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Perfect Game

J HJ H5,000+ posts
If you look back in my past posts, I have defended PG in everything everyone's said about them. Now I can't anymore. Here's what I did all weekend:

My team went to the BCS Northeast Regional in Yaphank, NY, about an hour and a half away from my house. Our first game was at 5 PM Friday night at the field, so I left nice and early and got there. We ended up losing a tough game against a good pitcher (who also hit a home run) 8-6. Because our next game was at 8 AM the next day, myself and 2 other teammates got a room at a local hotel. We went back to the hotel, ate and went to bed, just to find that for some reason, we couldn't sleep. We ended up getting about 3 hours of sleep, and then went to the field bright and early at like 6:45, 7 o'clock. As soon as we get there, we are informed by the PG officials that our game has been postponed until 9 because of all the rain. No big deal, we would sit it out in the car and wait. We also had a 5 PM game later on Saturday, so assumed that there would be a 9 hour difference on our games no matter what. As the rain continued to pour down, we were informed at 7:50 that the game would then be at 10:30. And still we waited. Finally at 9 o'clock they had to move the games back to 1:30. We decided to take half the team back to the hotel and have breakfast. Half of us chatted with some nice local people in the lobby while the other half slept because they were forced to wake up before the sun rose to get to the field because they could not afford a hotel room. At 12:45 we headed back to the field to more rain. We continued to wait until 2:30 when Perfect Game finally moved the games to the nighttime. We went home, and at 6 PM received a call that all games were cancelled.

I then went on the PG website to find that they switched the format, and that all teams would only play 2 games and then we would be seeded accordingly. I didn't think that was a bad idea, but I couldn't fathom why they didn't suspend the games earlier or cancel the tournament outright. Still, I found out I needed to be back at the field at 10:45 Sunday morning. So I got as much sleep as possible and headed for the field at 7 AM. We played literally a half an inning and the game was called because of rain. At least PG decided to not make us wait 7 hours in the cold rain and cancelled the tournament at around noon. I immediately went home. When I got home I went out to lunch with my family, and came back to check the website. All of a sudden, we are no longer in the tournament. When I looked further into it, I saw why...

PG decided to take 16 teams and have them continue play in a simgle elimination tournament modeled like March Madness. There were 32 teams in the tournament, 16 played 2 games and 16 only played 1 game. So a team like my team, who lost a close game, only got to play one game and ended up with a losing record, 0-1. Another team who got murdered in their first game 22-0 gets lucky and squeaks one out 2-1 against a weak opponent and gets into the next round just because they got lucky with their schedule and they were able to play 2 games.

A message to Perfect Game: I am digusted and furious about what happened this weekend, as are hundreds of teenagers who are now not given the opportunity to play baseball just because of a pompous organization who just cares about making a profit and not havin to refund the teams involved rather than actually helping out the players that love the game and have dreams of playing at another level. I hope you, as an organization, understand how wrong it is to do what you've done, and I hope you'll never to it again. You've taken away the opportunities and games of kids who just want to play the game just because of $28,000 total that you didn't want to refund (yes I did the math, I had plenty of time in the freezing rain while you sat in the comfortable suite with leather chairs and laptops trying to read the doppler radar and schedule your beloved tournament). Why not just keep postponing the tournament further along in the week? I'll play on Wednesday I don't care. But obviously you guys do. You and your money. Thanks a lot for not letting me play baseball.

I hope there's a dark storm cloud over Long Island tomorrow, just to teach you guys a little lesson and to make it fair.
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J HJ H5,000+ posts
In fair judgement, I agree. PG is most likely still going to help me in the future, and so on and so forth. The attack was just letting out my frustration about the events of the weekend. I still do not change my opinion about what happened, though. I still feel like it's unfair and cheating and the only reason it was done was for money. I know that it was tough for the officials because of the inclement weather, as it continues to rain outside, but that does not change how I feel. Every player on my team, as well as many players on other teams in the tournament that I've spoken to feel cheated and enraged by the actions of Perfect Game. And deny it or not, it was because of the money. But I am still going to attend the WWBA Nationals in East Cobb and trying to get my dad (who was quite upset about the lack of information and all the driving, etc.) to let me go to a showcase. Because I know as well as everyone does that even though this weekend turned out to be a disaster, events aren't typically like this. PG is an excellent organization, I've dealt with them in the past and loved it, I just feel like what happened this weekend was very shallow. That's all.
Coach MercCoach Merc1,000+ posts
JH,
The one thing that none of us has control over is the weather. Last summer we took out team on the road for 3 weeks, one in FL and 2 in E Cobb. We were scheduled to play 22 games during that time, rain during week 1 cancelled 3 games, rain during week 2 cancelled 4 and rain during week 3 cancelled 4 more..... Imagine the work PG had to do trying to reschedule 100's of games per day, checking on and working on numerous fields... Just a huge undertaking. We were all feeling what you are until we took a step back and tried to imagine what they were going through.

