Mr Game Changer Dad

Kid guest played this past weekend.

Sat in stands watching a semi-final 14u game yesterday.  Parents of the  team playing were obnoxious even though they were up by 6/7.  Constantly yelling at umps, trying to aggravate the other team, being sarcastic, etc.  They won big.

Guest team played next and lost.  Got home after dinner and looked at game changer (wink wink).  Game was still in the top of 4, score was 4/3.  Score hadn't changed when I got to work today.  Got text from another one of our parents,  obnoxious parent's team had to forfeit as multiple parents got on umps, got ejected, and would not leave stadium. 

Forfeit.  Game over, enjoy your 4 hour ride home on FATHER'S DAY.   SMH.  

Don't understand how parents just can't watch their kids and enjoy the game. 

Other than talking with other parents, I said 0 words to anyone on field (cheering or otherwise) in 4 days.  Talked to kid on the way home and his quote was "I wish MY team was here, so we could have played them and sent them home with a run rule". 

3and2, if you haven't had the chance to read thru this golden thread, make sure you do... covers every type of mom/dad in the stands and vicinity quite well...  

https://community.hsbaseballwe...ool-baseball-watcher

You're gonna need a chunk of time.  Best part is we've all been "that dad" of one sort or another so we get to laugh at ourselves as well.

Thats funny!  Flip side of this is "Mr. Question Game Changer Dad on Every Stat related to my kid Dad".  As backup Mr. Game Changer Dad, I would deffer to the primary Mr. Game Changer Dad on questionable calls when I was scoring or if it involved my kid.  The funny part is when you get a ground ball that goes through the kids legs and you give the kid an error and the dad tells you, but he didn't touch it    As cabbage said, we have all been there in some form or fashion...

Here's a switch (maybe).  I'm gamechanger dad for my kids' teams. Have been for years.  Very careful to consult with others on doubtful plays.  Looking for consensus, not perfection.  Anyway, didn't give a kid a hit on something.  A friend of that kid's dad pointed it out to the dad.  The dad calls me that night and tells me he didn't see the play but this friend told him it was a hit (routine ground ball two steps to the left of the third baseman, who makes a half-hearted effort to wave at the ball. rolls under the guy's mitt)  Any earnest attempt at all would have knocked the ball down.  I consult several other people who saw the play and most, not all, call it an error.  So I leave it an error.  Then summer season rolls around and this dad of the kid whose at-bat I scored as an error, is now an assistant coach for the summer and tells me I've been replaced at Gamechanger by someone who's never done it before.

Fired from Gamechanging. No severance pay.

Hahaha... Smoke.  Probably no reference letter for you either.  

We've been lucky the last few years.  A couple guys willing to do it for our HS and similarly, if there is a questionable call with their kid, I'll usually get a call later asking for proper ruling.

The old saying applies about Gamechanging...the first one to complain can take over!!  I am nothing but thankful for our gamechanger dad it's awesome to see the live score when I can't make the games.  Grateful that someone is doing it.

Thanks for the laugh, I love poking fun at the stereotypical sports parents. 

Smoke, that is so pathetic and funny all at the same time. 

Our Mr. Gamechanger Dad is a great guy, and I'm thankful that he is on it. It takes a lot of your attention away from the actual game itself...scoring during a game sucks when you are coaching. I know some guys do it and don't seem to mind, but not me.

    Our coaches look over the stats in between games, and change anything that needs changing. Gamechanger is a great tool if used correctly.

These stories bring back so many memories. It is amazing what can cause issues when you look back on it. Just this morning I stopped by the local convenience store to get a cup of coffee. I man walks up and says hello. He then begins to tell me how he still feels his son got a raw deal his Junior year when I started a Soph ahead of him. This was almost 15 years ago. It's not like we haven't had this conversation several times before. The kid? We have a great relationship and he comes by my house from time to time just to shoot the breeze. He also stopped by practice a few times this past year to hang out. 

I would tell anyone that will listen don't let these issues linger. Don't lose friends over this stuff. If you can they probably weren't a true friend anyway. I have seen so many people end up hating the baseball experience and most importantly causing their kids to hate it as well. I don't know what it is but some people freaking lose their minds over this stuff. "When my kid hits one too hot to handle it's scored an error. When his kid hits one its always scored a hit!" "They cook the books to justify their kids playing time!" On and on it goes. People who are friends end up hating each other. 

I found myself moving farther and farther away from the dugout and stands the longer my son played. I coached him in HS. I told him this. "You better be so much better than your competition that it's not even close. It better be obvious to a blind man. Because if it's not your not going to play. No one is ever going to be able to say you play because your my son. If they do it's going to be obvious that its a lie." I meant that with all my heart. He knew I meant it. I never spoke to my son during games. I had the other coaches coach him during games. I never cheered when he hit a home run. I never said a word until we got home if I felt I needed to say something. I guess I took it the total other direction. Is that fair? Probably not. I cut my oldest son his Soph year. He didn't work as hard as I thought he should and he wasn't good enough in my opinion. Caused some issues with the wife but it sure proved point to everyone in that program. He did play his Sr year seeing only a handful of AB's. But the truth was that was fair. 

