Is baseball declining?

That's disappointing to hear. Obviously from this far away I would not know why. Baseball thrives in Arizona, but this is the perfect place for it to thrive.

That said, I do have a theory:

As travel teams have become the norm, more than more players have been excluded sooner or sooner. As a result, many of them move on to other sports or other activities and forget baseball altogether.

At least some of these players might have developed into varsity starters and many of them valuable teammates. At a minimum, they would have increased the numbers and filled out freshmen and jv teams.

Unfortunately, what has developed in some places is the situation you describe. It clearly is important to keep baseball as fun for as many players as possible for as long as possible.

Some ideas:

More sports options- I know at my high school, when I was there (2000 graduate) there was no s****r program, and now there is s****r, which is a spring sport. At other schools lacrosse has started to become popular, which I believe is also a spring sport.

Specialization- as there is more and more pressure for kids to focus on a single sport, whatever other sports they would have played start to be phased out. So now the guy who was primarily a football guy but also played baseball in the spring is now a football only guy. I know some (many?) schools run spring 7 on 7 football stuff, and I think in some places there is even full blown spring football (but I'm not sure about that). Of course, other sports are factors as well, but this just the example most familiar to me.

Other options in general- this could be any number of things, but kids just have more options for ways to spend their free time- from skateboard parks to MMA to Wii to cable TV, internet, jobs, etc

Of course there could also be factors specific to that school/area which are driving the numbers down. If there has been a coaching change or a general decline in the program, or if the feeder programs have declined in popularity, then I think you could expect some decline in the numbers and quality of players at the high school level.

One thing I will note, where I coach (AAA school in Richmond) I was shocked to see the numbers that came out for tryouts last season. Only 35 kids tried out. I went to high school at a single A school where 50-60 kids would show up for tryouts. But I was chatting with a local dad through the HSBBW and one thing he mentioned that I hadn't thought of...with the expanded influence of travel programs, by the time kids get to high school they know whether or not they are a player for the most part.

At that point, they've played through LL, they've probably played some sort of travel ball since at least 11U (if not younger), they've moved up to the bigger field, and they have sort of realized whether or not they have a future in baseball. If they know they've been on lower level travel teams, or they weren't all-stars or whatever, then they figure why waste my time sitting the bench or not making the high school team...let me find something else to do with my time.

To me, that's not necessarily a bad thing. Sure, there are some kids who are late bloomers and may count themselves out of baseball too soon, but if they are getting to a point where they're not enjoying the game, then they should move on to something else. This gives them a chance to find their passion where they can excel, and it gives them something to enjoy throughout their four years of high school.

quote:

Originally posted by Emanski's Heroes:
by the time kids get to high school they know whether or not they are a player for the most part.

Sadly, I think you're right, and that they are wrong. Junior almost got cut as a soph, but wound up in the soph starting rotation. As a Junior, he only got 3 varsity starts. As a senior, he set all the pitching records at the HS that still stand. The biggest difference between him and others, was that he loved the game. I believed in and encouraged him throughout and that certainly helped.

The one notion that I thought it always important to impart to my kids, is that there are no dies cast for where they fit in, in life. Todays superstar is tomorrows benchwarmer. It's just so true of HS sports where there's such great disparities in physical maturities.

quote:

As travel teams have become the norms, more than more players have been excluded sooner or sooner. As a result, many of them move on to other sports or other activities and forget baseball altogether.

This is a very good point. It relates to all sports, not just baseball. I have a friend who travels the country speaking as a youth sports advocate. He's a former NBA player. He believes travel sports at a young age drives kids out of particular sports at a young age before they have a chance to physically mature and develop. His view is if a kid gets cut from a travel team at nine, ten and eleven what incentive does he have to continue? He's been told for three years he's not good enough. It's enough rejection for most kids.

He said in 8th grade he never would have guessed he would become one of the top basketball recruits in the country his junior year of high school. He was a spaz in 8th grade.

When I was a little kid I assumed I would play baseball until I was done with school. Why? Because baseball was fun. It wasn't an aspiration. It was an assumption. I didn't know the difference from D1 or D3. I assumed I would be the 7th generation at the D3 school the rest of my family attended. It was a bit of a shock in high school when my coach told me what schools were watching. Now little kids have D1 aspirations.

