Is baseball declining?

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"In my area lots of kids still love to play baseball but, football reigns supreme.
The school allowed the homecoming bonfire to be held on the varsity field pitchers mound."

You hafta' learn how to bring some heat with that fastball of yours, son!

Just punt lob it in there across the goaline plate.

Some think this scorched earth strategy is a Hail Mary, but I think it's gonna' work.

Time of possession, baby! That's how you win ballgames!

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Yummy! I like mine cajun blackened, please!

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quote:

For this reason IMO delayed gratification has to be taught, the same way and with the same, and perhaps more emphasis as physical skills

O44, if you ever move east, look me up, we should coach together!

I definitely agree, but it is an uphill battle. Teaching delayed gratification, work ethic, etc., is supposed to be the parents' job. A coach should (in a perfect world) be able to trust that kids come to him already having this ingrained, and asking him to give them the baseball-specific stuff they need to succeed. The fact that they don't is troublesome.

And then as a coach you have to deal with the reality that, when you try to teach delayed gratification/work ethic, many parents actively oppose you. Because they are the ones who took their sons off the straight and narrow path in the first place.

As adults too many of us have "drunk the Kool Aid", seeking our own instant gratification by seeing our sons elevated to star status before our very eyes. E.g., We don't want our son taught to pitch. He's already great. Just put him on the mound and stop "messing with him" (i.e., teaching him proper mechanics and such). And of course we all know whose fault it will be if he gets lit up. Same scenario for hitters, etc.

In the end, you go sifting through players (and parents) until you find a roster (or at least, a nucleus) of players who have their minds right. The one advantage you have in travel ball is that you can do this over the years. In high school, you're constrained to whoever shows up for tryouts, and games start just a few weeks after that. Either you get a good bunch or you don't.

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quote:

Originally posted by Midlo Dad:

quote:

For this reason IMO delayed gratification has to be taught, the same way and with the same, and perhaps more emphasis as physical skills

O44, if you ever move east, look me up, we should coach together!

Flattered, thanks!

quote:

I definitely agree, but it is an uphill battle. Teaching delayed gratification, work ethic, etc., is supposed to be the parents' job. A coach should (in a perfect world) be able to trust that kids come to him already having this ingrained, and asking him to give them the baseball-specific stuff they need to succeed. The fact that they don't is troublesome.

And then as a coach you have to deal with the reality that, when you try to teach delayed gratification/work ethic, many parents actively oppose you. Because they are the ones who took their sons off the straight and narrow path in the first place.

As adults too many of us have "drunk the Kool Aid", seeking our own instant gratification by seeing our sons elevated to star status before our very eyes. E.g., We don't want our son taught to pitch. He's already great. Just put him on the mound and stop "messing with him" (i.e., teaching him proper mechanics and such). And of course we all know whose fault it will be if he gets lit up. Same scenario for hitters, etc.

In the end, you go sifting through players (and parents) until you find a roster (or at least, a nucleus) of players who have their minds right. The one advantage you have in travel ball is that you can do this over the years. In high school, you're constrained to whoever shows up for tryouts, and games start just a few weeks after that. Either you get a good bunch or you don't

So true.

IMO getting their minds right, delaying gratification, teaching them to actually enjoy the process of working hard long term to acheive a goal, a willingness to invest long term in themselves is now, in our society, so far out of the norm that most parents and players think you are from Mars. They want it all they want it now. And if they cannot have it today then they look somewhere else outside themselves for instant success, when they shgould be looking inside. They see high tech change in a day and they figure that the human developmental curve has compressed as well. They simply fail to see and/or appreciate the length of the human developmental curve and the time, and effort and mental skills required to make that curve a long term reality. Both athletic and human development is a lifelong process of success/failure/adaption not a "well constructed product launch"

The good news is that the ability to sharpen your best weapon, your mind, to help you acheive in baseball and beyond is a lost art and those who can are an increasingly rare and special group.