When my son moved on to playing in college I moved even farther from the crowd. When people approached me I was always cordial. But I kept it limited to everything but baseball. I wasn't going to get caught up in that stuff and ruin the opportunity to just watch baseball. My son's college coach pulled me aside my son's Sr year and said "I hope one day when my kids are playing I can be the baseball Dad you are. I just wish I had more parents like you and your wife. Thank you!" He later hired my son as a Coach right out of college. It started his career and I will forever be thankful to him. 

I can tell you that you matter. You will matter in the recruiting process. You will matter in ways you have no way of knowing. If you need to move down the line move down the line. The fact is the guys that can play don't need you to do anything anyway. Good luck in all of this. It can be a very treacherous journey. Avoid the mine fields at all cost. It's not worth it. 

Coach May: Awesome perspective and advice! Thanks for posting!

I was Mr. Gamechanger guy.  Not really my choice.  When my son started on what became his main travel team at age 11 I was "drug" into the dugout at his first game.  At the time they were still using a scorebook and Gamechanger had just come out.  I was one of the few parents who knew how to score a baseball game.  I started off using the scorebook but by the end of the season I switched up to Gamechanger.  A few games after starting Gamechanger I had a parent start taking issue with some of the scoring decisions I made because "its affecting his kid mentally".   After games he was emailing me asking to change scoring decisions in his sons favor.  Luckily, at that time, most folks were not using Gamechanger to broadcast games but rather as a replacement for the traditional score book.  After about 3 games of this I locked the parents out from seeing the stats.  At the time they were not used to seeing these as most games were still scored by hand so it was not a big deal.  I don't think I could get away with that today.

joes87 posted:

...  A few games after starting Gamechanger I had a parent start taking issue with some of the scoring decisions I made because "its affecting his kid mentally".   After games he was emailing me asking to change scoring decisions in his sons favor.  ….

 

Just curious, do you know how long that kid ended up playing?

Our HS Game Changer account is run by the local radio station announcer who calls the games. Our official stats are kept by a separate scorekeeper (the official scorekeeper when we are home) and they can often be different just on opinion. I enter the stats into Max Preps. The radio guy used to use his GC stats on the air, but started going with the MaxPreps #'s last year. Usually, the stats are close enough. Had one this year that sucked, though. In one of the first games of the year, we had a game where our #2 hitter hit a line drive to third that F5 dropped. It was a hard shot right at him and by the time he corralled it and threw to third, it was too late. GC guy gave him a hit. Our official sk gave it an error. No big deal, right? Well, he ended the season tied for the school record for hits in a season. After the season, the kid was going over the GC account and discovered this and asked about it - didn't cause a stink.

All the newspaper stories have been written and all have given him credit for tying the record. I have leaned towards reviewing the play (all of our games are on video). I would want the HC to chime in if I review. The kicker? The record he tied belongs to our HC.

My wife never wanted to be score keeper Gal, but she enjoyed keeping the Book and would keep her own. In rec ball and travel ball the coach would see her keeping book and ask to see her book after a game. Then she was always asked to keep stats. Then every new team one of our sons was on, would always ask at the parents meeting if Mrs Cooper was available. Her name got around quickly in our area. She always ended up the official score keeper through middle school. We teased our youngest, that the only reason he was on the team was his Mom's aptitude with the score book. He was good natured about it.  (Boy, was I a bad parent)

Once kids got to HS, she just kept book for her own enjoyment, The program already had an official who had been doing it for years. We were pretty well antiquated and she was happy to give it up. She could keep it again for her own enjoyment. However she never shared her book with anyone except me, on the rare occasion if she Wanted my opinion (Funny, I know, Right!). If someone would ask her during a game about how she scored something, she always said she would get back with them the game is still going on. She never would get back to them. The Book was for her again, and she did not want to ruin, her own enjoyment, or put into question, the official score keepers decision. They rarely disagreed. 

She already told our boys if they have kids who end up playing baseball, that she will not be the Grandma scorekeeper. She will attend Games and keep her own book. However my guess is if any of my boys coach, that she will be an official scorekeeper again. 

cabbagedad posted:

joes87 posted:

...  A few games after starting Gamechanger I had a parent start taking issue with some of the scoring decisions I made because "its affecting his kid mentally".   After games he was emailing me asking to change scoring decisions in his sons favor.  ….

 

Just curious, do you know how long that kid ended up playing?

He stopped playing after his Frosh HS year.  Though the decision had to do more with focusing on another sport then anything else.  

Also, at our HS Gamechanger is kept by the student team manager.  I can guarantee you that the stats produced are about as accurate as using a ruler to measure the temperature.  There have been times where I was looking at GC while watching the game.  What was recorded as the play only matched what actually happened on the field about 60% of the time.