Then there's more sports options starting at a younger age. When I was a kid the only rec sports were football, basketball and baseball. Only baseball was available in the summer. The only high school sports were football, basketball, baseball, three seasons of track, hockey and swimming. Our high school now has all this and volleyball, s0ccer, lacrosse tennis, golf, wrestling and water polo. All these sports are available at the little kid rec level except golf and tennis. Given there are four country clubns within the school district I could argue indirectly they are little kid rec sports too.

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quote:

What in the world is wrong with this picture?

Observations...

1. Not sure that you can support an overall decline on the basis of the record of a single high school or single zip code. There are two sides to every story. Every loss is a win for soemone else. It is a zero sum game, one team's losses are another teams's gains. And there are tens of thousands of HS programs flourishing. BUT, that being said...

2. The shift from baseball as a team sport, played by individuals, to a game played with other to further an individuals "career" has implications for local programs.

3. High school and community programs nationwide are under increasing pressure from year round programs, the same way that other sports are. Like it or not, for better or for worse that is the reality

4. IMO, other sports have recognized, taken action and have gone a long way in the decade to close the gap between themselves and baseball. Baseball is slow on the uptick in this regard.

5. A case is often made by those here that that the quality of baseball is impoving as the quantity decreases. They will tell us that as the chaf is weeded out earlier and the "better" players gather to play regionally and nationally at younger ages the quality improves. They will tell us that this is a good development for baseball. That local and community and zip code baseball is just too weak to develop quality baseball. In this scenerio, many local programs may suffer, in many scenerio's local programs may fly if "national" players return to play locally.

6. While that may be true, success at any sport as a whole is a numbers game. More players mean a wider net of genetic material. The more we run off the masses, the less mathematical opportunity we have to catch the genetic anomolies who are the elite. Also part of the success of baseball has always been that due to it's grass roots programs it has always had "first pick", and it has until now been a cultural rite of passage.

44
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Well said 44!




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My perception and my own honest opinion, I would like to share … is that ALL-STAR baseball starting at the ages of 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12 … that’s 5yrs of contentiously going and the young man is not even a teenager yet. For the love of GOD why is it so important to collect a gosh darn trophy? Why not play Sandlot baseball, when’s the last time anyone see that game played where the two captains throw up a baseball bat to determine who gets to pick 1st to see who cover the end of the bat handle? How many guys on this list do NOT know what I am talking about “throwing the bat up and catching it to see who can cover the end of the bat handle?” Basically, it’s like rock/paper/scissors but with a BAT.

Wonder when the last time we’ve seen a Sandlot game going on?

Heck, in Winchester at a local park, they “lock” the fields with a sign stating “authorized use only” … are you kidding me???


As for Little League and Babe Ruth League, sorry Cal Ripken League … What needs to happen, a camera needs to be turned onto the parents in the stands so they can see who obnoxious they act during a game. I am grateful that my mother came to watch and basically said nothing during my years.


Travel baseball, another issue, sorry I know it makes like much easier when a college coach you can see a team filled with talent but the cost of travel baseball is ridiculous BUT yes it’s a choice that those folks have to make. With today’s technology, we do not need travel baseball, AAU, Connie Mac or whatever other league that got started because someone’s sone was not getting enough playing time, the parents were not happy with the operation or maybe the real reason, someone saw another opportunity to make a dollar … but we just really need one affiliation and just maybe baseball will return to it’s glory days. When there is a player of interest, how fast is it to get that recruits information with a college coaches e-mail in-box? Pretty darn quick unless you live out in the woods and still have dial-up for internet service.


Bottom-line, baseball is declining, is not baseball a “middle-class” sport? Why are folks doing whatever they can to root out the middle class?


Happy New Year!


Respectfully sharing my own honest opinion,
Coach Milburn
Winchester, VA

quote:

5. A case is often made by those here that that the quality of baseball is impoving as the quantity decreases. They will tell us that as the chaf is weeded out earlier and the "better" players gather to play regionally and nationally at younger ages the quality improves. They will tell us that this is a good development for baseball. That local and community and zip code baseball is just too weak to develop quality baseball. In this scenerio, many local programs may suffer, in many scenerio's local programs may fly if "national" players return to play locally.

I fully agree that people make this case but I completely reject it based off my own experiences. There are many out there that think they can look at a 10 year old and decide/project then and there what type of future some may have. How absurd is that? Pro scouts cannot even project how some 18 year olds will turn out yet there are those who think they "know" at much younger ages. I believe baseball takes years and years and years to properly develop let alone separate the "wheat from the chaffe."

