New Thread Suggestion...Minors...

observer44, you are so........well, observant! This is a great idea!!

quote:

Originally posted by observer44:
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We have...

HS Reporting Thread...

College Reporting Thread...

Why not a...

...Minor League Reporting thread...

Hard to keep proper track of our HSBBW Professionals and their adventures...I'm sure that there are some great stories...and the thread would be of lasting value to those on their way up.

Just a suggestion.

44
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Your request is a done deal!

There may be a problem or two with the idea however

It might be difficult to get people to report. Just to use myself as an example, I am not sure people want to tempt the baseball Gods that way. Our friend JT knew all too well about that.

For just this one time though, I'll break my own self-imposed rules and share an anecdote we all can relate to....

I killed myself at work this week to get my mind off today which was to be the start of my son's season. I got home about 15 minutes before the game started and was excited for sure. As they read the lineup, we did not hear our son's name called. It never occurred to either one of us that our son would not be in the lineup. I guess now we know

CD,
It's called starting over.

Think back 4 years, he's got to earn it and I have no doubt he will.

You don't have to give accounts of games or progress, but reporting about milb life is an interesting way for some to understand and learn about it so when the time comes they can be prepared to educate their sons. The first year guys want to tell you everything, after that you got to drag it out of them.

And there are stories they will tell, I called one day and son was in walmart picking out a sleeping bag. What is a sleeping bag for son, don't you have somewhere to live? Well, they had a 15 hour bus ride to Texas, too many players and not enough bunks on the bus, so last man to join the team gets the floor, unless you have to pitch the next day. Son bought youth sized sleeping bag by mistake, he slept in the chair that night.

Fun, ain't it?

I'll post part of the email from a friend regarding his son. The ending comment is great. ....

His flight was 9:30am today. We decide to leave for the airport at 6:50am. Sleeping beauty tells me to chill and we get on the road at about 7:30am. Bad traffic and he makes the 45 minute pre flight cut off by 2 minutes. He says, "Dad chill. I'm going to my job. Can you believe someone is paying me to play baseball?"

RJM - Love that attitude!!

Well, I thought it was known as the "After High School" Forum...

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quote:

Originally posted by ClevelandDad:

There may be a problem or two with the idea however

It might be difficult to get people to report. Just to use myself as an example, I am not sure people want to tempt the baseball Gods that way. Our friend JT knew all too well about that.

Wow that's immediate service. No chance to get "Jimmied".

I understand the challeneges completely.

First, to assuage your fear let us bow in unison pay homage to the baseball Gods, honor them with this idea, and ask their devine blessing at this special season of Omaha and minor league assigments.

Second, I expect/suspect that this thread will/would be different than the other two, more professional so to speak. While numercial data and game reports would be great...as TPM says, I would expect a great deal more Minor league life and great tales such as we are getting already: sleeping bags and flights, and bus trips...and any movement between teams. Gotta be soem great stories out there and in the process a great education for those to come.

In any case I figure it's worth a shot.

44
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Even though this is a baseball site I've always found it funny that many members feel that other kids accomplishments are to be left off. I have so many virtual friends on this site that I feel close to but it seems as though we've adopted China's 1 male child philosophy at times. The intelligence, level, positive thinking, similar parenting practices, athletic/home environments, time management issues would make me think that HSBBW site would be entertaining and a great medium for discussing our other kids athletic and educational issues and maybe flesh out how those issues affect the continuing baseball saga.

I'm guilty of spamming my girls waterski activities at times but I like to share things that others may find interesting and entertaining. We tell our kids from time-to-time that baseball is only one part of their life, maybe we should follow our own advise.

IMO, The going pro forum works for the tiny milb faction and my suggestion would be a "siblings forum". After all they are a big part of the baseball life.

OOPS: After I read the the whole thread I missed the point but I'm going to keep the post out there.

rz,
You might want to consider facebook, there we are able to share more about our lives, not just our players but spouses, other children and their activities, etc. I don't post there very much, but I love seeing and reading other websters pics of family, friends, adventures, etc.

Justbaseball's facebook would take you a week to go through.

