Is travel baseball as we "used" to know it dead in Maryland?

I worry about the same things you do Larry.

I don't believe this is just a Maryland problem.

With all due respect, I don't want to think of this as a problem. I'd like to know why this is happening?

One of my major concerns is the number of high school kids who are suckered into thinking they are going to be able to move on to play college baseball. I hope someone doesn't start citing number of colleges/universities, roster sizes, blah, blah, blah.

I worry too many players and coaches are throwing away the great years you can have as 16, 17 and 18 year olds building commoraderie with a group of guys over the course of a summer trying to win a league championship. All for the sake of being seen by a college scout or coach.

It just makes me sad.

Larry - I would have to agree with you. As a fellow "old school" guy, I believe these showcase teams can help players, but mainly in the fall season. While they do get players in front of some scouts eyes, they do not instill the daily work ethic it takes to have longevity in the sport. Players need to develop their skills in the spring and the summer. Teams that practice the repetitions that a player must have allow players to develop more. Seeing a player once or twice a week allows for little time for character development and instilling good practice habits. While every great player needs to be self-motivated, it is our job as coaches to help our players see value in work and make sure they are practicing the techniques they need to improve on. Showcase teams show players - I do not believe they develop players. Having helped develop players as a HS coach, I have seen the importance of overseeing workouts and practices. Having coached at the D1 level, I have learned that a HS or travel coach is a better source of information about a kid's work ethic and character than a showcase coach who sees a kid once or twice a week. Travel teams may be dying, but I believe it will be detrimental in the long run for the next generation of players. In my opinion, showcase teams are better in the fall - spring and summer are better for player development. - Just a thought.

Problem?....ok, maybe not the right word.

But, there seem to be more and more of showcase, tournament only, travel far - kinds of teams. At the same time, there seem to be less and less of coaches and teams that really work and develop players. Teams that really hold an actual practice - where players learn new skills and get a chance to work on those skills. More and more players are left to develop their skills working with an individual instructor (at add'l costs, by the way).

I know I sound 'old school' but didn't a player's coach used to be his 'instructor'?

Starts younger and younger.

What once was rec/intramural evolved to community travel teams with three ages wrapped into one (i.e.13-15) wirh a limited number of teams in those elite travel leagues. The young ones learned from the older ones and often sat while they learned and became the stars as they developed.

This was a critical component to travel ball at the time. Could a player weather the storm of learning and growing while playing against better, older players?

Community travel teams popped up with 9-10, 11-12, 13-14 dual age leagues and produced good local rivalries that flourished for a time (most often sponsored by the rec councils) ultimately feeding into legion ball as the top of the food chain...again with multiple age groups, together.
Good local tournaments, community-based, and pretty good baseball.

The biggest change came with the advent of single age group leagues, which allow a kid to be a big fish ALL OF THE TIME. It actually fueled participation in travel baseball and arguably kept more kids playing longer instead of giving up the game at 12, 13 years old.

Age specific travel is primarily sponsored outside of the local rec programs and also begins at very tender ages--independendents playing in the Baltimore Metro and the like with leagues for 9's,10's, 11's, etc...and daddy ball becoming the "law of the land", starting new teams where junior can be the feature player, etc, etc... Now there are tons of age specific travel teams starting as young as 8 years old!

And coming full cycle...the whole travel thing is not much different than having motivated rec players because of the numbers of teams and the single age bracket is severely diluting the experience.

Naturally, there are kids who are the best in these watered down travel only, single age group leagues who are seeking (through motivated coaches and parents) higher ground.

And "showcase" baseball is born....probably here to stay, too because there is a profit motive that fuels this very expensive choice and before you know it, you are budgeting the baseball season the same way you do the mortgage payments.

We did it all and it worked out...all the perks -national and regional summer championships, high school accolades and awards, D1 southern college player today -- but it was through a thin gateway that this all happened. A lot of luck and a lot of money (and that was WITH great and generous team sponsorship and a ton of acquired knowledge along the way.) Thank God we have just one son!

Absolutely that fall showcase is the best and certainly most productive of the showcase models. Keep your son's love of the game alive and that will help him go as far as his talent will take him. Really, that's all you can expect, so find the right model for energizing his passion and follow that path...

Good thread and good posts here. Some observations.