The other aspect is that by doing so, by waking the player up to the values to looking at the process in a new (old) way, a way that that he does possess, can not only give him the skills to change his basball, and his academics, but his life. That's the best.

44
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After having a lengthy discussion with my former American Legion Baseball coach, he came to a conclusion and I agree that ALL-STARS is hurting baseball especially for the 12U.

Reason being, does S****R have an ALL-STAR team or do they continue to play regular season league play?

From what I know about S****R, they are not practicing it in the COLD and the regular season is over/completed by the 2nd week of June and then the ole mighty ALL-STARS fire up which some have been practicing in-doors during the winter. ALL-STARS in the area of 22601 are perceived as being predetermined. So what's more important, the masses or a select group?

From my perspective, ALL STARS is an issue that is contributing to the decline locally in the area of 22601.

As my former Legion coach stated, does s****r have ALL STARS? I said, not that I know of as they have a regular season of league teams and separate Travel teams but NO ALL-STARS. The regular season appears to keep playing throughout the summer vs. as here locally, by the 2nd week of June as the regular season is OVER for the masses and then the ALL STARS begins for the select few.

Just my own honest opinion.

I think you guys are over thinking this. Change is always seen as utter disaster for those who aren't ready for it. But could it not be that the sport is now, as it always has been, undergoing constant change to accommodate the society playing it?

The generation of the 40's and 50's were nothing like Babe Ruth's generation. I'm sure Ruth's era shook their heads in disgust to see how much free time was afforded to play Sandlot baseball instead of having to sell papers or sweep floors for a meal. And the way they valued the game was completely different. Not morally or ethically better, just different.

As you guys run through all the ways in which our children should be treating and valuing baseball, keep in mind that its an optional activity. If it becomes too much of a burden or displeasure to keep in society, then people will eventually drop it - regardless of how much work you think they should put into it.

You may feel that future generations owe it to us to keep baseball alive, even if it no longer suits them. But the truth is that we can't make them do anything they don't want to when we're gone. We can stand around all day long telling our children what a sorry mess they are for not caring about it like we did. Or we can blame Xbox, or s****r moms, or select sport competitiveness, T-ball, All-Stars, whatever...

Bottom line is, they will either like to play it or they won't.

IMHO, baseball is declining in numbers partially because of people like us and our kids. Kids with "real" passion for the game and above average skills combined with parents who provide the "outside the box" tools and resources have created a wide disparity in talent, and as a result, declining numbers. The one thing I have noticed in the 30 years of sports interaction with kids is that, in general, besides kids having more entertainment "options" is that they have less "killer instincts" than preceding generations. When the separation of skills widen, so does the interest kids have to play and grow with those more talented. I think that can be seen when you look at the difference in respect and camaraderie between travel team players and those same players on pre-HS and HS teams. This not a rip on the travel team players because they are usually the leaders on those other teams, but, those "fill" players on the other teams often feel abandoned and inadequate thus dropping baseball as an activity and replacing it with one where talent differential level is not as great.

Personally, if that is a cause, I can live with it because I'm more than satisfied with the personal and mental skill sets that develop with baseball passionate kids. The other kids, they will find their "nitch", and will do fine, but competitive baseball will not be on the menu.

quote:

Originally posted by Coach Milburn:
After having a lengthy discussion with my former American Legion Baseball coach, he came to a conclusion and I agree that ALL-STARS is hurting baseball especially for the 12U.

Reason being, does S****R have an ALL-STAR team or do they continue to play regular season league play?

From what I know about S****R, they are not practicing it in the COLD and the regular season is over/completed by the 2nd week of June and then the ole mighty ALL-STARS fire up which some have been practicing in-doors during the winter. ALL-STARS in the area of 22601 are perceived as being predetermined. So what's more important, the masses or a select group?

From my perspective, ALL STARS is an issue that is contributing to the decline locally in the area of 22601.

