It's After Sept. 1st...

OHBaseball24,
Your son should feel honored . . . . I would frame it and put it on the wall. It is simply a marketing strategy that this coach is using that sets this coach and this university apart from the rest. But it is much more than that too. A baseball person understands why this coach did this. Let me explain my thoughts. Baseball is not measured in innings or outs. It’s measured in emotions and last a lifetime. Baseball people are different. Baseball people appreciate the small things that surround the game. Listen as they describe a walk-off home run or the strikeout that preserves the perfect game. Listen as baseball people describe the sound made by a wood bat hitting a baseball. Most describe it as something special. . . . Ever smell a hotdog? I’ll bet there are many baseball people that could write a paragraph or two on how a hot dog smells. . . . the same goes for a leather glove and fresh cut grass. . . and why do “we” know a bench clearing brawl is going to happen before it does. So, why would he select your son to read this? Because he thinks your son is a baseball person.
Congratulations,
Fungo
PS. I have something very similar to this on my wall that a baseball coach gave my son. It reads:
Every child in America dreams of becoming someone famous or just doing that special something that sets you apart from the rest of the world. It is impossible not to dream. Every time we go to sleep at night or just daydream in class, we enter another world where no goal or achievement is impossible. Most of us wake up, but a select few dream on until one day they realize their dream has come true.

It should be inspirational to your son and is a sign that your son has a future in baseball. Keep up the good work!

Sounds like LSU!

When the first e-mail arrived on 9/1 my son was besides himself. He was yelling for his mother to come see, quick. She had no idea what he wanted and was thrilled when she found out. I was at a little league meeting and was left with the feeling that I missed him taking his first steps....again.

Coach M,

That is great news! May there be many more emails, letters and phone calls in the coming months.

Regards

Ohbaseball

congratulations to you and your family. You are beginning just one of the neatest parts of his baseball career, mail call.

Every day is like Christmas as the mail box is filled with the weekly updates on fall workouts, spring trips and conference weekend battles. Your son will beat you to the mailbox, scattering around your house utility bills, dividend checks, and other unimportant correspondence while neatly stacking the university baseball media guides and coaches letters for your later inspection.

Enjoy this time and make the most of mail call knowing that while it may lead to phone calls from the source down the road, sometimes it does not. That said it's far better and alot more fun than not getting the mail.

I was so sure from the volume of all sorts of correspondence from one school that my son would undoubetdly attend, I put the schools license plate on his first car.

Your sons biggest and ultimately best,surprise may come next summer or fall, from someone who had yet to mail you anything.

Still, mail call rules!

We received that poem from ASU, Sundevils. It is framed and hangs in my son's room to this day.
Best of luck, it will be an exciting year, keep all in perspective, most of it is mass mailings but nonethless, not all receive. After you fill out the questonaires, they seem to get a little more personal.

06RHP86,

Don't worry too much about it. I never received anything before the spring of my junior year. Sometimes the team you will end up playing for won't even talk to you until your a senior. Good Luck.

Ohbaseball24 -

Whoopee, it's starting! You will find that your mail gets a lot more interesting from now on and can be the highlight of you & your son's day. Yes, of course we've talked on the board about how letters don't tell the real story come July 1st ....... but it sure is fun, so enjoy!

I also have an '06 son. One question I have is what should we expect in terms of the 'change' in the type of letters. My son has received a lot of letters over the past 18 months ... the usual questionaires, camp info, info on the program allowed under NCAA. All of which we have responded to. After 9/1, do the letters get much more direct? We have received a few this month that were more of the "we are watching your career with great interest" and "building a file on your progress" ... plus more questionaires.

What are your folks experience in what changes in the tone of these mail items?

Thx

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pbonesteele -
I said in another thread, its really a mixed bag regarding letters and it depends on the college and how big or aggressive their recruiting staffs are. Some colleges may start to personalize their letters, but many will not and continue to send very generic stuff, bordering on spam .... but fun spam! I mean, sending out tons of stuff on hitting to a pitcher-only (though not by choice) recruit tells you it's not personal! Or sending duplicate profiles, the worst case was 4 sent by the same school just weeks apart.

Whatever type of letters you receive, you will never know until you actually talk with the coaches, and receive an offer, what their level of interest really is! So, let your son enjoy the mail, celebrate the recognition, but don't bet the farm on any letter!