Son had his first pro appearance tonight. First out of the pen to relieve the starter in the bottom of the 6th ... 2 outs and runners at the corners ....... called strike 3 on a 2-2 pitch! 7th inning 3 up 3 down, GB out; Hit caught stealing 2nd; Strike out.

That was it, but it was a long time to hold my breath. Team won 15-2.

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That's what I'm talking about...congrats, that's a lifetime thrill! Hopefully the first of many on the quick rise up!

44
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CD,

If you are an early round "money" draftee - you dont have to do very much the first couple years. You will be promoted each year - and maybe even sooner. No matter what in most cases.
(This is especially true for high school early rounders).

You can hit below the Mendoza line - or give up 10 runs per game as a pitcher - and you will be promoted anyway. If that occurs - they will talk about potential - and/or being young for the league. Regardless of what you do or how much you play.

It stops at the A level - usually High A.

If you are not an early round draftee - you are in for a rough time. There arent alot of funny stories. You are considered fringe - at best - and you worry every day whether you will be there the following week.

You have to prove yourself everyday.
If you dont - you will most likely be gone.

If you think about it as a business proposition - it makes total sense.

If you spend $500,000 for a machine - and it doesnt work - you try to fix it before discarding it. You are not walking away from a $500,000 investment - without a fight.

If you spend $10,000 for a machine - and it doesnt work - you just get a new one. You dont spend money trying to fix it. No big deal. Every year - there are always lots of newer inexpensive machines waiting for their chance.

It is all about money invested at this level.
Just the way it is - whether we think it is right or not.

That - IMO - is minor league baseball in a nutshell.

A former teammate of my son just got released a few weeks ago. He was 4-2 with a 1.58 era in low A after 42 innings. This year at high A he had an era of 27 after 3.1 innings.

Itsinthegame, very good discussion of MLB baseball. Puts it in a easy to understand perspective.

Okay I'll add a story...

Phone call from Jerseyson:

Dad, I've got some good news and some bad news. The good news is that I'm getting assigned to State College... um,the bad news is I need you to come to pick up my car (Florida) and drive it to Pennsylvania.

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quote:

Originally posted by itsinthegame:
Every year - there are always lots of newer inexpensive machines waiting for their chance.

And some just burn out!




I agree with Pop Up Hitter Dad...great description its.





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quote:

The good news is that I'm getting assigned to State College... um,the bad news is I need you to come to pick up my car (Florida) and drive it to Pennsylvania.

Bad news? Nah.. just inconvenient news


So I'll share one related story real quick... I am interning with the Gateway Grizzlies this summer and I am in the clubhouse, in the dugout, etc for home games.

I have been working with the team since May 14. Was introduced to the manager, the coaches, the GM, etc on that first day. Well the first week of the season, we had a player stay home from a road trip due to injury so I went to the ballpark a couple times during that time. Also, one of the assistant coaches doesn't travel so he was at the ballpark too. He couldn't get my name right.. kept calling me by one of the clubbies' names. So I went out to my truck and grabbed my ID badge from school and put it on for a little while

Jump forward a couple weeks and some of the other players found out about this. One in particular calls me by the clubbie's name now with a smirk.

And then last night we're hanging out after the game in the manager's office. One of the coaches asked me to get him a drink out of the refrigerator (by name) and the manager turned around because he apparently didn't know my name either! He thought he had been calling me something different (not the clubbie's name either).

iitg,
Pretty accurate and easy to understand post about milb.

Keep these stories coming! They are terrific!

quote:

Originally posted by BobbleheadDoll:
A former teammate of my son just got released a few weeks ago. He was 4-2 with a 1.58 era in low A after 42 innings. This year at high A he had an era of 27 after 3.1 innings.

I am just curious as to what league that was?

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Way too much coffee but here goes...

Some of us are totally unrealistic idealists and dreamers...and even if we never taste success we will go to our graves having believed in and stood for the other side, and having used the b******s and their follies to grow and learn and pass on hope to the next generation of unrealistic dreamers and idealists until at some date in the future we all wake up.

I (and I hope my boys) will not buy in. We refuse to let you take our souls. In the end you may grind us down, break our bodies, you may dismiss, or fire or release us...But we refuse to allow you to take our dignity, our humor, our humanity, our friendships, our memories, our story, our hope and our dream. We may go down to the b******s inhumanity, but we will go down on our terms and we will hold our heads high, and we will walk away when dismissed, stronger and we will stand for something and we will leave a legacy and a model. We will win in the longer term.