As my former Legion coach stated, does s****r have ALL STARS? I said, not that I know of as they have a regular season of league teams and separate Travel teams but NO ALL-STARS. The regular season appears to keep playing throughout the summer vs. as here locally, by the 2nd week of June as the regular season is OVER for the masses and then the ALL STARS begins for the select few.

Just my own honest opinion.

S****r has travel (similar to all-stars in the sense of having to make the team) starting at eight years old. As for weather I remember Thanksgiving weekend tournaments and Deccember playoff games in sleet and snow. The travel season started with practice in mid August and ends in December. Spring s****r is a secondary season. Summer select runs about the same in the summer as baseball. Rec s****r runs from September to the end of November. Some kids play indoor s****r in the winter. But that's an entirely different animal.

quote:

Originally posted by RJM:
S****r has travel (similar to all-stars in the sense of having to make the team) starting at eight years old. As for weather I remember Thanksgiving weekend tournaments and Deccember playoff games in sleet and snow. The travel season started with practice in mid August and ends in December. Spring s****r is a secondary season. Summer select runs about the same in the summer as baseball. Rec s****r runs from September to the end of November. Some kids play indoor s****r in the winter. But that's an entirely different animal.

Here locally in 22601, we have the following:

Baseball for 12U:
- Regular season that starts practice very early in March
- Regular season ends by the 1st or 2nd week of June
- ALL STARS
- Travel Ball through the year
- Fall Baseball

S****r for 12U:
- Regular league play w/o an ALL STAR team emphasis to end the regular season
- Travel s****r
- Fall S****r


I believe there is a difference in the two that I attempted to point out previously.

ALL STARS is for a select few locally and the remaining of the masses is left from mid-June to end of August with no regular season of Baseball to play and that is a disgrace because folks want their little Johnny to be an ALL-STAR and who really freakin cares.

How many times do you hear, I cannot believe little Johnny did not make the team or get a scholarship for college, he was an ALL-STAR all those years. He was on this travel team and that travel team, we spent all of this money.

Bottom-line, ALL-STAR teams are hurting the game in the area of 22601 from my perspective. History speaks for itself.

quote:

ALL-STAR teams are hurting the game in the area of 22601 from my perspective. History speaks for itself.

I don't believe all-stars is the problem. I believe lack of perspective by parents is the problem. The reality is what a kid did last year is only a conversation for an opportunity to prove what he can do this year. Everything before that is irrelevant. Even MLB'ers have to go out every day and prove they deserve to stay.

When my son was eight I started hearing, "You won't have to pay for college." I smiled and thanked the people saying it. When they were gone I laughed. I saw his ability as nothing but raw athletic potential compared against kids who 90% wouldn't be playing high school varsity sports.

quote:

How many times do you hear, I cannot believe little Johnny did not make the team or get a scholarship for college, he was an ALL-STAR all those years. He was on this travel team and that travel team, we spent all of this money.

All Stars (I presume you're talking about Little League or other all star teams) is a nice experience for a kid. Anyone who thinks making all stars means he's "on his way" is fooling only himself. Lots of all stars never even play for their HS teams.

You may as well say you're heading to the Olympics because you did well in your youth league swim meet.

Our local LL generates 24 (+ or -) all stars in its American and National divisions combined, for every age group every year. But ask yourself, how many seniors are on your HS team? How many juniors? How many sophs, varsity and JV combined? Progressing through the years, baseball is a funnel with a very wide mouth and a very narrow tip.

As for travel ball, "a fool and his money are soon parted." Many people see their sons with rose-colored glasses. They pay inordinate sums for lessons, uniforms, team fees and travel expenses. Or worse, they get steamed when their son is supposedly treated unfairly on his team, so they start their own teams just to show everyone just how good Little Johnny really is. We've all seen these teams -- like dysfunctional families, they play horribly, have almost no quality pitching, and are run by that perpetually angry dad who both plays his son prominently at all times and berates everyone within shouting distance, incessantly.