I understand your frustration, you're upset, just as any player who loves the game and wants to play would be. As far as moving the games to later in the week... PG does not own that facility, they rent it, that expense does not disappear and I'm sure the facility has games, leagues and other events booked later in the week. They were lucky to have Monday available. My team left on Saturday afternoon because we could not play Monday (travel day to Fl). When they were adjusting the schedule we saw the problem beside the fact that we were paying over $125. a night for hotel rooms plus meals adds up to thousands to stay the nights and not play...

Sometimes it's better to sit a day or so before writing or speaking when you're upset...
P PGStaff10,000+ posts
JH,

I understand your disappointment. However, there are a few things you need to be aware of.

1. This tournament is a qualifier so we have to have a champion.
2. According to the rules we could stop the tournament all together and award the championship by tie breaker rules.
3. Every possible solution was considered and the result was what has happened.
4. Money is spent well before a tournament like this takes place and there are no refunds to us once the tournament starts. This is the same everywhere we go be it Georgia or Jupiter Florida or California.
5. We do everything possible to be fair to all the teams.
6. Teams that were left out of the playoffs had the option to play more games. This was not mandatory on our part, but we felt it was the fairest possible solution. Several teams decided to leave which was their option.
7. As much as we would like to, we have no control over the weather. If the weather had been fine you would probably be talking about how great the tournament was.
8. The waiting you did was not done to punish anyone or any team.
9. We feel just as bad as you do about the bad weather.
10. You might have been able to stay until Wednesday to play, but you would need someone to play against. Most teams stated they could not attend Tuesday let alone Wednesday.
11. According to the stated rules there are no refunds unless the tournament is called off before it starts. So what is being done is in the interest of doing the most possible for those involved.
12. Adjustments and decisions need to be made in these cases and they’re unfavorable at times.

These are some of the many things that take all the fun out of this business. This is an example of the hell we live in. People could simply email me about their complaints or disappointment but some choose to vent in a public forum.

I’m very sorry the weekend didn’t work out for you. I’m sorry you were out in the rain while our staff was watching the radar. I understand the frustration much more than you might realize. Hopefully you will have a better experience next time, but it’s doubtful if it rains the same way. In the meantime please try to look at it from all sides. It’s not a lot of fun for anyone.

We all would have enjoyed things a lot more if the weather would have cooperated.
TPMTPMHSBaseballweb Member since 2003
JH,
I remember quite a few years ago, the same thing happened to us in a qualifier run by PG.

I remember this happening alot over the years, on many ocassions during tournaments, qualifiers with different organizations, the weather not cooperating. I don't rememeber anyone every complaining because mother nature didn't cooperate.

You won't get very far as a player if you do not take the good with the bad, especiailly when something such as weather is completely out of one's control. Wait until you get to college or the minor leagues, have to travel hours and hours in a bus, then sit around for two days because of poor weather, play an unexpected double header, miss one of your series games, only to get back on the bus and travel another 7-8 hours back home.

Also, PG has their own website where you can air your frustrations either on their board or in private, which is something you should have thought about before you posted.
TRhitTRhit10,000+ posts
JH

a few things here-

Nobody can control the weather

If you had won the first game you played you would still be playing

This is the second time you have gone the "open mouth insert foot" route -- keep it up and you will have a tough time finding a team that will accept you

From what I have been told you have some nice baseball talent--in the future let your talent do your talking not your mouth

Have a nice nite and stay dry
J HJ H5,000+ posts
Coach Merc- Yes, I heard you guys dropped out and had to go from Carmelo. I watched a little bit of your game vs. the Bombers you guys played very well.

TigerPaw- Good points.

PG an TRHit- I just re read the post and looked at the time I wrote it. I had just gotten home and received the e-mail from my coach and this was literally 30 seconds after. I was exaggerating very much and overreacted in it. I still believe that I have a right to be frustrated and a little upset, but I also look at it from PG's point of view and see that there's really nothing they can do. Rain is rain and they need to get the games in. All I heard all weekend was the complaints of parents, coaches and players in the parking lot sharing the same frustrations as I was and I assume all that got to my head and I started to think that's exactly what happened.

