How short is too short?

Baseball doesn't have a height requirement. Baseball has a HEART requirement!!

 

 

The All American SHORTstop ...

 

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=OAvTKUDzE6c

Tell the kid that he should get on this website himself.  It's nice of you to post on his behalf, but he will need to help himself eventually and there is a lot of good advice here.  Good luck to him.

Ro Coleman of Vandy is listed at 5'5" and looks shorter than that. 

http://www.vucommodores.com/sp..._coleman_864339.html

 

Thanks all for the replies and examples!  I told him about a pitcher for Arizona or Arizona State (I couldn't remember) that I saw on TV this spring that I thought was 5'5" or 5'6".  I'm going to pass all this on and tell him AGAIN that he needs to get his own login.

He has a shot.   Leverage their skills and stature to their advantage would be my advice.  My oldest son played with two position players who were about 5'5", quick hands and quick feet.  They were a nightmare to pitch to because if you grooved one they could hit it over the fence. 

My son played in the valley league with jose Carrera. He plays at Manhattan College. Roster says he is 5' 6". In reality he is 5' 2".

 

http://gojaspers.com/mobile/Vi...DB_OEM_ID=12500&

 

http://www.valleyleaguebasebal...news-652/news_155534

 

Size helps. Talent is better. I'd sign a kid who's 4 feet tall if he had the tools to compete.

Does it seem like the guys under 6ft are the grinders of the team?

my son's team has two kids about 5'8" / 5'6" MIF / Out field, both give the team 125% every game and Hit the ball very well..

And another thing....

 

My kid plays with an incredible 5' 6" player, a HS senior who I believe is the best athlete at the school and would be a no-doubt D1 player but for the fact his grades are mediocre at best.  I'm pretty sure he'll have to go JUCO for that reason.  Tell the kid to keep his grades up.

I didn't know what to expect when I opened this thread. Just sayin'.

Baseball doesn't have a height requirement. Baseball has a HEART requirement!!

 

Baseball lovers are suckers for the so called scrappers.  Guys like Pedrioa get an enormous amount of love from a wide fan base because he made it with his heart.  I think people like to think anyone can do it so there is some kind of hope.  Nope....like JH says...he made it because he has talent and works hard at it.   But talent has to come first, making the most of it is the heart part.

 

Derek Jeter by comparison seems have a brainy, slick, smooth reputation but always has his talent acknowledged almost immediately.  While he may have more than most anyone that ever lived, do not doubt for a moment that 3,600 base hits etc. happened without a boatload of effort and dedication behind it.

   

5'6"

 

http://www.milb.com/player/ind...r/R/hitting/2014/ALL

Funny, a 5'6" guy is "blocked" from MLB by 5'5" Jose Altuve.

 

Do you think they hit the ball very well because they put in effort? Or do you think they hit the ball well because they have talent?

 

I've seen thousands of players have a lot of passion and put a lot of effort into the game. Only a small handful reach the highest level. Talent comes first, always. Once a player has talent, work ethic can help to separate him from some of his peers. But that really doesn't have much to do with size.

 

 

And Mookie Betts (5' 9") is behind the poster boy for short, successful second basemen. 

Mookie is from here and was drafted out of high school - both Tony Kemp (also local boy) and Ro Coleman are Vandy boys. 

It wasn't that long ago a 5' 9" middle infielder wouldn't have even gotten the handle "short." That would have been quite normal. Then came Cal.

There was a day when a 5'9" shortstop with decent hands, could hit .260 and steal 20 bases was the norm, Here's the best example ... http://www.baseball-reference....parilu01.shtml?redir

Or when a .220 hitter who never hit more than 50 rbi in a season with good hands/range could play for 18 years / 2,000 games and be a part of a world champion team multiple times.

http://www.baseball-reference....rs/b/belanma01.shtml