If you're deciding whether to shell out money for travel ball, first ask a few people whose opinion you value whether they think your son would profit from the experience. If you're not prepared to hear bad news, or if you're the type to develop grudges against anyone who says things you don't want to hear, you're digging your own grave. And if the only team interested in you is one of those "sour grapes" enterprises, either keep looking or just take a pass.

The reality is, the large majority of your varsity HS players played some respectable level of travel ball as they came up. Pretty much all of those who move on to college or pro ball did. That doesn't mean that playing travel ball guarantees you anything, any more than going to law school guarantees you'll get that high paying job at the big city firm. But one thing for sure, you won't get that job without the training to qualify for consideration.

HS baseball is played at a pretty fast pace these days. You need more to compete than just raw athleticism. You need repeated game experiences, so that you are ready to make the instantaneous decisions that are rife in any game, and then also to execute properly. Pitching is tougher now than ever, too. A kid is not going to hit against pitching that is commonly 85 mph and up if he isn't working against it regularly. This is why the multisport athlete is giving way to the one-sport, year round player, especially in a precision sport like baseball.

Whether you like this or not, it's silly not to recognize what the landscape is nowadays.

That's a spot-on post right there, Midlo.

And Perpetually Angry Dad would make a great HSBBW screen name.

rz1 and midlo those were outstanding posts.

quote:

When my son was eight I started hearing, "You won't have to pay for college."

You SHOULD have been laughing because they clearly don't understand how college baseball scholarships work!

quote:

Originally posted by Rob Kremer:

quote:

When my son was eight I started hearing, "You won't have to pay for college."

You SHOULD have been laughing because they clearly don't understand how college baseball scholarships work!

The comments were coming from every sport he played. But it was still foolish.

quote:

Originally posted by TRhit:
I doubt the kids of today would even know how to chose up sides

Of coarse not. They are taught that choosing up teams is wrong and not PC because the last kid picked gets his feelings hurt.

quote:

Originally posted by RJM:
I don't believe all-stars is the problem. I believe lack of perspective by parents is the problem.

AllStars have been around for 30 to 40 years. I doubt allstars in and of itself is the problem.

I remember many years ago when the coach told us as a team who made all-stars we would clap and applaud those chosen. Now as a coach I have to tell the parents of those chosen separate so as to not hurt anyone's feelings.

We have a big baseball following in the Charlotte, NC area. Rec ball leagues do very well in the spring with usually 8 - 10 teams of 15 or so kids in the younger age groups. As the kids get older there are a few less teams.

My son has been playing "travel" ball for 4 years. We started him so young because he showed an absolute love for the game at age 8. To this day at 13 baseball is his life.

Most of the kids on his team show the same love and respect for the game.

I have tried to teach my son and some of his teammates little bits of history. A trivia question here and there, or maybe when they talk of a great play Jeter made I'll talk about Ozzie Smith, when they bring up A-Rod or Hamilton I throw in Roger Maris or Duke Snyder. Most of the time the kids will go home and "google" those guys and they'll come back with stories about them.

Don't know if it matters, but maybe they appreciate the sport more because they are also learning a little bit of its history.

Just my thoughts,

CWM

quote:

Originally posted by cwm:
Most of the time the kids will go home and "google" those guys and they'll come back with stories about them.

I've had quite an opposite experience with my kid, who loves playing baseball today as much as when he was little. He never really cared about the heroes of the game, or any of the rich history. All he ever wanted to do was play. To him, it has always been about what it is like for him to play - who's on his team, who's his coach, who's playing what position and are they the right guy for that position. And yes, ever since he was in T-ball, the most important thing to him was whether his team was winning. Sorry, I just can't fix that.

I've introduced him to ex-Major Leaguers (through fortunate contacts), and to this day he can't tell you who they were. He lost the autographed baseball I got him. He'll watch a game on TV with interest, but only to see they plays - won't remember a thing about the score or who played.