While I'm obviously disappointed that we couldn't advance further and continue play in the tournament, I now see that PG did all they could in an attempt to let the tournament continue. A lot of teams had different and conflicting schedules and I was looking at it blindly not even thinking that Baseball Heaven (which is a really nice complex by the way, I'd never been before but it really is nice) had other things scheduled.

TRhit- As for the "open mouth, insert foot", I have come to enjoy this website very much and feel like I can state my baseball opinions freely on the site. And while some of my opinions may seem radical, at first I feel they are right. However I am beginning to see that there are certain things you just can't say, out of respect and out out of looking out for yourself. My dad constantly says "actions speak louder than words" and he is right. I could say all this is just a teenager venting, but I knew what I was saying so I'm not going to say that. But if any of my comments that I said out of frustration offended anyone or caused anyone to be taken aback, I sincerely apologize. I will make a considerable effort to keep my thoughts inside of me and see the other side before jumping to conclusions about anything.
And just to do a little defending of myself, that other "foot in mouth" incident was stupid, yes, but once again I jumped to conclusions. And while I still somewhat feel the same way, I know I was wrong and I took care of it. I find myself to be highly opinionated, and for example in the other incident (which was simply a few words that should have been rephrased or not said at all for those who are looking on), I felt like I was being attacked or victimized. And when that happens, its human nature to defend oneself. I guess in my unconscious mind I felt "oh, high school baseball on a website" and perhaps I could share my feelings with someone without thinking that maybe I wasn't saying what I wanted to right.
Once again, the teenager thing? I don't know. I jumped to conclusions, that's all. Hopefully no harm done because it's all ranting and raving after a pretty dull and wet weekend and tomorrow's a new day.
Thanks.

P.S.- PG, when is the schedule coming out for the WWBA '07 in East Cobb next week? I checked the website but it still doesn't look like anything is up. We're all pumped about it. Hopefully it won't rain like it did here lol Smile
Last edited by J H
J HJ H5,000+ posts
You know what no. I'm sorry this is bugging me. There's no defending myself I was wrong. I shouldn't have said what I said. No one deserves that when they try as best they can to make everything right. I was being selfish and blinded by complaints and everything I said above. I know why I said what I said, I just don't know why I said it that way. I was frustrated about the tournament this weekend because of the weather. PG obviously was the easiest bulls eye to blame because they ran the tournament and made the decisions. So instantly all of my anger and frustration came out on them. I was completely stupid and arrogant and take back anything and everything I said. I promise anyone here that kind of thing won't happen again, because ranting and raving like that to people will not get you anywhere, especially to the people that are going to help you.

And I just went back and read it again. Geez. I was 100% wrong. Sorry to everyone again.

Let's just hope Mother Nature is a baseball fan. I've noticed there's been good weather everyday for the World Cup. Why can't it move from Long Island to Germany just for a day you know?

Thanks again to everyone who calmed me down a little bit and showed me how stupid and idiotic those comments were. Sorry I took out my frustration the wrong way. I just have to think. :/
P PGStaff10,000+ posts
JH,

Thanks and I gladly accept your apology.

You know I’m old, but not so old that I’ve forgotten what it’s like to be a young baseball player who loves to play the game. JH, feel free to contact me personally if you have concerns. We are not perfect, but we do everything we can.

As for your ranting and raving Wink… Don’t worry about it, there will be several others who will want to hang us. Mad They will be much worse on us than you were and they never will understand our side.

I think the 07 schedule goes up next week. Don’t want to scare you but last year it rained 12 inches the week of the 07 WWBA Championship. You see we are kind of used to these things.

Best of luck to you and I’ll actually be in Marietta. Feel free to look me up.
J HJ H5,000+ posts
quote:
As for your ranting and raving … Don’t worry about it, there will be several others who will want to hang us. They will be much worse on us than you were and they never will understand our side.


Still, I don't want to be thought of as part of that group. For one, I don't feel that way about PG. Two, if everything goes as planned you guys are going to be helping me a whole lot these next few years and I wouldn't want to mess that up Smile.

12 inches. That sounds just lovely. I heard the whole story from some of the guys staying at the hotel with us from South Shore, Staten Island. They told me stories about 2 AM games and no sleep for a day and a half. Hey, whatever it takes as long as we can play some baseball.
Plus my aunt lives in Dunwoodie and she tells me how streaky the weather is down there during this time a year, hurricane season and all. Hopefully we'll all get lucky and just deal with the extreme temperatures.

There's no need to contact you personally, I don't feel like anything wrong happened other than me running my mouth (or in this case keyboard). And who knows, the days off will probably work wonders for my arm, I've thrown a lot lately.