I am totally against elitism in the sport. I have no problem with kids travelling but also strongly support the local youth leagues. Nobody is smart enough to know what is in store down the road and I want to see kids play the sport for as long as humanly possible. Perhaps we need to encourage more travelling out of the local youth leagues to foster more participation.

There have been many great points raised in this thread. Declining school enrollment certainly can explain things here in the North. I do believe baseball is a hard sport to participate in the spring time and it indeed suffers from competition from other sports. I argue the biggest competitor is football. Some kids are being pressured into year-round workouts which conflcits with baseball especially in the summertime.

I think the expense has become unreachable for many, so kids are forced to leave the game behind.

I wrote to a team in Seattle to see if I could get my 16 yo son on, even just for practices, for the five weeks we'd be there this summer -- and they said 'yes'.....for $3300 (yes, thirty-three-hundred dollars). $3300 for five weeks. If that's the going rate, even for a year, to become one of the better ballplayers in your area (or at least go as far as you can with the skills you have), many families simply cannot afford to stay with the game.

Another as yet unmentioned factor: video games.

When I was a kid, to enjoy the joy of sports, you played. Everything in its season, football, basketball, and baseball. Our TV showed four channels, NBC, ABC, CBS, and whatever channel 5 was (Fox nowadays). There was no alternative. All the kids around simply played the games. Some were better, some not so good, but almost everyone played in some fashion or another.


The Play Station and X Box games are incredibly detailed and theses kids can have a lot of fun with sports via the video games. Heck, high school, college,and pro players play the heck out of these games too.

At some level, a kid that may not feel he can compete on a real field can have a lot of fun on the couch.

At every level, when players leave a game, what they inevitably miss most is the interaction with teammates-the bus trips, the locker rooms, the wise cracks. Most game results fade from memory, but the "stories" live on. Video games will never replace that, but the kids have no idea what they're missing.

I think you have hit on many common factors ...

-- There is more competition for kid's time and attention both on and off the field (other sports, music, video games, skateboarding, etc. have drawn away many prospective ball players)

-- Baseball is a game of skill, and those skills are only developed by playing ... a lot. In our culture today, in so many areas, kid's lives are totally orchestrated by their parents, and they don't have the free time to just grab their gloves to play ball all day. Thus, practice time is limited to those "boring" practices where Coach-Dad throws BP and kids stand around shagging balls for 75% of the time.

-- "Baseball is boring" and is allowed to be boring at the youth level in so many areas by leagues focussing so much on pleasing the parents of the least skilled players, and those who are really only looking for a baby sitting service; and not focussing on trying to teach ALL kids how to play at the highest level each player can achieve.

-- Many youth baseball organizations seem to be held in a stranglehold by a handful of parents/volunteers who lose sight of the fact that it is about kids having fun, and learning to love the game. In CM's area -- for instance -- the local LL has been known to ostracize kids who take lessons from non-league instructors, or play for outside travel teams as well ... to the point of excluding these kids from All-Star teams.

-- It seems that ALL sports are becoming year-round, and there is a pressure to specialize early on. "If you're not committed to the program, you can't play for our team."


I live just over the mountain from CM. In our area, I was ostracized as a LL Coach for conducting practices that were "too serious." The kids went from station to station in small groups, working on mastering skills; and then came together to practice situational offense and defense. My kids and parents LOVED it, but other parents complained that our teams became too good, and we played "too seriously". Bear in mind that our kids had a blast, and parents begged me to draft their kids from season to season.

We started a 12U travel team for kids who wanted to compete at a higher level, and further develop their skills. We subordinated the team to the local LL, and worked closely with LL officials to avoid conflicts. My wife and I were trashed in the community for "trying to destroy LL" and taking baseball too seriously. There was a push to keep my son and kis teammates off the LL All Star teams.

As a "bubble baby" in 2006 when USA baseball changed the age standards; the local leagues would not let the "repeat 12's" continue to move up with their classmates. Our son (with our support) chose to leave the local leagues, and has played regional & national travel ball since that time. He is now playing HS ball, and aspiring to play collegiately.

Many other quality players my son grew up with have left the game to focus on other sports (football, basketball, volleyball); to focus on video games and hanging out; because they have found girls and cars; and a few because they got a bad taste in their mouths from how they were treated by people/authorities as they tried to excel in the game ... helping to kill their budding love for the game.

