my bond" types.

Another downer for him was when the Columbus coach called him and his roommate aside and told them that his host dad had just committed suicide. Of course they were moved to another host family and it all worked out.

Sorry for the initial seemingly negative post, but as I stated my son was spoiled by the Cape. I agree with ClevelandDad that many kids would love to play there and I can assure you there is a waiting list to get on a team there.

Hope this helps.

KB,
I understand your point.

I don't think that anyone is trying to be disrespectful or belittle anyone on purpose. I understand that Michael's Dad had concerns and this is a place to share. Sometimes in print things are taken the wrong way.

But it works the other way too. Michael's dad was expressing concerns about his son playing for coaches who don't know him. And not being close to his instructor. IMO by the time your son goes off to college his coach at college is the one who now becomes his mentor, that's why you sent him there isn't it? Some people have different approaches in their answers, though maybe a bit harsh for some, TG was right. I am learning in milb you can have 3-4 coaches a season. Yes, maybe they are not as good as his pitching coach was at college, he has moved on. I don't think he even thinks about it, and most likely our son's don't think about those things either. They tend to go with what's handed to them better than we can deal with it.

It's time to stop worrying about so many things and just enjoy and go with the flow.

Her is a link that may help:

http://www.geocities.com/colsportsites/summer.html#northwoods