I don't know if this means he's part of this disastrous "decline of baseball", but he's always been a fantastic player, and is having a great HS career. And still loves to play.

I doubt there's any one certain way to keep a kid from losing interest in baseball. Some will and some won't. If your son has been playing that long with enthusiasm.......that's awesome!

You mentioned the thing about winning. I don't think I have a "for sure" opinion on that. I've heard lots of parents and coaches say keeping score is bad, winners and losers are wrong. That's probably true for some. But I'm not sure it's right to "quench" the competitive fire that most boys seem to have from a very young age.

Billy Martin made a pretty good point about winning. Go to youtube and check out Billy Martin on winning.

CWM

quote:

I have tried to teach my son and some of his teammates little bits of history. A trivia question here and there ....

I gave take home trivia quizes in 9/10 rec and 9U and 10U travel. I told the kids it was OK to do the quizzes with their parents. I bought special baseball cards for the top three finishers. We did the answers as a group. We had great laughs from some of the answers. The board told me to stop or get a card for every kid. My favorite quiz response was to "Who's on first?" A few responded "yes." Most responded, "Greg plays first."

In 7/8 rec ball I gave away baseball cards after the games. One parent said his kid stuck out baseball for two years just because of the cards. When a kid could tell me something about the player on the card, he got that card. The board told me to hand them out randomly. It was unfair some kids knew more about the players.

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"Billy Martin made a pretty good point about winning. Go to youtube and check out Billy Martin on winning."

Billy Martin on winning.



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Can someone tell me why keeping score is bad?

Why are winners and losers wrong?

What the heck will these kids do when they get into the real world and are seeking a job--how will they react when they do not get the job they apply for?

I am with Billy Martin

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Good questions TR.

Some folks question the worth of keeping score...tallying up the results.

Some feel contests can be settled with a handshake...



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quote:

Originally posted by TRhit:
Can someone tell me why keeping score is bad?

Why are winners and losers wrong?

What the heck will these kids do when they get into the real world and are seeking a job--how will they react when they do not get the job they apply for?

I am with Billy Martin

For 7,8 and 9yr olds, I don't believe keeping score is important and it's little kids we are talking about, not the real world.

OK at age 10, sure let's start keeping score.

SANDLOT baseball needs to be the protocol for ages at least 8U ... 5 on 5 OR 6 on 6.

- Pitcher
- Catcher
- 1st Baseman
- SS
- Two Outfielders

We will force kids to run and everyone will basically be involved on EVERY play vs. 9 on 9.

I remember playing fast pitcher tennis ball with 2 on 2 OR 3 on 3 on a makeshift baseball field where certain areas were OUTS if you hit it there.

and pitching to lefty's from 3rd base.

From my perspective, baseball for 9U is WAY to serious!

See "20dad", you know what I am talking about. Kids need to get creative out there with the SANDLOT games for 9U or at least 8U. Just to much standing around where one kid will hardly ever get a baseball hit to him with 9 or 9 at those young ages vs. 4 on 4 or 5 on 5 where EVERYONE is involved on just about every play. How many times have your heard, well they stuck little Johnny out in the RF where the bad players go?

SANDLOT forces everyone to be somewhere on EVERY play.

Whatever happened to playing out in the street with a tennis ball, righties batting lefty and lefties batting righty?

We used to play for hours every day every summer, both during LL season and after. I don't see anyone doing that any more.

On rare occasion I'll see kids pitching each other BP up at the fields, kind of a home run derby gamem, but those who do that are few and far between.

The proliferation of TV channels, video games, the internet, etc., seems to have beaten all that out.

Also the era of moms who won't let you play in the street -- though in the moms' defense, people do tend to drive like maniacs pretty much all the time these days. And so often moms aren't around anyway, the kids are in day care instead of in their neighborhoods.

I think youth travel ball can be great. It can also be terrible. At its worst, it can be little more than keeping up with the Joneses, combined with playing dress-up so that we can take photos.