I'm on the New York Nine Showcase '07 team. I'm #36 if you happen to be at one of our games. But I'll definitely keep an eye out for you.

And just one more question... I just went out to Borders today and bought one of those Princeton Review books of like a trillion colleges, I figured now's the time to start (I'm 16, just finished sophomore year). I also just got an invite in the mail to the Underclass Showcase in Wareham, Mass. I'm trying to convince my dad to let me go, but he's skeptical as many are about the first showcase, etc. Although the price is steep in accordance with the already tight budget we're spending for my summer season, I feel it's a good event to attend. Is there any where I could see the colleges that attended last year? I think if the list is appealing enough not only would that bear positive for me in terms of exposure but it would show positively for my parents in their search for the right school for me also.

Again, thanks a lot.
Last edited by J H
K KayMart4100+ posts
hey JH, i played in that long wave of storms..i played a 12am game. it was so awful, but not because of the time. it was probably because i caught, got hit in the throat and every part of my arm because our pitcher couldnt throw a strike, i then struck out twice, then got run ruled...but hey it happens lol. pg showcases are great, they have helped me a ton. just make sure you are in tip top shape for it.
P PGStaff10,000+ posts
JH,

To be honest not a lot of colleges attend underclass events anywhere in the country. The Underclass events are more for us to evaluate and report on players. At the Underclass Showcases... Probably the most important thing is if you are talented every college in America will know it because most all of them follow our stuff.

If you want to wait and get into a regular top prospect event like the PG Top Prospect Showcase in Wareham, there will be over 100 scouts and college coaches there.

Anyway, my suggestion is to email me and I can be more helpful. I don't come to this site to talk players into coming to our events.
email - pgjerry@qwest.net
hokieonehokieone5,000+ posts
JH,

A wiser older lawyer taught me early on in my career that when mad, write a letter, but hold it a couple days to see if you really want to send it. 99% of the time, you'll find anger caused you to use words that reflection will edit. And you spend a lot less time taking your foot out of your mouth.

Good advice that has served me well.
PopTimePopTime500+ posts
Nothing's more unbecoming than someone (especially a young kid still c-rapping green) going off like that and then suddenly backpeddling when he realizes how many influential people will read what he wrote. I know PG Jerry is classy enough to let it all roll of his (and Perfect Game's) back, but if it were me, I'd let JH twist in the wind a little before I permitted him back into one of my tournaments or showcases. Makes me wonder if JH would have said the same things to PG's face had he had the opportunity. Grow up kid, and for crying out loud, THINK before you go popping off. All the excuses you've written since that original post just made things worse in my eyes. You should have just emailed your apology directly to Mr. Ford and been done with it.
J HJ H5,000+ posts
PopTime- I've said before that I will think before popping off like that and that I don't know where all that came from etc.

As for e-mailing PG Jerry the apology, I screwed up in public and I am going to try to fix it in public. There's no use in trying to hide anything once I let something out. I understand what you're saying and I'm still kicking myself for what I said but I can't go back and change it now so there's no use. I made a public apology here, and whether anyone accepts it or not is their decision. By no means did those comments ever be intended to escalate to anything more than an opinion of a the tournament, and it read the wrong way because I wrote it out of anger. I like hokie's advice, and I'll do that in the future. But, PopTime, I know what I said was wrong and I know that's not what I really meant to say. I know I wrote it out of anger and frustration, etc., all the things I've said above. It's happened to many people and they kick themselves for it and attempt to clean it up. It happened to me here and I'm kicking myself for it and attempting to clean it up. There's no use in sitting back in self-pity, just move on. As I said, tomorrow's a new day. As for the Underclass, PG I'll e-mail you directly later and ask you some questions about it, just curious about a few things.
Thanks.
K KayMart4100+ posts
JH, no not at all. But it happens. PG couldnt do anything about the rain, or someone sabotaging the Kell fields (i think i remember that happening). so i was happy with whatever PG did. We ended up getting killed and going 0-3 as a 16u team in a 17 or 18u tourny. cant remmeber which one it was. and then for 16u the weather was alot better, we played 10 games because we got in the loser bracket after the first game and went on to get 3rd place. we played 6 games in 2 days then the next day played at 9am, needless to say we got killed. but all in all these are the best tournaments around.
S sluggo100+ posts
It is great that a kid uses his ability to write as a means of expressing himself or venting. And it is refreshing to see such a literate post from a teenager, because most of them are so filled with spelling and grammatical errors as to be disheartening. Having said that, the advice about writing and then holding off on the "send" button until you cool off, is excellent advice. Just the catharisis of writing it all out will make you feel better, and it is much better than throwing stuff, etc.

