Moneyball Jr. ?

NYdad- Wow. I never knew about this. Alex Fernandez was a pitching great with the Marlins?

Here is complete honesty...

Very little to nothing your kid will do on the small youth field will matter when transferring to the high school/college field. If he's got a competitive nature and knows the game with proper offensive and defensive fundamentals, he will be fine... The few things that can be beneficial to a player that plays travel ball is getting the early experience of the routine of tournament play, or being coached early by a highly experienced coach that can instill confidence (MLB, NCAA experience only - sorry Dads, you may 'know' the game, but you don't know as much as these guys - PERIOD)... My son played on some of the highest ranked teams in the nation according to USSSA rankings and TravelBallSelect.com, it was a great, rewarding and FUN experience, but in retrospect totally unnecessary, and had very little influence in the player he is today. In the end, there is NO replacement for talent, size, strength, reps, determination, commitment and passion...

I remember playing teams from this area, and in this area, several times back in the day... These teams were the first I heard of flying people in for tournaments... One organization, Leon Medical Center (LMC) was infamous for their bringing in players from out of state or out of country... More than a few teams that play on the national-level are notorious for this... It's amazing what people will do...

Ah, pervision of the game at it's finest at the youth level.......

Yeah, I must have slept through that also.  He was an MLB-er for several years though, so I'll give him his due.

There are a lot of comments I could make about this article.  I've always tried to raise my son to be humble and respectful when it comes to baseball, and life.  He's all about the team and what he can do to help the team win.  It's never been all about him.  I imagine if I wanted to run around last year shouting from the rooftops saying my son did this and he's done that, he'd get some of the same offers, but for what purpose?  He's 13.  He's playing on a 14u team, not a 13u team, as I'm more concerned about his growth than who he could/could not beat up on.  His team will play some very good 14u, and one 15u, tournaments this year.  To me it's all about what he will learn over the next couple of years that will help him the most.  

Last summer and fall my son had additional opportunities to play for other teams.  I decided that he was better off playing some 14u/15u games with the HS 2016's and 2015's on their team, which was coached by the HS jv and freshman coaches.  That's where he's going next school year and those are some of the kids he'll be playing with.

I happen to know of, not well as I prefer to keep him at a distance, one of the fathers in this article.  I also know of his son, as my son's team played them twice last year.  I'm not going to comment about what I think of this dad/coach, other than to say I avoid him and his team at all costs.  And just out of curiosity, does a 6'3" 12u player have anything to gain by playing 50/70 or 46/60 baseball anymore?  Or is this more about "Look at ME.  Look at how great MY kid is."

I'm just sayin'...

And just for the sake of "complete disclosure", my son's team was 1-1 against the dad/coaches team (a NY team) mentioned in the article.  Both close games.  No hard feelings on my part about the games or the results.  Just about the way the coaches do things.

Yep, He was also really good for The White Sox, and before that University of Miami...

But...

His Baseball Store in Miami is REALLY unbelievable!!!

It literally has EVERYTHING... Never been a better pro-line shop in my life!

Excellent article. Thanks for sharing.

My thoughts, clearly, are that this article features the (really) extreme end of travel baseball. And it seems pretty ridiculous.

My son started playing travel ball at 11u, the MAIN reason so was he could play baseball with and against a much higher/consistent level of quality that our local LL could provide. He's still playing 3 years later, but always local teams and total cost for participation, uniforms, and tournaments (and related costs) has never topped $600 or so per season.

Bolts - we've discussed this article elsewhere, but I wanted to add...

How does Fernandez come off as a good guy in this?  He is just as bad as any of these coaches.

Perhaps the reporter should have done a little investigation into the sudden emergence of a certain school as a baseball powerhouse once a certain former major league pitcher became "involved" with the program.

I never really thought about building a shrine (10 x 10 foot room to house the trophies) for my 4'11", 90-lb 11 year old prospect.  Shame on me. 

Bum, Jr. delved into this world (USSSA) at age 13 and one year played 140 games in seven different states.  Thank God for him he was a sub who only occasionally pitched and by the next year I pulled him from the USSSA. I've seen this world and on Bum, Jr's super-travel-USSSA team (once ranked 6th nationally) only Bum, Jr. and one other player (the coach's son) rose to the professional ranks. 

Tournaments and slick uniforms don't make players.  Hustle, hardwork, and confidence combined with TALENT do.

140 games at 13? Whoa!! OK. that's a lot, Bum. Clearly, you yank him!

I struggle with this one a bit though, because my son played travel ball from 8 on up, and loved it! Never THAT many games, but Cooperstown, Colorodo, Florida and points in between over several years. Great familiy time, and top-ranked teams all the way. I know now it wasn't meaningful long-term ... so off he's moved to PG events (which I think is the natural progression these days, for these boys) ... but truly, it's been a joyful time for the family. And that incldues "baseball sister!"