Not a sermon, just some thoughts ...

i am usually alone in my thinking, but i'll try it anyway. i don't think baseball is declining, it has become much a global economy so to speak.

i as a parent never made choices based on draft status or D1,vs D3 recruitment, i really never thought they'd play beyond high school. i felt it was important to represent my community. looking back it meant more to me than them i'm sure.


i know i'm old poop, but the game needs to be fun for as long as it can. lot's of fun with a whole town rooting for you. maybe that's not how people think anymore.

that being said, i sometimes think every one thinks they are going pro out of high school or playing for a big bb powerhouse. when baseball becomes your job, fun usually takes a back seat.

if the thought process is going big. then local play takes a back seat to the national stuff.

baseball isn't declining, just realigning itself. to meet the needs of the consumer. just my opinion though.

20DAD I'm not an old coot and I agree with you 100%!

I feel there are two strong reasons that have lead to a decline in population. First is the divorce rate. Baseball was a game that was passed on from father to son and as the father has become absent in the home due to the high divorce rate in our country so has the decline of children who participate in baseball. Second is the price. I can take 1 basketball, s****r ball, or football and have anywhere from 10 - 22 kids playing at 1 time. However in order to play baseball everyone at least needs a glove and someone has to have a bat. That is an expense that a great deal of families can not undertake.

quote:

Originally posted by socalhscoach:... baseball was a game that was passed on from father to son and as the father has become absent in the home due to the high divorce rate in our country so has the decline of children who participate in baseball.

That's a very interesting angle I never have considered. GED10's great grandfather played pro ball, GED10's grandfather played pro ball and semi-pro ball. I had zero talent, but because of my dad and granddad's influence, I've always wanted my son to play baseball. You may be onto something. Certainly makes you say "hmmmmmm???"

GED10DaD

There many reasons and most have been posted imo. But there are more. When I first started coaching in hs I wanted to give my hs players a baseball option in the summer after the hs season ended. We had a legion program that was 25 miles away and our kids usually were not selected to play. Only the top one or two guys ever made the team. So I put together a summer team comprised of all our returning players and the rising 9th graders that wanted to play. By the 7th or 8th game of the summer season I was having a hard time fielding a team. Beach trips , trips to the lake , softball , etc etc.

One of the problems is when kids reach an age where they can decide if they want to play or not , girls , cars , hanging out with friends , etc etc they make the decision that its just not as much fun to them. If you add in the fact that you actually require them to work at it. You actually demand that they bring it everyday and compete they fade away. This is not only a problem in my area but in many areas. You can give kids the same opportunities that many of our sons have. Travel every weekend to play baseball , work out everyday to get better etc etc. The fact is very few love the game enough to want to do it. Very few are willing to work to reach the level that others are willing to work. Oh yeah they like to play. But after awhile they are ready to move on to something else. And they like to play but they dont like to work at it.

When you start demanding that they actually invest into something the numbers start to dwindle. They will always dwindle. Because the fact is alot of kids want to be players. Very few are willing to do what it takes to be a player. There are alot more things for kids to do today. There alot more distractions. Select teams and travel teams have players on them that play almost every weekend and work out almost everyday. Why? Because they love it.

Open up the field and offer bp to anyone that wants to come. Who shows up? The kids that worked out all day already and played games all weekend. Where are the other kids? The parents of these kids are the first ones to complain about their sons playing time. The first ones to complain about pratice lasting too long. The first ones to complain that their son didnt make all conference. The ones that complain that the coach doesnt work hard enough for his players.

The fact is the kids that love the game and want to play the game are going to. They dont have any problem finding the time and giving the effort at the other things they love to do. When kids reach hs its not LL or pony league anymore. You have to invest in your game and your program. The fact is most do not want to. So they move on to other things. It has nothing to do with the kids that love the game. It has everything to do with the fact that some simply dont. And when the effort it takes to be a part of something is too much for them they move on to other things.