Johnny Bench once said you can play all the organized ball you want and take all the BP you want, but playing sandlot games got him more live AB's against pitchers than anything that any kid does these days. That from a guy who was ready to be an MLB star by age 19.

I love the organized baseball, but I have never understood the mindset that the informal stuff should be done away with and that organized teams should be the be all and end all.

quote:

Originally posted by Midlo Dad:
Whatever happened to playing out in the street with a tennis ball, righties batting lefty and lefties batting righty?

We used to play for hours every day every summer, both during LL season and after. I don't see anyone doing that any more.

On rare occasion I'll see kids pitching each other BP up at the fields, kind of a home run derby gamem, but those who do that are few and far between.

The proliferation of TV channels, video games, the internet, etc., seems to have beaten all that out.

Also the era of moms who won't let you play in the street -- though in the moms' defense, people do tend to drive like maniacs pretty much all the time these days. And so often moms aren't around anyway, the kids are in day care instead of in their neighborhoods.

I think youth travel ball can be great. It can also be terrible. At its worst, it can be little more than keeping up with the Joneses, combined with playing dress-up so that we can take photos.

Johnny Bench once said you can play all the organized ball you want and take all the BP you want, but playing sandlot games got him more live AB's against pitchers than anything that any kid does these days. That from a guy who was ready to be an MLB star by age 19.

I love the organized baseball, but I have never understood the mindset that the informal stuff should be done away with and that organized teams should be the be all and end all.

Amen!

It cracks me up little kids parents fear just changing bats will affect their mechanics. We used whatever bat was available that day. If it was too heavy, choke up and deal with it. We played whiffle ball. We would go through major league lineups with the hitter's stances and swings. Maybe kids mechanics get screwed up now is because they only thing they know is what a hitting instructor told them. They never experiemented.

We never hurt our arms. We threw all day. We pitched baseballs, whiffle balls tennis balls and Dixie cups filled with newspaper. We threw rocks. We had chestnut and acorn fights. Then there was winter and firing snow balls.

Cupball was played one on one in the driveway. The stuffed cups limited how far the ball could be hit and broken windows. We pitched to the squares on the garage door for a strike zone. We wound up fired those cups. We threw curves. You can snap off a heck of a curve with a cup. If the pitcher could hang a curve around the plate and hit the strike zone on the garage door, you better be swinging.

When we got older my father thought the reason the four of us who played rarely struck out in high school was we could get a piece of any pitch from playing cupball.

Does anyone know anyone from when we were kids who got sick drinking from a garden hose? Just check for worms getting flushed out first.

quote:

Johnny Bench once said you can play all the organized ball you want and take all the BP you want, but playing sandlot games got him more live AB's against pitchers than anything that any kid does these days.

We would often play four on four or five on five with the hitting team pitching to themselves. We got a lot of at bats. We had to hustle in the field. Now I see kids in organized ball since 8U who don't know to back up a base.

And it drives me nuts in preteen ball to see a pitcher used as a cutoff man because it makes sense on a small field with short fences and backstop, rather than teaching the fundamentally correct thing to do.

Coach Milburn

For kids 9U perhaps you don't need to keep score but you can rest assured that the kids will know the score and who won or lost

quote:

Originally posted by TRhit:
Coach Milburn

For kids 9U perhaps you don't need to keep score but you can rest assured that the kids will know the score and who won or lost

That is all fine and dandy if the kids want to keep scores to themselves but the ADULTS should care less about who wins and who loses BUT unfortunately, they do care, in some cases, it like life or death to them.

Keeping score. we have the discussion every year or so at our local little league board meetings. We always have someone that want to makes that the teams keep score at the younger levels 7-10

I undertand that the kids keep score and that is fine and I would be in favor of keeping score at any age except for one thing.

It leads to bad behavior.....not on the kids part but the parents and the coaches. We would have coaches that will not rotate kids in diffenet positions, not change up the batting order etc.