You must be aware that when you post on this site, there are a lot of supportive people out there. However, there are a few very negative, old, crotchety men that have nothing better to do than continually criticize almost everyone, with an air of condecension that is hurtful.
Ignore these guys and let the whole thing go.

You will be fine.
Dad04Dad045,000+ posts
quote:
You must be aware that when you post on this site, there are a lot of supportive people out there. However, there are a few very negative, old, crotchety men that have nothing better to do than continually criticize almost everyone, with an air of condecension that is hurtful.


You trying to get hit in the shins with a cane? Smile
G gotwood4sale10,000+ posts
sluggo:

My thoughts exactly. Very well said.

Hang in there JH...you're obviously a very bright person and a good ballplayer. You have a very promising future ahead of you.

I don't have any doubts whatsoever that you have successfully learned a valuable lesson and you will benefit greatly from it if you go forward in a positive direction. Just remember that the people complaining the loudest, the adults, had the least to lose in the long run.

You've got many, many seasons of good baseball ahead of you and to live and play up to your potential you'll need the support of good people that respect you. You stumbled, but in my book you've recovered nicely.

There are many people supporting you and PG has accepted your genuine apology...even some of the negative comments are supportive after you think it through...you have to worry when people don't react, positively or negatively, because at that point they don't care enough to respond. TR is quite right with his last post.

Move forward kid...and keep learning!
Last edited by gotwood4sale
J HJ H5,000+ posts
Thanks to all.

You know today was my first day of work, I'm working at the camp of the varsity coach at my school. Even on the field with the little kids I kept thinking, "Oh god what I said was so stupid." I'm glad to come home and see these responses, I was honestly afraid things were going to get bad.

Sluggo- even still, in this case all those old "crotchety" men helped me. So however harsh the comment might have been I thank them for it.

Bobblehead- Through JV I was always cocky and emotional on the field. Suddenly this past spring and some of last summer I was thrusted into a prominent situation with kids that were a lot older, stronger and better than me. I felt as if I needed to fight for my spot on the field, no matter how well I was performing. This notion has caused me to become very much "going through the motions" out there. When I pitch I try to rarely say anything other than call out the outs or tell a teammate good play, whatever. My frustration is usually held until after the game when I can vent on a pillow or maybe my father, but I guess in this case I vented in the wrong place.

gotwood- Thanks. Good point about not responding at all.

NYDad- I like the pencil thing, I think I'll use that in the future. Smile

Once again thanks to everyone for dealing with my uncalled for rant and thanks for slowing me down and helping me realize what I did. While this was just a few paragraphs, it's helped me get a grasp on many things of the sort, many examples of this happening outside of the internet, whether it be involving me or not. I definitely think the motto of the day is think before you speak though. Thanks again
LD Line Drive100+ posts
Baseball always did require more than five skills. Perfect Game has taken some heat from some on this site because their showcases place so much emphasis on certain measurable skills and seem to overlook other less tangible skills. But once again PG Staff (and others) had the grace and patience to help another young player learn the additional skills he will need in baseball and life beyond The Great Game.

Well done.
B BobbleheadDoll5,000+ posts
JH it is very important to get your emotions under control. Sounds like you are trying.
Playing with older players can be a chalenge. My son's team averages 26-27 yo old and he just turned 20 this months. Most of these guys have had outstanding college careers and several were in the minors. Composure is what gives him the edge. One pitcher is in his senior year in NCAA D1 and last year as a JR he was #1 in ERA. His coach has been working on calming him down. He is a great competitor who has ML potential.
Good luck and chanel the entergy into your game. You are going to dissagree more often than not .
P PGStaff10,000+ posts
JH,

When I first read your comments... It hurt... I thought you were a jerk and I disliked you.

After reading more... I think I like you a lot. I'd even like to help you if at all possible. Maybe some day we will get a real good laugh out of all this. (I don't mean the rain)

Hopefully your baseball ability is as good as your communicational skills.

It's really refreshing to see a young player learn things right in front of us.

Here's one last thing that my old coach told me. I've never forgotten it.

"Most people learn things by making mistakes, but the smartest people learn things from others when they make mistakes"

Sure wish I would have followed that advice! Wink
BeezerBeezer1,000+ posts
JH - I've said it elsewhere but it belongs here so I'll say it again. I've got 2 teenage kids and they know it "ALL".....in their minds. And they can be a bit outspoken here and there as well. But I really can't be sure if they'd spout off in a public forum as you have and then come back and admit their mistake as you have. That says something.



PS - If I were you, I'd make sure to introduce yourself to PG the minute you see him at an event.
Last edited by Beezer
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