Is a player's birthplace significant?

It might be easier to do a sampling from the website I attached on the other thread. Then you can track a player on mlb.com or draft tracker where HS is listed.

I would think it is an insignificant factor from the numbers I posted. You may find that an Indiana player moved to Michigan, and not Florida?

My son was born in Tampa Florida but we moved back to NY when he was 5 years old. So his bio would make it appear "yet another Florida player" but his reality is pitching in 34 degrees at the start of the HS season.

quote:

Originally posted by K Complex:
My son was born in Tampa Florida but we moved back to NY when he was 5 years old. So his bio would make it appear "yet another Florida player" but his reality is pitching in 34 degrees at the start of the HS season.

You saying all that talent wasn't honed in the first 5 Florida years?

My son was born in southern CA. He's lived in PA since six months old. He did show a lot of power in prenatel ball. He went womb several times.

quote:

Originally posted by RJM:
My son was born in southern CA. He's lived in PA since six months old. He did show a lot of power in prenatel ball. He went womb several times.

I heard that pre-natal baseball was pretty good- all home games for the whole season and then one very long road trip to end of the season!

- Now- there are some that believe because the Northeast kids do not play all year, for pitchers, they have "more bullets left" as their arms are not as abused as some of the warmer weather hurlers.

(and when my son is freezing in the snow, and asks me why we moved from such a warm area where he could play baseball all year- the above is my story and I'm sticking to it!)

quote:

Originally posted by RJM:
My son was born in southern CA. He's lived in PA since six months old. He did show a lot of power in prenatel ball. He went womb several times.

Great Post

You think he can handle the baseball hotbeds of Cali, Florida, and Texas if you moved there?

quote:

Originally posted by K Complex:

quote:

Originally posted by RJM:
My son was born in southern CA. He's lived in PA since six months old. He did show a lot of power in prenatel ball. He went womb several times.

I heard that pre-natal baseball was pretty good- all home games for the whole season and then one very long road trip to end of the season!

- Now- there are some that believe because the Northeast kids do not play all year, for pitchers, they have "more bullets left" as their arms are not as abused as some of the warmer weather hurlers.

(and when my son is freezing in the snow, and asks me why we moved from such a warm area where he could play baseball all year- the above is my story and I'm sticking to it!)

When my daughter started the recruiting process for softball one of her questions to me was, "What were you thinking when you moved us here from California?"

I don't know if the stats bear it out. But I've heard more MLB players from cold weather areas tend to be pitchers than position players. It has something to do with the cold weather pitchers having more left in the arm and warm weather position players getting more reps.

Despite the weather my son has baseball almost all year round. He has high school and travel games from March to the beginning of November. He has indoor workouts with the high school and/or travel from November through March. He does take two months off from throwing.

RJM,

I sent you a PM

My son was born in WI, played minimal travel ball in WI, and somehow figured out what he had to do to compete without great competition in WI.

I on the other hand was born in a basement and never brought up according to reliable sources.

Shutting down completely for a couple months must be hard to do in a warm climate. Besides baseball gloves not fitting over mittens, all our guys have to do is have 1 dropped throw and the balls gone til Spring. I can imagine that many Southern kids sneak out on a nice day after being "down" for a few weeks and throw it around bringing on some real sore arms the next day. Cold turkey in any endever is so hard.

The HS Kids I know in SoCal who pitch, will usually shut pitching down for a couple of months. Some will play a position. Most are involved in a year round conditioning program. At least the healthy ones.

Is his birthplace significant?
YES! It has to be in the close proximity of a number of things:

1. Caring Parent(s)
2. Baseball field
3. Sporting Goods store
4. PG event
5. GNC outlet
6. Bank

Fungo that was good. Especially 5 and 6

.

quote:

Originally posted by rz1:
I on the other hand was born in a basement and never brought up according to reliable sources.

Judging by this clip rz, it's not likely anyone even knows you're down there.



I had better call this crew and get them on the case...

4thGen was born in MA. We relocated to AZ when he was two. He has the advantage of playing his youth ball against the year round competiton in AZ and its been easier to convince the schools back east he would live the west coast and play for them since he has family in the area.