The market for personal instruction has been greatly enhanced by the very nature of the showcase and wide-area travel teams. Classic +/-. Given a good instructor, the one-on-one instruction certainly produces a mechanically sound player. However, without the daily grind of games and practices, getting the on-field reps and feel is being lost, as well as just learning the nuances of the game and learning how to overcome failure and how to win.

There are some quality organizations around that build very good travel teams from the younger ages and develop mostly players from their area. Once these teams hit the teen age groups, it is pretty hard to hold a team together at a high level for several reasons. Seems that more players are attending the private high schools. Most of the better teams have 2 or 3 kids that attend a private school. Once a player enters a private school, the coach can have control of that player's baseball activity, including summer and fall, for the next 4 years. This tends to start the falling off/falling apart process. Then, often times the better players that are left look for what they percieve to be a better team because they feel the team is not as good anymore.

Metro, Montgomery, and other strong leagues have become watered down (because of tournament and showcase teams)at the high school age groups, so players seek out better competition (on tournament and showcase teams). It has become a vicious cycle.

Too many parents think their player is a D1 prospect so they got to get out there, get to as many showcases as possible, got to get seen. Yet they end up on a minor showcase teams spending a fortune being seen by people that they have no chance of playing for. Don't get me wrong, their is something to be said for the showcases for sure, particularly the fall. But objectively determining a player's talent level, and then finding the right fit on a team that will get you seen by the right people for that talent level is the key.

For better or worse, the tournament and showcase teams fill the void, or the supposed void, for a lot of people.

Keep in mind that many "Showcase Teams" play in events during the summer that are a week in duration and most others are in prolonged weekend events--are you people saying you want the kids playing every day of the week during the summer

I also disagree on the instruction aspect--most good "showcase teams" have more than ample imstruction and keep in mind that the HS junior and senior players on "showcase teams" are very solid players and the instruction they need is more in fine tuning of their game than anything else. On their off days most of them are in a cage somewhere on their own hitting and the pitchers have a regular regimen they follow in terms of bullpens so as to be ready for the upcoming weekend tournament.

I do not know about other programs but with us we find a facility in the area of our tournaments so that we can work out during downtime or rain days.

My own feeling is that Legion got hurt and weakened themselves when they went to 19 year olds , not because of other programs


Just my two cents

TR -
I wish I saw more of what you are saying:
"most good "showcase teams" have more than ample imstruction and keep in mind that the HS junior and senior players on "showcase teams" are very solid players and the instruction they need is more in fine tuning of their game than anything else"

Just seems there are more and more teams that are really just groups of players who show up for a tournament or a showcase....or, teams that constantly play games with the idea that playing more and more games is the answer.

I just see less and less time spent on team practices and instruction/development. Your point on kids not throwing enough is true - and, I think comes out of this concept.

And maybe it is simply because there are too many teams, I don't know.

I think there have been a lot of good points made here. I think that things have changed tremendously in the last 10 years when it comes to summer baseball. In our program we try to find the right balance of offering kids college exposure as well as great instruction. That is why we play in showcase tournaments on the weekend, yet we practice twice a week as well. We are able to use our indoor facility for all of our hitting where a player to coach ratio is 3 to 1. Then we practice outside where our pitchers throw their pens and work with our pitching coach, while our other positions are broken down individually for their defensive work. On average we have 4 to 5 coaches with college or professional playing experience working with our players.

I do think that there is a huge misconception with showcase teams that they are only good for players who are D1 calibur or that the showcase teams sell themselves as the only route for parents to get their son to the D1 level even though he is not a D1 player. Our program really tries to help the kids who are D2 or D3 level players who have extremely limited options here in the state of MD. Over the past 3 years we have sent over 70 kids on to play in college and less than 20% of those have been D1 players. If you play only in the Maryland summer leagues, you are really going to have a tough time being seen by schools in PA, VA, NC, and WV.

The summer should be a time when kids are not only playing a highly competetive level to get ready for high school next year, but also a chance for them to learn and improve on their weaknesses as well as be seen by as many colleges as possible if playing college baseball is their goal. If a legion, metro, showcase, or any other team can provide those 3 things for a high school player, then I think its a great fit for that player.

...and there are rare instances where a player headed for relative obscurity is noticed and featured when somebody sees him.