Thank you for all the great responses. I hope our journey is long and fulfilling....and that everyone else has a great journey also.

fungo....I enjoyed your post...I have always been a baseball person, ever since I can remember. I'm still waiting for the Orioles to call me up from my keyboard to be the first woman professional baseball player...I'm just not going to tell them that I messed up my rotator cuff a few years ago so my throws across the diamond from short aren't quite what they used to be...

And alas....there were no letters in the mailbox today from any college or university....I wouldn't let the fellas set up the tent at the end of the driveway to wait for the mailman tomorrow....there's a tournament to be played this weekend, and the mailman has Monday off. We may need drugs if the phone doesn't ring next July 1st....LOL...

I noticed most of the people posting about letters are from California...I have an 06 player in NC and we have not recieved anything yet,are some areas more pro-active then others. I feel like he has the potential to go to the next level........I would have been better off not knowing about Sept.1st......I'm sure it is a great motivator for your kids...good luck to everyone thats recieved something.

LeftyFord,
You live in a great area for baseball, very competitive throughout the southeast and carolina area. It is quite early for an 06 to receive anything. And unless your son gets exposure, you may never receive anything. Try to take advantage of all that is available in your area, tournaments, showcases, camps, especially during senior summer.
Most of the juniors receiving letters have been noticed because they probably have had some exposure outside of HS. They have along way to go to get to where they may want to. It is exciting, but just remember, hundreds of letters are sent each year, only a few get the call. Don't let the posts cause any anxiety for you. Try to become a little more proactive and if your son is good, you will see results.

Don't even stress about no letters yet as of Sept 1st. If you start stressing over each of these upcoming dates you will drive yourself crazy. I have an 05 and we are in the process right now. And believe me it is a "Process". One piece of advise I can give, is don't let the grades slip in your junior year! It will be your most important year, both academically as well as athletically. Also get those SATS taken. If you are a propect ,these are some of the first questions you will get from a coach. He needs to know he can get you through admissions. You may be at the same skill level as another possible recruit, however if the next guy has better or good grades they will probalbly take the kid with the better grades, knowing there won't be any eligability issues in the future. When my son started to recieve mail, we were very excited and I put them all together in a large frame in his room and I think it served as a big motavater, everytime he would see them there,it reminded him that in order to succeed he needed to focus everyday on baseball and grades!! He has continued to do this and has had lots of interest, (calls) since July 1st. What I'm trying to stress is don't get too caught up in some of these dates, if you have the talent and you have done all of your homework, (recruiting timeline) and follow up on any and all corrispondance, it will start happening, if your son see's you are stressing out about it , he will too. Have fun and just be alittle patient.

Hi Imalefty! Your son pitched well today! We had a great time this weekend, it was a lot of fun. That's great advice you gave about the recruiting process, we're taking it all with a grain of salt and no great expectations at the moment. I have to admit that the letters are a great motivator. See you next weekend....

Mom of that other lefty....

P.S. If I have the wrong guy, then I'm sorry!

And a follow up on the poem we received last week....A letter from the head coach arrived on Saturday, so Dad and son are feeling pretty good about that right now. Don't worry...Mom isn't wearing the rose colored glasses....mine are just light pink...

It's such a small world!! We'll see you next weekend, and believe me E.F will be just fine! He did great! It was a great weekend with a great group of boys. My screen name should actually be imaleftys--mom

Congratulations on the letters! It's a very exciting time. My son wouldn't let us check the mail this past year. He was always excited and honored to get letters.
After all his hard work and love of the game he can see his dreams within reach.
He has and continues to meet some outstanding people throughout this process.
It's funny but some of his visits are at schools that saw him in August and didn't even know about him last September.
Enjoy the ride, it's very exciting. And a lot of fun when your wearing rose colored glasses!

quote:

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Originally posted by imalefty:
It's such a small world!! We'll see you next weekend, and believe me E.F will be just fine! He did great! It was a great weekend with a great group of boys. My screen name should actually be imaleftys--mom

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LOL...Us mom's must spend a lot of time on the hsbaseball web! It was nice meeting you, and very nice to see so many of your friends and family out supporting the team. My husband said "The Replacements" did very well for a last minute team.