Never did the fly-in crap, but he and his is teammates beat those teams almost every time  In youth baseball, chemistry matters!

jp24, I had moved Bum, Jr. from Washington to Las Vegas for about a year.  It was during that time he played on two select teams (in Las Vegas).  That was my first experience with the USSSA.  When Bum, Jr. went back to Washington he was clearly a better player, dominating in fact.  I have mixed emotions about this.  I think the select "experience" helped him but in the long run it could have destroyed him.

Back in Washington, Bum, Jr. replaced 140 games with about 90-100 per year.  He focused on pitching and worked with a solid D1 pitching coach and focused on physical training, mechanical training, and long toss.  Then at 17 he was the ace pitcher on the one of the best travel teams in Washington.

Here's the key:  He wanted it.  Every day I would ask him if he loved the game and he would respond he did, and not robotically.  He fell in love with the game and I never had to push him.  He's 23 now and still loves the game.

Some South Florida parents say they are disconcerted by travel ball's excesses — the expense, year-round commitment and obsession with winning — yet believe there is no real alternative if their children intend to play baseball in high school and beyond.

This is what I find distressing from the article.  There are parents out there that are told that if they don't put their kids in these programs, if they don't shell out multiple thousands of dollars then their son won't play HS or College ball.  While there are positives to playing travel ball for sure this pervasive idea that if your kid isn't flying around the country playing 100 games a year then you won't amount to anything.

I personally just don't see how it is worth it.  I suppose there are some kids that love this and if you have the means, go for it but every time I hear about a 'stud' 12U supposed prospect I cringe.  I mean, flying around the country, putting a ridiculous amount of pressure on a young man to perform in what is really just a kids game seems almost cruel.  I seriously wonder how many of these kids, at 18, end up hating the game that they loved at 11?

My sons team played in this tournament in Miami, we were eliminated by Team MVP acually. This story barely scratches the surface of what goes on at this level now a days, it is crazy. We do not pay anybody and everyone pays to be on the team  and actually all except for 1 player come from the same general area but have played these teams a few times over the years and have held our own. The 6'3 kid mentioned is a good pitcher but not as dominate as it makes it seem. Some of these kids are the size of grown men already on these teams, we will see what happens to them when everyone hits there growth spurts and the size game levels out.

The championship game of the 12u tournament went 11 innings and mvp beat banditos 1-0. Here is the link on youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FnmjPahDOxg

Imagine if the MLB :

1) Had no salary cap.

2) Had no draft.

3) Players could play for whoever they wanted, whenever they wanted.

4) Coaches could leave a team at any point and take their players with them.

5) The regular season didn't matter - everybody got into the playoffs - which were single elimination.

That's travel ball for you.

After one 14u game in the fall, we watched the opposing catcher get in his car, alone, and drive off.  Some teams in the metro NY area are very well known for these kinds of stunts.  I imagine they feel better about themselves when they win.  Unfortunately, for the catcher's team, that didn't happen.

Same in our case.  It's funny, but when our team and one of "those" teams attended a tournament last year that demanded original birth certificates, they were suddenly missing half of their roster.  For some reason they didn't do as well as they normally do.  

They are everwhere.  I remember when my son was 13 and playing in a 14U tourney that there was a team made up on 'kids' that were all at least 6'1 and at least 175lbs each.  Select team out of Seattle.  One kid had mutton chops for crying out loud.  I walked up and loudly asked, 'What college to these kids play for?'  I half a dozen dads looked angrily at me but it was pretty obvious these kids were not some average 14U team, even a travel one.

I guess if beating up on 7th and 8th graders gets makes these kids proud oh well.  Still sad.

One more personal note.  Sorry, but this topic gnaws at me a little.

My son is at a tournament, in July I believe, for his travel team.  The coach from a pretty high profile 12u team in Mass (who is also at the tournament), tried to recruit my son for the Cooperstown Dreams Park tournament week they were attending.  Thing is, my son had already given his commitment to attend that tournament, during the same week, with another team.  Not nearly as high a profile.  My son knew of the high profile team and he knew he'd likely be turning down a shot at the finals that week.  They had been in at least the final 8, and won it a couple of times, in previous years.

To my son's credit, and no one guided him on this, he respectfully declined as he had given his word.

There were others, on his travel team, that would have abandoned ship and took the offer.  Their dads said as much.

Come to think of it, maybe I am doing a pretty good job raising that kid!  

That's correct.  During the week my son went there were 104 teams.  The fences are ridiculously short, but that's why they sell all of those "I hit a homerun in Cooperstown" shirts.    I guess someone has to make a little money.

His team made it to the last day, but lost in the sweet 16.  The place is pretty cool for a 12 year old though.  They had a blast.

That's the thing that gets me.  There are no rules.  Its the wild, wild, west.  You couldn't do it in HS, College, or MLB.  But with 12 YO kids, it is alright. 

You're right...i made the choice for my oldest...he didn't play a lot of travel ball...one season as a 12 yr old, didn't like what I saw, then just a few tourny's here and there for different teams but never for a season again until after his sophomore year....and I think he'll be just fine...so, believe it or not he has prsospered in HS ball without all that travel ball.....LOL, and my bank account is happy about that