That’s my favorite comedic golden thread. It was what hooked me to this site  and yes- it’s amazing how many hats you can wear over time  

I feel I am pretty good at not getting upset as 2-3 families I know do with GC Dad. I have witnessed calls and texts to the GC Dad -DURING a game FROM A PARENT WHO IS AT GAME and watch the same families try and rile up others about GC Dad. Like most of you, I know he never wanted to do it  and it’s amazing to have GC as I miss about 1/3 of games  

These are same people who have typical gripes - coaches, umps, playing time, batting order, field condition, game time, previous teams who screwed them, wind direction, their spouses-  you name it. Luckily the GC isn’t much of an issue for the rest of us - doesn’t impact the program and coaches don’t need GC to know what’s up. If anything GC Dad is harder on his kid. We were just laughing at last tournament if GC company knew the turmoil they were going to cause when they thought up idea to “open up the books” to parents  and start a company  

Until recently GC was the greatest thing as I travel for work. How about the radio addition! How great is that I can be on a plane with earphones and a drink while watching!! The GC Dad showed some of my family members the app and they downloaded it. Now I get texts during and after game about a particular play. I no longer waste time and explain it wasn’t scored correctly or their grandson/nephew wasn’t even on field for the error he received or that he didn’t really have 2rbi on a bomb back to P that was then thrown around the infield.   I just smile from my outfield seat and go back to sitting quietly alone and watching my son and his friends playing great game of baseball.

The radio addition is absolutely awesome. 

BTW, coach I know was going over the books the team manager keeps and saw a lot of passed balls. Called catcher's dad and asked him to have his son's eyes checked because of what the team manager's book said.  Dad, a doctor, said What stats are looking at.  Coach told him and Dad laughed and said you're not even using your gamechanger resource.  The guy keeping gamechanger [not me] played more baseball than the coach has probably watched.  All those supposed PBs were actually Wild Pitches.  Catcher's dad knew this and told Coach, "Why doesn't your pitching coach teach your pitchers to keep the ball out of the dirt? No way I'm having my son's eyes checked."

Imagine how screwed up the batting averages are.  

3and2Fastball posted:

 

"Mr Game Changer Dad" is the guy who quickly jumps to volunteer to run Game Changer for the team, and manipulates the stats to favor his kid. Everybody else, if the opponents bobble a hard hit ball, it's a error. But not for Mr Game Changer Dad's kid. Same thing if his kid is pitching, suddenly those are unearned runs.

Wow, sounds like my 2018's HS HC.  but instead of volunteering he avoided anyone else inputting and would wait 2 days to input stats... they would miraculously morph into something that did not happen numerous times.  he had two of his own on the team.

I use GC to accurately score ERA and keep pitch counts, but the printouts don't provide enough information, so we have hand scorers too.  The game moves fast when you're scoring and you can't go back and edit without undoing everything after the error, so sometimes an FC is left as a H.  Previous coach would mark errors for any mistake, so the CF had a 50% FP but never dropped a single ball.  This year he had a 100% FP in CF and 60% at SS, but there's nothing in GC, score sheets or even MP to make the distinction.  

I am the GameChanger guy for my son's team.  There is no official GC guy - I do it because my wife is a nurse and liked to follow games in between shifts when she could not come to the games.  Other parents find out and they want to get added.  But I have two rules - first I do not let anyone see stats - even for their own players.  Keeps that really easy.  Second rule is if you ask me to change how I scored something, you are out.  Done.  I am not doing this to show Johnny's WAR is better than others or whatever.  I have gotten final scores wrong, pitch counts wrong, etc. but am not scoring for any other reason than to let people see what's going on.  I rarely score passed balls, I don't really care if it is scored as a fly out or a line drive out, and I don't score the difference between a ground ball or a hard hit ground ball.  Just don't care. 

BTW my son is hitting .900 for the season.   

3 and 2, thanks for the entertainment.  We had a Mr. Game Changer Dad too.  Needless to say, all of the parents were glad when our sons became old enough to do the scoring. 

I *LOVE* GameChanger as a way to follow my son's team when I can't attend a game.  And I like it as a way to see some of the objective stats (first pitch strikes, number of Ks and walks, innings pitched).  When it comes to things like batting average or ERA, GC is at best good for a "boxcar estimate"--a kid who is shown hitting .485 is probably having a good year, even if he really is hitting .375 or .580.  IMHO, a parent's calculation of WAR and PECOTA for their HS kid won't carry a lot of weight with college recruiting coordinators in any event...

My son's HS coach assigns GC duties to a player on the bench--usually an underclassman or a pitcher who is not throwing that day.  The kids take it seriously and try to get things right.  (I believe the coaching staff also keeps a paper book.)  For travel teams I guess I have been lucky--all the GC scorers I've encountered have been pretty reasonable (even though I may not always agree with them).  As the father of a pitcher, I have no bias at all when it comes to wild pitches vs passed balls, or hits vs. errors...

I was the lame iscore dad

2022NYC posted:

I was the lame iscore dad

Oh, man. Sorry. Did you at least have it linked to your myspace account?