We start to keep score on the 11/12 year level. 9/10 we only keep score and the end of the season for the playoffs. We just randomly seed every team and do a playoff at the end of the season for the 9/10 age. Helps them get a little taste of what is to come in the next year.

Nothing wrong with keeping score---just the behavior of some of the adults.

Two parents working in the home in almost every home. When I was a kid most moms were home all day working in the home. The kids stayed at home with mom in the summer. So all the kids in the neighborhood played together. And baseball was a great way to pass the time. Now most every home both parents are working. Kids are told to stay inside until we get home. Crime and stories of crime have forced parents to be more careful. Kids stay inside and play games all day on the TV etc instead of going outside. Some areas are better than others. But all of them have changed.

Air conditioning. When I was younger no one in our neighborhood had central air. Some had a window unit or two. And some had window fans. But many times it was cooler outside than it was inside during the heat of the day. We had to be made to come inside. Now kids have to be made to go outside. And what were you going to do inside the house anyway. You had three channels if you were lucky. And there was nothing on tv to watch during the day anyway. Now kids have central air. Video games. Hundreds of channels to watch. Computers etc etc etc. Kids have been conditioned to the air conditioning and simply are a product of the times.

Neighborhoods have changed and the times have changed. We used to go outside when we got up and come inside when it got dark. We played Army , built forts , whiffle ball , tackle football , basketball , sandlot baseball , all kinds of games that we just made up. We got in fights then we made up. No one ever knew we got in a fight. We learned how to handle our differences. We learned how to do alot of things. Some not so good. lol. But it was all part of growing up. Now fighting means something totally different. Guns , stabbings , abductions , etc etc. Times have simply changed.

As we got older some had to work in the tobacco fields. Then we would play after work. Doing the same type of things. The best bat I ever used in whiffle ball was a tobacco stick. Now that was a blast.

As times changed so did baseball. When I first started playing youth baseball it was limited to a few games then all stars. Now its all year long with org practices many times a week. Then travel baseball for 8 year olds all the way up.

Alot of things have changed and some for the better and some for the worse. Basically kids sit in the AC all day , play video games etc and then when dad or mom gets home they are taken to their org baseball practice or game. Thats where we are today. In our desire to make things much better than we had it for our kids we have taken away many of the things we had that we now wish our kids could have experienced.

Now who wants to give up their AC? Give up the cable , etc. Give up the extras that two incomes affords?

I was at a scouting clinic a couple of monts ago and the lead speaker who is long time scout said "The worse thing that ever happened to baseball in America is air conditioning. Kids just dont play enough baseball anymore. And they play too much coached baseball." It kind of makes sense if you think about it.

When my kids were younger there is no way I was going to let them stay gone all day long playing games. I had to know where they were and who they were with. And I didnt trust that to anyone else. The neighborhood was nice but just a couple of blocks over it was not. We know way more now. We are not as innocent about things. We have heard too much , seen too much and we fear too much. But we have good reason. In this day and age I can not imagine being at work and letting my kids roam the neighborhood all day playing with other kids. Times are just different and for many reasons. It would be great if it was like it used to be but its not. At least not in my neck of the woods.

A/C for us growing up from 78-82 when I played 15U baseball ... find the biggest TREE that had SHADE.

We were always outside playing ball, my buddies mom would yell at us because we made holes in the yard for bases. So we had to move our field from time to time. Our HR marker was the black electric line running from telephone phone to telephone pole and there would always be a discussion if some balls were truly HR's or not, but we'd resolve it and continue playing SANDLOT ball at its best.

There you go! That's how we rolled and dealt with the heat back then.

BUT unfortunately, we have the new waive of coaches that believe they have reinvented the game and wanna get paid and make $$$$$$$$.

Com'on you new crusaders, it's only one way to play the game and that's the right way!

kids and a ball.........fun. one parent......orginization.

I agree coach. But no coach can fix the issues that have resulted in the changes in our society that have led to what I am talking about.