The best of humanity is to live close to your heart and soul, to believe in yourself and your dreams in face of the brutal nature of life...to go up against the worst and most brutal than the b******s can dish out. And in those rare instances, when those values win, even once in a million, it reminds us of the best in our humanity and wakes us up to what is important to the magic that is life and human kind: to accomplish the impossible, the impossible that others tell you that you cannot do. This is the stuff of our great stories, the ones that we share amongst ourselves to give us hope, to prove that humor can live even in the most challenging of circumstances, that good can beat evil, that passion can trump numbers, that our best values do still count, to remind us to find the best in dire situations, to remind us that the b******s can be beaten, that it doesn't have to always be this way...and YES, that now and then, dreams DO come true. (Think Rudy and Hoosiers and The Natural and Field of Dreams).

In the face of great adversity, yes, humanity and humor and hope do shine. Dreams remain despite being pounded and ground into dust. In my world it is our duty to foster and further that hope, that foster a bloom of humanity in the face of ash and dust..our duty to create the next generation of great stories of hope and to see that dreams never die. Yes Ray, I am a dreamer and an idealist. Because such things remind us of all that once was good and it could be again.

44
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quote:

The best of humanity is to live close to your heart and soul, to believe in yourself and your dreams in face of the brutal nature of life

Very emotional stuff...

Of course I believe all that type of stuff, I am corny that way.

BTW - please let us know what b*******s is. You can get it past the electronic sensor by hyphenating the word. Nice post and what kind of coffee do you drink - I could use some of that

Plowed unconscious at the plate twice in one week, and, a trip to the ER for stitches on a backswing to the jaw would probably sober ya'll up a bit...........

Wait, I forgot the

For this family - from Grandad - to Dad - to son - to grandsons - the love of the game - and playing the game - has always been more important than anything else about the game, and the different levels and all the other related stuff.

I think the real beauty of it is when you see someone who loves to play the game.

You can see it in their eyes - and the way they run out onto the field - and how they react when they dont play well or when their team loses.

You just hope it never ends.

quote:

Originally posted by jerseydad:
Okay I'll add a story...

Phone call from Jerseyson:

Dad, I've got some good news and some bad news. The good news is that I'm getting assigned to State College... um,the bad news is I need you to come to pick up my car (Florida) and drive it to Pennsylvania.

Have the car put on the auto train. I'm not sure exactly what the route is. I know it runs Orlando to Philadelphia. My daughter drives her car to Orlando from Tampa, then flies home.

its' - your posts in this thread have been outstanding. In honor of your first post about machines:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NCfVFxRsKQc

quote:

...the love of the game - and playing the game - has always been more important than anything else about the game...

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CD...

This hit me last night and I have been very, very concerned about it all day...

I am afraid that I have seriously miscalculated...

There already is a great thread dedicated to the post college expereince, "Going pro"...dedicated to our dear bbscout. In my haste and exuberance I think I have made a tremendous blunder to request to add this new thread...when one already existed and might only have been suggested to be double linked to give it more visibility.

I would like to offer sincere apologies and request to incorporate the two threads into one "Going Pro", then add the "Going Pro" thread to the top of the general items as a second link as we have the other reporting threads.

This double location, the name, and the dedication would both give the thread more visibility/use/importance, and help to preserve the memory and the legacy of bbscout.

With sincere apologies.

44

quote:

Originally posted by RHP05Parent:
Son had his first pro appearance tonight. First out of the pen to relieve the starter in the bottom of the 6th ... 2 outs and runners at the corners ....... called strike 3 on a 2-2 pitch! 7th inning 3 up 3 down, GB out; Hit caught stealing 2nd; Strike out.

That was it, but it was a long time to hold my breath. Team won 15-2.

Great going E!

It's almost been a year in waiting however my son had had his professional debut last night. (he did well but that hardly even matters right now)

Luckily for us the game was close enough that we were able to make the trip to Williamsport, PA. To say it was emotional for all of us would be an understatement. As I looked on with a lump in my throat I thought of how appropriate it was that his first game was being played in Williamsport.

