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Thanks Doctor, hope you enjoy this years game. These are some amazing kids and in more ways than just playing ability. Since 2003 when the game started it has averaged One out of every three players in the game have been drafted in the first round. Six or seven have been the first over all pick in the draft. But the most important thing is the game has raised a lot of money for it's cause... Pediatric Cancer.
For those of us who are newbies and want to check out the game, it will be aired on the MLB Network with first pitch scheduled for 5:17 pm (PDT) on 8/16/15. You can also catch it live on SiriusXM MLB Network Radio - Sirius 214, XM 176. My son and I will be watching this year.
That's good, I'm glad he could go. Those boy's are having a blast out there right now with all their new gear and hanging out. I have seen player's get hurt right before a big event and it really sucks for them.
I hope a lot of people watch the game on television. It will be fairly obvious that these are among the best players in next year's HS class. 165 first round picks in the last 12 years out of this one game. That includes 7 first over all picks in the draft. If your son appears like he can fit in with these kids, he must be very special.
Coach Sherman, Son's TX HS coach at Marcus, will be coaching the West Team. We will be watching. 
From what I can gather from social media, it was an exciting day yesterday, especially walking into hotel rooms and finding gear spread out on the bed.
This morning, they will be brought smack down to Earth with a visit to Rady Children's Hospital. The dichotomy could not be more severe, where the boy's achievements and accolades are immediately contrasted with the children fighting for their lives. I hope the impact stays with them and motivates them to take action throughout the rest of their careers.
After lunch at Trevor Hoffman's beach home, some meetings and dinner, they get back to business with a 3+ hour practice, ending around 9:15PM.
I expect they'll sleep well tonight.
They're at Rady Children's Hospital right now:
Our All-Americans are throwing some BP to @radychildrens' Travis who is crushin' balls! pic.twitter.com/KK2ee2yn3i
— Perfect Game (@PGAllAmerican) August 14, 2015
One more:
More than just a game. pic.twitter.com/dbfjUFkNW9
— Perfect Game (@PGAllAmerican) August 14, 2015
From what I can gather from social media, it was an exciting day yesterday, especially walking into hotel rooms and finding gear spread out on the bed.
This morning, they will be brought smack down to Earth with a visit to Rady Children's Hospital. The dichotomy could not be more severe, where the boy's achievements and accolades are immediately contrasted with the children fighting for their lives. I hope the impact stays with them and motivates them to take action throughout the rest of their careers.
After lunch at Trevor Hoffman's beach home, some meetings and dinner, they get back to business with a 3+ hour practice, ending around 9:15PM.
I expect they'll sleep well tonight.
My son was drooling over the loot they were posting on Twitter. LOL!
Don't want to jinx anyone, but someone who posts here at HSBBW has a son in San Diego. And his son might be the best hitter in the 2016 class. He hit eight out tonight during BP and there weren't any cheap ones. One of the best high school age hitters I have seen in awhile.
Watched in awe at a hit by this young man in playoff game this Spring that rocketed 5 feet above the pitchers head, then landed about 350 feet away. It was not a home run, but was by far the hardest hit and most impressive hit I saw all year. Can't wait to watch him during the game tomorrow night and again next year before he has to make the decision between whether to go pro or continue his education. Best of luck to him in San Diego and beyond.
Congratulations to all of the parents of these All Americans, and to the parents of the "other" All Americans who are playing today at Wrigley at 4:00pm EDT. Both games on MLB Network.
This is the most power hitters ever at the PG All American game, by far!
In the preliminary round, every one of the thirty hitters hit at least one.
15 hitters hit at least 5.
The 4 finalist for tomorrow's Home Run championship.
Joe Rizzo (VA) hit 14 today
Blake Rutherford (CA) hit 13
Ben Rortvedt (WI) hit 13
Alex Kirilloff (PA) hit 11 and earned the final spot in the finals with 4 more in the hit off.
Luis Curbelo (PR) and Cole Stobbe (NE) also hit 11.
Just an amazing display of power today.
#MustBeTheShoes
If anyone here is interested in seeing many of the very best high school players in the country, tune in to the MLBNetwork tomorrow at 5:15 Pacific coast time. Guess that makes it 8:15 eastern. Could be an eye opener for some.
Once again, I hope many of you have the opportunity to watch the PG All American Game on the MLB Network. Game starts around 5:17 West Coast Time. Starting pitcher for the East team is the #1 ranked prospect in the 2016 class.
Honey! Make me a pie!
I plan to watch it. And I hope the people of SD take advantage of the opportunity to see some good baseball being played in their yard.
HR Derby in progress...
The 1st round of the @pgallamerican HR derby is in the books! pic.twitter.com/QUXACpsLRO
— Perfect Game USA (@PerfectGameUSA) August 16, 2015
And...
Alex Kirilloff is your 2015 #PGAAC HR Derby Champ. 12 dingers in the final round to beat Blake Rutherford
— Chris King (@StatsKing) August 16, 2015
WOW...
Lefty has never won @PGAllAmerican HR derby. All LH today. Kirilloff 11 Rutherford 10 Rizzo 9 Rortvedt 6 Top 3 all broke the old record.
— Jerry Ford (@PGJerry) August 16, 2015
JOE RIZZO WITH THE FIRST HIT OF THE GAME - AWESOME!!