There has been a decline for the past 10 or 15 years in kids playing youth baseball. Look at how many kids never start playing baseball much less play in high school. IMO, the problem is really a combination of problems. Many kids today (50%) are being raised by single parent mothers that know little if anything about baseball and are not able to play catch or throw BP to their sons. It's much easier for this mother to place her son in s****r, LAX, football, basketball, etc... Kid's today have many more sports opportunities today than the kid's of past generations. Just look at how many baseball fields have been eliminated where kids now don't have a place to play sandlot baseball with their friends. Travel baseball has become very expensive and we also have 8 & 9 year old kid's playing 75 games (spring,summer, fall) each year. IMO, this is crazy! Why not play 25-30 games in your league with your friends and then play another 5-10 games with the league All-Star team if your kid is selected. Another problem is that we now have these Mega Comprehensive high schools (2500+ students) and it's very diffecult for anyone but the very best athletes to make the baseball team. If you have 2500 students (1250 boy's) it is very difficult to shine when they are only going to keep a total of 30-40 kids in the program. A kid must be one of the top 10 players out of 312.5 to make the high school baseball team. The numbers say that to make the team as a freshmen the kids at a 2500 student school must be in the top 3% of all players. This is very difficult for the players that are late bloomers and mature at a later stage in their life.

Very interesting post, but as others I have to disagree with the premise, at least where we live. My son's HS freshman year, there were nearly 80 kids trying out for the freshman team - thats 80 freshman trying out for the freshman baseball team. His grade level there is a ton of talent, and there were good players cut from that list of 80.

Going into soph year, I have no idea how many will show up at tryouts - but at least 10 players will be cut from the freshman team going into soph year.

There are several high-level travel programs in our area, the program my son tried out for last Aug had around 500 players try out for all age levels - I do not know the breakdown by age but I have heard rumors there were about 125 players try out for 16u.

So where we come from, baseball is certainly not declining. It is very competitive and thriving. But as others have alluded to it seems the "innocence" of playing ball as a kid is lost. My son looks at me sideways when I tell him we used to play pick-up baseball games at the park every day all summer for hours and hours - there are way too many other options for kids these days and if the activity is not structured and planned they are less likely to do it.

The pick up games the 15 and 16 year olds are playing now are Modern Warfare and Assasins Creed, you would be hard-pressed to find enough kids to play a real pick-up baseball game!

In my neck of the woods one thing that I believe has watered down our talent pool has been the construction of a new Public High School and 2 Private High Schools. Our program is dropping from 5A to 4A this year and the largest High School has gone from 5A to 6A.

Last year we had trouble fielding a Freshman, JV and Varsity program which we historically have done. The talent level is down, but I wonder if that is because the talent that at one time was funnelled into 3 High Schools now is divided up among 6.

Coach_May I agree 100%. I am currently coaching at a school that was opened 3 years ago with 9 and 10 graders, so naturally we drew part of our student body from another school. Year 1 we had 9 players in our SO class from that other school, year 2 we had 4 of those players, and now in year 3 we have 1 player left. The number 1 reason is they, like you said, they all wanted to be players. They did not have the work ethic to be players because the other school required nothing of them.

quote:

Originally posted by Coach Milburn:
Wonder when the last time we’ve seen a Sandlot game going on?

Coach, I remember sitting on the bench keeping score for my son's LL team. They were all nine or ten. I decided to ask each of them the same question.

"Have you ever played baseball without a uniform or an umpire?"

The answer, from every kid except mine, was no.

We're lucky enough to live near a park with a diamond. The neighborhood kids go there and play three-on-three, call your outfield, invisible men (ghost runners), pitcher's mound, underhand to the little sister...

No adults around to yell 'keep your head in there' 'what are you swinging at?'. They love it.

Almost every kid from that LL team is long gone from baseball. I often wonder how much fun they really had on those Saturday mornings. I also wonder how much fun they might have had, and whether they would have stayed with baseball longer, if they had the chance to play the game in its simplest, purest form- the sandlot.

Look we used to get up at 5am everyday in the summer and prime tobacco by hand. String it by hand. Hoist it by hand. Then someone invented some cool machines that did all of this for you. We used to play in the neighborhood. But then someone built a field and started an organized league we could all play in. With a concession stand and a bathroom. And we had a scoreboard and we got to play kids that we didnt even know.

Would you really let your 8 or 9 year old kid leave home and go somewhere to play ball with 15 or 20 kids you dont even know? Would you let him leave home at 11am and say see you this afternoon have fun Timmy?

Times have changed folks. I used to get sick and tired of having to hit everything to one side of the field because there were not enough guys to play the whole field. The baseball got lost and we had to quit playing. Half the kids wanted to quit after one hour in the sun. I would have loved to grow up with the opportunities and options that kids have today. Do you remember the baseball? The one that had so many grass stains on it it was actually black? The wood bat that was broken so you nailed the handle back together? Have you ever had a bat pinch your hand when you hit a ball with it? I have it suks.

