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.
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.
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.
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?
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
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.
.
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.
.
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.
.
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.