Agreed. Very nice event with great coverage.
I watched the UA event on Saturday and the PG event Sunday. Felt the UA coverage was second rate at best (coverage, not talent. The talent present at UA was just as good as PG). The coverage appeared to be more of the Billy Ripken & Wes Helms show than focusing on the players. It would have been interesting to have an inning of their miked banter, but the entire game simply made it tedious. I also found it odd that there was almost no mention of the players hometowns and high schools once the game was underway. No graphics indicating this or college commitments.
Both are amazing honors for the players and a great achievement, but as a fan, I simply enjoyed the coverage of the PG event significantly more than UA's format.
I agree with Nuke83 who I think correctly points out that the focus of the AAC was far more on the player as well as Rady's Children Hospital. Love Billy Ripken, but less Billy, more players.
Don't know why both events were held during the same weekend. Was there skulduggery afoot?
Overall I thought this year's event was fantastic. In my opinion the TV broadcast definitely outdid last year's coverage. Only question I have is some of the Zepp data. It really seems like some data may be way on the high side or way on the low side. Ex. joemktgson is a fantastic player and hitter but if only looking at the metrics would look like an average hitter. I assume the Zepp bat speed at impact of 73mph is either incorrect or Joe has an outstanding ability to put the barrel on the ball generating great exit velos. I assume PGStaff would be able to address some questions about the variance among players metrics. As a Zepp owner myself I know that while my best bat speeds and hand speeds and time to impact are faster than some of the All Americans I'm highly doubtful that I'll be hitting balls like Rizzo or Khalil Lee if I went out and took some BP. Essentially I assume you use the metrics to confirm what you see with the eye test correct? Thanks again to everyone that helped make the Classic possible this year.
B-More: Zepp is an excellent tool, and a new part of the overall mix as to how to quantitatively evaluate a player (similar to the 10 yard time and the 60 yard time). I know joemktgson will be getting one, and he will be using it as a metric to continue to measure himself.
FWIW: I'm curious as to his current Zepp vs. the Zepp taken earlier this year. It didn't seem right to me, but who knows.
I would like to see the top 10 readings, I thought someone told me that a few records were set.
Here are the top 25 performers of all 3 PG measured Zepp metrics. You were correct that records were set. Also should be noted that attack angle is a major predictor of success among hitters and that metric is about consistency and the ability to "have it" in games. Again all of these metrics are best for tracking and measuring improvement and to see if increased or decreased performance has something to do with a change in your swing.
I think Zepp is a great product and can help hitters improve. But whether it is TrackMan, Zepp or even the radar gun, they all get bad readings once in awhile.
This old scout can still see and I haven't seen many that can simply hammer a baseball better than Joe Rizzo. He is one of very few high school kids I would feel comfortable giving a plus grade as a hitter and for power. Also really like the way he plays the game.
He made some money this past weekend! If that is something he wants.
Also regarding another post... We had 41 of the top 50 players in the country in San Diego. I believe the draft will show the talent really wasn't all that equal.
I watched the entire game and really enjoyed it. I was extremely impressed with the talent on display. First of all the arms were awesome. Not only did they have electric stuff but the ability to command it with that type of secondary stuff? At that stage in their careers? Ridiculous. But really what impressed me more was the quality of the hitters. First of all how many guys have these hitters faced on a consistent basis with this type of stuff? Add on the fact they are using wood and facing a different stud in every at bat. The hitters stood out to me big time.
The one player that to me stood out over every player I watched was Rizzo. That's not to say that the other guys were not outstanding talents. But Rizzo is as good of a hitter at that age I have seen in a long long time. He has that special quality about that you just know he is going to be big time. Hel he already is.
Brief feedback from the two players I picked up yesterday at the airport:
-Greatest experience ever.
-Trinkets were secondary to the relationships built, the hospital visit, and the beach.
-Hospital visit: wanted more time with the kids.
-Dion H's sickness of the mound may have been the funniest moments of the week for the players. He caught a lot of crap for that. And Dion's one of the most entertaining players in the country.
-The young kids hanging around and over the dugout were annoying. My response: "What the hell do you think you were like when you were 8?"
I'm sure there's more, but one of those players immediately met his girlfriend upon coming home. Don't know what that's all about.
Finally got a chance to watch last night with 2017 on DVR. He watched 2 innings, saw the kids were all 20-30 lbs heavier than him, got up and went to the gym to work out. Came back in time to see the one Michigan kid from BBR pitch and was jacked to know he'll probably get to face THAT kid next spring. He also caught the comment from one player who said he watched it last year and it was his goal to get to play there his rising SR summer...now there's another kid with a goal!!!
My biggest question after this game though is WHY during the commentary on players are they so hot to tell that 6'6" LHP was 5-0, 80k/4bb, with low ERA, whatever, on his HS team but just gloss over that he played for so and so travel team and no stats from there? At least up here HS ball is so diluted you could have great stats in HS but get shellacked on a travel team where the talent level of competition is significantly higher. I just don't get why the weight on HS but not Travel performance??
Coach Bob my guess would be no one really keeps stats during the summer. At least we never did. And regardless the talent in that game was obvious. I didn't need to hear about any stats my eyes told me all I needed to know.