Kevin Jacob was headed for another year of local American Legion ball for the summer of '06 when he was invited to play with a team that had been dominant for several years in the metro and was going to spend a summer on the showcase circuit, instead of another Baltimore Metro season.

Kevin was properly promoted, demonstrated his ability and raw skills at a tournament in Atlanta and Georgia Tech stepped up to sign him. He is one of the best pro prospects on the mound who is draft eligible this June and may be a first round pick, earning life-changing bonus money.

baseballguy

Do not get me wrong--- with the schedule and the location of our kids we do not practice (per se) in between events but on the days of the events we spend a lot of time in the cages as well as working with our pitchers---I do not believe that Legion practices much more than we do because with all their rainouts they have games backed up all the time

I'm sure there are many showcase teams that do all the right things in terms of getting exposure, some coaching/instruction, etc. TR - I've read enough of your posts to know that you and your staff are genuinely concerned about the development of the player to hsi fullest potential. Unfortunately, I think there are many 'teams' that are just showing up...playing....and then moving on to play another game, tournament or whatever next weekend. The kids never really ever work on 'developing their craft'.

And, yes, I do agree that kids don't throw enough these days. Nor run enough ... pitchers are the exception here. Position players barely jog in the outfield....and when they throw, how much is beneficial long toss vs. throwing 90' or less to warm up?

When was the last time many of the showcase teams did any PFP? I better stop....I'm hearing myself sound so old school!

baseballguy

Not too many are more old school than I !!!!

When I get like this...baseballson's eyes glaze over and he goes to sleep. With eyes wide open.

Now this is a great forum....no slights or slams, just good people exchanging good information and ideas. Allow me to get real old school....kids don't play enough sand-lot ball. As most of you remember when we played sand-lot ball we had to figure things out for ourselves, not rely on some one to tell us what to do. One of the things it promoted was PRACTICE, and we loved it....we had to figure out cut-stations, when to steal, when to bunt and when to swing away, in other words, we had to become Students of the game. I don't believe you can lay this off on coaching, or whether or not your son plays rec, or travel.In my opinion our kids are sometimes too afraid to make mistakes, they are afraid of letting us down. One thing I am certain of in baseball, is you can not be afraid of failure ...it's part of the game. One thing as a coach, or a scout, that really stands out today is, when you see a good player, with INSTINCTS. As coaches you already know if we have to tell you what to do....it's probably already too late. maybe we should promte a Sand-lot league....Larry Williams

Interesting to hear someone talk about baseball instincts.....especially a scout. Seems like most times all you hear about is velocity or 60 times.

Instincts.....as a coach, how do you go about teaching these or instilling them in players?

My concerns are not with the rising Jr's rising Sr's who have shown that they are advanced at the game and are ready to be "showcased" to college coaches. My concerns are with these rising freshman Sophs who have not played a game of varsity baseball and are traveling across the country playing in tourneys every weekend. Some playing on teams that never practice , work out , or teach the game. Just roll out the bats and balls and play ball.

I think for many they think if they get out there early they will get a jump on the rest. The fact is they are falling behind the ones that are working to get better and actually learning the game. But that might not be the case in every situation on every team. Its just a concern I have for the younger players. I always thought showcase was for players that had proven they were ready to be showcased.

Good discussion.

Rising seniors and quality juniors showcasing in showcase events, I think makes sense.

It just seems that more and more, players - of all abilities - are playing on teams that simply are brought together to play in 'showcase-type' tournaments. Or, with more and more Fall showcase teams playing weekend tournaments at colleges....inevitably, this concept will (already is) creep into the summer season. You know the type of tournament I'm talking....every Thurs night, players heading off so they are ready to play on Friday in some far-flung tournament. Returning on Sunday (sometimes Monday). There's no practicing or working on skill developments. More and more, it's all about game competition. Where the money comes from to fund all of this is another whole topic.

The issue of instincts and the assessment of players' instincts is a very interesting topic. Again, I say that there is way to much importance placed upon pitching velocity in 60 times. A high school coach once commented to me that if you took the radar guns and stopwatches away from most of the college recruiters, the wouldn't be able to do their job. I tend to agree. Sorry to wander a bit.

I just think that players play to many games and do not have nearly enough practices. Today's 'travel' teams almost don't allow time for practices. They are too busy playing in games or heading to the next big tournament.