JME was born in Winter Park Florida but moved to Maryland within 6 months. Fortunately the area, Gaithersburg, had a great baseball program and he played rec and then select thru the 7th grade. When we moved back to Florida just before 8th grade we found out he could compete with the Florida boys.

Maybe what makes the Florida, Cali, Texas and the other "southern" boys better is that they think they are better than the "northern" boys. With confidence such an important part of baseball, IMO, maybe that strut of confidence some of them have is a good thing.

When you believe you are better than someone else, maybe others believe it too.
As our Yanks gain more confidence as they play in more competitive southern tournies maybe the gap will close.

When sons team first started going to Marrietta and other southerm locales they were a little in awe and apprehensive when a FLA or GA team was on the schedule. Now that they've been doing it for a couple of years and found they can compete, it's no big deal anymore. You can't underestimate the importance of experience and confidence.

quote:

Maybe what makes the Florida, Cali, Texas and the other "southern" boys better is that they think they are better than the "northern" boys.

I doubt the Southern kids wake up in the morning, stretch, and while brushing their teeth they smile, puff out their chest, look in the mirror and say.

"Life is good, we're better than those Northern boys"

Matter a fact I'll bet besides coaches and scouts, the HSBBW folks are the only ones discussing or even thinking about the issue.

Quote rz1:
I doubt the Southern kids wake up in the morning, stretch, and while brushing their teeth they smile, puff out their chest, look in the mirror and say.

rz, I don't know what they are doing in the morning at home in the bathroom, that's their business, but at the baseball fields I've seen kids walking aroung like they own the place (the EC kids actually do at Marrietta) and with an aire of confidence. My son calls it cocky. Maybe they have earned it, maybe not, but I'm not the only one who has noticed it. I'm not saying its a bad thing just that it can't hurt them to be confident.

fillsfan,

Sorry about the smartarse response but I would bet that those guys walking around "with an aire of confidence" do that regardless of who they play. Mason-Dixie line battles happen but a few times a year and those guys you speak of probably where that chip 7x24 regardless of who they play.

Isn't Marrrietta the home of EC, if so, that's a turf issue and that response is not surprising.

IMHO- Everyone wears that chip, some show on their shoulder, some under the uniform. If you're going to compete, you're carrying it somewhere.

rz,
I agree that that confidence is always there, not just against northern kids.

And I agree that the "chip" or confidence should be carried by all players.

Basically my point is that a confident player is more likely to succeed than a less confident player and southern kids might be more confident because they have succeeded against tougher competition as mentioned earlier in this thread.

Or maybe it was the other thread about talent vs. skill.

I'm sure there are also plenty of weak programs in the south. They just don't show up at the top venues the northern programs travel to attend. Sometimes northern teams look around these top venues and think every southern team is good.

fills .... Don't you think the teams who compete in the Northeastern Super NIT could hold their own down south? If you brought a mediocre southern team north and placed them in the Northeast Super NIT they might leave (early) very impressed with northern baseball.

quote:

Originally posted by fillsfan:
southern kids might be more confident because they have succeeded against tougher competition as mentioned earlier in this thread.

Or maybe it was the other thread about talent vs. skill.

As far as high school, the math proves otherwise. About 90-100 D1 NLI's are issued per 1000 high schools.

Therefore, most States in proportion have a similar percentage of kids looking from the outside in, or left out. If that is wrong, then all things being equal, and thats an important exception, then northern States programs would take the southern kids before their own kids in residence, and they don't.

Think about that.

RJM,
I agree that their are many not so good team from the south also. I guess I was referring to the top tier teams.
Son's team has played many southern teams that are no better than mediorce northern teams.

OS, "the all things being equal" is very important in your statement. The first thing I came up with is how many kids from the south and west want to come to New Jersey, PA and other northern areas to play baseball.

Well...my son was born in Northern California...and now plays in Southern California....so...he's a northern player doing just fine...thank you.

quote:

Originally posted by fillsfan:
The first thing I came up with is how many kids from the south and west want to come to New Jersey, PA and other northern areas to play baseball.