My mind drifted back to one of those special father and son moments that we had about 10 years ago (man it seems as if it was just yesterday). Q and I were sitting on the couch watching the Little League WS together, he was mesmerized watching the boys that weren’t that much older than him play the game. Out of nowhere he looked up and said, “Dad, I am going to play in Williamsport someday”... I'm sure I replied back something to the effect of "sure you can do it if you work hard, believe in your dreams, eat all your vegetables, and be nice to your mom..." All the time thinking how naïve, these types of things just don’t happen to everyone.

Roll the tape forward eleven years later as I watched my now not so little boy in his first professional game. I sat there thinking about his bold statement … “Dad, I’m going to play in Williamsport someday”, with a smile on my face and a tear in my eye I thought, you did it son, yes you did.

I have no idea where baseball will take him as a profession however after last night I know that baseball has given us more than I could have ever dreamed… I got to watch one of his/my dreams come true.

Does it get any better than this?

quote:

Originally posted by jerseydad:
It's almost been a year in waiting however my son had had his professional debut last night. (he did well but that hardly even matters right now)

Luckily for us the game was close enough that we were able to make the trip to Williamsport, PA. To say it was emotional for all of us would be an understatement. As I looked on with a lump in my throat I thought of how appropriate it was that his first game was being played in Williamsport.

My mind drifted back to one of those special father and son moments that we had about 10 years ago (man it seems as if it was just yesterday). Q and I were sitting on the couch watching the Little League WS together, he was mesmerized watching the boys that weren’t that much older than him play the game. Out of nowhere he looked up and said, “Dad, I am going to play in Williamsport someday”... I'm sure I replied back something to the effect of "sure you can do it if you work hard, believe in your dreams, eat all your vegetables, and be nice to your mom..." All the time thinking how naïve, these types of things just don’t happen to everyone.

Roll the tape forward eleven years later as I watched my now not so little boy in his first professional game. I sat there thinking about his bold statement … “Dad, I’m going to play in Williamsport someday”, with a smile on my face and a tear in my eye I thought, you did it son, yes you did.

I have no idea where baseball will take him as a profession however after last night I know that baseball has given us more than I could have ever dreamed… I got to watch one of his/my dreams come true.

Does it get any better than this?

This post is one of the best I have ever read here at the hsbbweb. It explains precisely why I spend so much time here. Why read a magazine or a book when the best writers in America are right here on the hsbbweb!

I dont know what it is about this game - or why some things happen the way they do.

My son calls me this morning - wishes me Happy Fathers Day - and then tells me he just got promoted this morning to Double A.

On Fathers Day - just hard to believe.

I agree with CD.

I love that story, kind of reminds me of a similar story with son and his dad.

BTW, I see that Tyler B also got into his first professional game.

iitg,
Congrats on the promotion. He deserved it.

ITS

Happy Fathers Day and what a great way to celebrate the day---tell Darin congrats

I assume he is headed to New Hampshire

Boy does time fly by--just thinking back to how it all started--one never knows

quote:

Originally posted by itsinthegame:
I dont know what it is about this game - or why some things happen the way they do.

My son calls me this morning - wishes me Happy Fathers Day - and then tells me he just got promoted this morning to Double A.

On Fathers Day - just hard to believe.

fabulous news ....

Junior is down in Arizona. Season opens tonight !!!

What great news from several fronts here!! Congrats to all the firsts as well as those on the move up!!

I love this thread.

Jerseydad, wonderful story, and I agree that this site has some of the best baseball writers around.

IITG, what a super Father's Day present! Congrats to Darin!

"Tyler B also got into his first professional game." Cool!


Julie

great posts.Congratulations to all your boys and their accomplishments.God Bless

its

congrats on the promotion. nh is a handy place to get in and out of. southwest fly's right into manchester. nice ball park too.

jerseydad

great story,love hearing them.

pro player.......has a nice sound to it.

RHP05parent, jerseydad, itsinthegame, ClevelandDad, and others.....I wish I had something original and witty to say, but this will have to suffice: huge congratulations to you, your sons, and your families! It is thrilling to hear about their accomplishments, and I hope you will keep us updated on their all their experiences. It is so much fun to sense your joy and follow their progress!