No Im good with what the game offers today. The kids that love the game are so much better today because the opportunities are so great today. And the ones that dont want to play Im good with them doing something else.

quote:

Originally posted by Coach_May:
Would you really let your 8 or 9 year old kid leave home and go somewhere to play ball with 15 or 20 kids you dont even know? Would you let him leave home at 11am and say see you this afternoon have fun Timmy?

Yes, and I let him walk to school, by himself, in first grade.

How long have you lived in Mayberry?

Just kidding AntzDad.

Coach May I agree with you about the opportunities these kids have today. When I was growing up there were no travel teams (or if there were I certainly did not know about them), there were no indoor batting cages, and there were no opportunities to actually be taught by a someone who played professionally.

It was still fun playing sandlot ball, and maybe we get a little nostalgiac for days gone by - but yes times have changed, circumstances have changed. Some for the good, some for the bad, whatever we choose to make of it.

Not quite Mayberry, Coach May, but we have Rocky the barber and Toby the shoe guy.

You could hit or you couldnt hit. There were no batting cages. There were no private instructors. You either had a strong arm or you didnt. No one told us about long toss , etc etc. You got basic fundementals period. BP was around 10 hacks and move on to the next guy. We used to have to walk the field before practice and pick up the rocks.

The fact is the players that were better were better because they were just naturally better. The gap between the good players and the not so good stayed about the same throughout hs. Why? Because no one worked at the game outside of the season. You all played the same amount of games and worked at the game the same amount.

What has changed? The players that love the game now have the opportunity to work at the game. They have so much more available to them. So now the gap is huge and continues to get bigger and bigger. The players that dont work get buried now by the ones that do. So they decide rather than get buried I will find something else to do.

Hey I got about a zillion Earnest T Bass's around here in Stem.

quote:

Originally posted by socalhscoach:

Coach_May I agree 100%. I am currently coaching at a school that was opened 3 years ago with 9 and 10 graders, so naturally we drew part of our student body from another school. Year 1 we had 9 players in our SO class from that other school, year 2 we had 4 of those players, and now in year 3 we have 1 player left. The number 1 reason is they, like you said, they all wanted to be players. They did not have the work ethic to be players because the other school required nothing of them.

That's a very interesting post socalhscoach. But yet, I'm afraid it rings loud for most HS programs nowadays. Someone alluded earlier to the "fumes" disease that takes place for these young men from 8th grade all the way up to their Senior year. Perfume and car fumes take many a player away from the game they loved playing as young un's.

And of course, you unfortunately have to dabble in poor grades and drugs with the mix today.

I'm beginning to think that it's not so much a decline but more of a lack of desire and dedication as they enter the high school years. All of a sudden this game takes work after school every day. 3 games a week. Practice maybe 1 day on the weekend. THEN when summer arrives the school is requiring players to commit the month of June to baseball. That fun they used to have when they were little begins to dwindle.

The summer before my son's 10th grade year he begin playing East Cobb ball. He couldn't get enough of it. The 1 1/2hr drive to and fro almost daily for either practices or games was nothing to him (or me), but he did it so he could get better and play against the best. Why do I mention that? Because he begin telling some of his other teammates to come and play and all of them said "no". They were enjoying their summer off.

Most say they want to play, but when it gets right down to it I don't think they really do nowadays.

Yep! I remember when my son verballed to his college program. By the end of that showcase season all but three had on a team of 25. We still have three or four more tourneys. My son got in the car after a game and was so upset. It seemed that a couple of guys had decided not to show up that weekend. A couple more told the coach they needed a break. "What about the guys that are still trying to get a scholarship?" "How are they going to handle college baseball , class and summer baseball in college dad if they cant handle this?"

Yep! Like I tell my players all the time. No one has to beg you to take your girlfriend to the movies. No one has to convince you that the trip to the beach will be fun. No one has to talk you into staying up all night Friday night to play X box with the guys. So why the hel do you think someone should have to motivate you to practice baseball?

quote:

Originally posted by Coach_May:
Like I tell my players all the time. No one has to beg you to take your girlfriend to the movies. No one has to convince you that the trip to the beach will be fun. No one has to talk you into staying up all night Friday night to play X box with the guys. So why the hel do you think someone should have to motivate you to practice baseball?