I think some teams come up here looking to cherry pick what they believe will be an easier qualifer. One team did it a couple of years ago and was eliminated early. They pounded the first team and probably got overconfident. It turns out the losing team decided not to burn pitchers after falling behind 8-1 and the final score was rediculous. The coach told me (after beating us) he had outfielders play catch with the catcher. The losing team finished third. The southern team had the ability to win. I think they didn't realize it wouldn't be easy.

quote:

fillsfan quote:
Basically my point is that a confident player is more likely to succeed than a less confident player and southern kids might be more confident because they have succeeded against tougher competition as mentioned earlier in this thread.

I think I see where you're coming from.

I guess my point is how do you measure a level of confidence between teams. My experience has been that every Northern team my son was associated with went into every game thinking that if they gave 100% they would win the game regardless of the competition. Great outlook IMHO.

I would be concerned if a team confidence was based on the premise that because "they have succeeded against tougher competition" they should win the game. Actually I wish that mentality would happen more often because it's great to watch the "over-confident" team leave the field with their tails between their legs.

Many times a teams confidence is a result of historical occurrences, pats on the head, atta-boys, and IMO that's potentially dangerous, I would rather see a chip on the shoulder, hunger in the eyes, or a gut full of hostility. That's passion, and when teams hit the field, passion beats confidence more times than not.

Don't get me wrong confidence is good..............to a point

rz,
I am talking about the confidence a player has in his ability to succeed against any competition. I agree false and over confidence can be detremental for a team.

Individual confidence is when a player is batting against a tough pitcher and his mentality is, "I can hit this guy" not "I've got no shot at hitting this guy". MLers have confidence issues all the time. When the best hitters are in slumps their confidence has to be low, which perpetuates the slump. Conversely, when they are hot the ball looks like a melon and they feel they can hit anything.
We all know baseball is a much more mental game than hoops or football. It is not all athleticism like those sports, especially basketball.

I referred to the book The Mental Game of Baseball before. (H.A. Dorfman). Great book. One of the many things I noted was the importance of confidence. Preparation creates confidence which helps created success. I'm not talking about over or false confidence, just the confidence that a player knows he is prepared enough to succeed.

When you mention hunger, passion, chip on the shoulder and even hostility I agree. But I don't think a player can have that without being prepared and confident.

fillsfan,
I think we agree not to disagree with our differences (almost a yogism). Reviewing this I must admit that I have been out of the HS arena for some time, and since then, billions and billions of brain cells have been discarded. Looking back at my posts I think if you were to put them in a college perspective, which is fresher to me, they may be more relevant.

fillsfan, my son has played at EC for 5 years and in "Marietta" prior to that. I can agree with some of your statements regarding an "aire of confidence" and even the cocky attitude that some have in that program. Throughout the years, I have noticed it with several of the players on all teams but not all of them. I also believe it is the players mental makeup as well as family upbringing as to how they act and treat others. You can't assume anything.

I also agree with Old Timer that everyone wears that chip, some show on their shoulder, some under the uniform--- others its the way they carry themselves.

Many of the players, expecially with the Astros level have an opportunity to play on a truly elite team where they have beat competition consistently. Of course as you said fillsfan, once you find that you can play against those teams and somehow beat them (that could be any team that is or might be perceived as being good)then it isn't any big deal anymore once you find the crack in their armor, especially with some of those players.

Overall, the confidence that exudes from several of the teams I think comes down from playing consistently at a level and being able to compete. It also can work the other way around when you aren't used to playing that level of competition you can lose confidence.

One other point I bring up is that we had a team down from NJ playing at EC a few years back, and the parents and coaches were in awe of our fields and the weather as they just left after being able to hit for the first time that year in a Salt Dome before arriving at EC to play in a tournament. Of course, we are lucky to have the facilities to play in and the weather permits it also. I am sure that The weather sometimes has got to take a toll on the boys that don't get any practice time prior to arriving. IMHO that is why CA, TX, FL, GA, TN and AL players just have better weather to play more.

quote:

Originally posted by rz1:
fillsfan,

Sorry about the smartarse response but I would bet that those guys walking around "with an aire of confidence" do that regardless of who they play. Mason-Dixie line battles happen but a few times a year and those guys you speak of probably where that chip 7x24 regardless of who they play.

Isn't Marrrietta the home of EC, if so, that's a turf issue and that response is not surprising.

IMHO- Everyone wears that chip, some show on their shoulder, some under the uniform. If you're going to compete, you're carrying it somewhere.