This is an outstanding quote!!!!!

Thanks coach. I guess you can tell that this topic kind of gets me going. I remember walking over to the cage to work with the JV guys a couple of years ago. I get there and I want to work on some dry swing drills with the guys so I tell them all to grab their bat and walk over where I am and make a circle. I tell them to put their bat on their shoulder and I notice that out of 20 guys only about seven or eight have a bat. I say where are your bats? They reply that they dont have a bat.

Well "Have you got a playstation? How many of those 50 dollar games that go with it do you have? How many cd's do you have? How about a fishing pole , shotgun , rifle , stereo system? They all look at me like I am crazy. What did you ask Santa for Christmas? Did you know then that you didnt have a bat? So you know you were coming out for baseball and you didnt have a bat but you asked Santa for a X box? So you want me to coach you everyday and work my tail off to help you be a player and you dont care enough about being a player to even own a bat?"

Hel I even had a kid show up to tryouts with a teenage mutant ninja turtle glove. I am serious. It was green and had all the turtles on the fingers of the glove. And in the palm of the glove was a picture of Shredder. The darn thing was plastic. And the kid had no idea why my "players" were falling out.

I come here to talk to baseball folks. Real baseball folks. I had to spend an entire hour in the AD's office over this incident. I had to explain to the mom in front of the AD why the players were laughing at her son. I explained to her after I stopped laughing I told the players to stop. And she was shocked when her son was cut. LMAO

quote:

How long have you lived in Mayberry?

That was funny. But for some it is true about letting kids play as freely as they could when we were kids.

Coach May, couldn't quote all of what you said, because I agree with just about every bit of it.

One poster stated that they should never have developed travel ball, I disagree.The reason is by about 12-13, at least where we are there was becoming a huge difference in the kids who really wanted to play, and those boys that had no skill or desire.

The better players wanted more of a challenging baseball, and by Juniors in LL, it was not at all competitive.

I do agree that because it has got more competitive, the kids who are not as good may give up sooner.
I do think the economy for some affects this as well.

Baseball is a game that takes skill as mentioned previously, but as well improvement comes in small incremements.It takes time and effort to develop this improvement, many kids today dont want to put in the time as Coach mat already stated.

I do think baseball today gives the late bloomers who stick with it and work hard a better chance to become a good player, and for that I am grateful.

quote:

They reply that they dont have a bat.

That is the truth.I had to tell my son, junior and senior year that I could not afford to have his teammates share his 400.00 bat.They are only good for so many swings.My husband worked OT to pay for that **** bat.I would sit in the stands just ticked.Im talking about 5-6 kids who wanted to use his stealth the entire year, which it didnt last, therefore we had to buy another one.
I made my son pay for the next one, and told him we could not afford to supply team bats at 400.00 a piece.He told his teammates after he paid his own money.
I am not being tight, but for Goodness gracious, you dont have a bat????
There were team bats, but NO they wanted to use the good bat.
So glad that his college supplies the bats now LOL.

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Why is baseball declining?

Based on this graph of Barry's 756th homer I would guess the reason for the decline is...



...the effects of gravity.




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quote:

Originally posted by Coach_May:

Hel I even had a kid show up to tryouts with a teenage mutant ninja turtle glove. I am serious. It was green and had all the turtles on the fingers of the glove. And in the palm of the glove was a picture of Shredder. The darn thing was plastic. And the kid had no idea why my "players" were falling out.

I had to spend an entire hour in the AD's office over this incident. I had to explain to the mom in front of the AD why the players were laughing at her son. I explained to her after I stopped laughing I told the players to stop. And she was shocked when her son was cut. LMAO

I was busting a GUT when I read this! I couldn't EVEN imagine how you could've kept a straight face on when you saw that glove! Darn, my sides are hurting from laughing at this story!

But I bet this thing is a collector's item today! I know my son would want one since he was such a huge fan of these cotton picking turtles!

Devils advocate here... if your son would rather play xbox than practice baseball - what do you do? Let him be lazy and play xbox 10 hours a day or insist he get up off his a** and work on his game?

fan your story is why I instituted a bat policy. You will use your bat. If you dont have a bat you will use a team bat. You are not allowed to use a team mates bat. Even if the team mate says its ok. Why? Because we are dealing with great kids who are great team mates. And they dont want to say no to a team mate. They should not be put in that situation. So I took it out of their hands and did it myself.