Players that didn't make HS teams

I'll present a situation that i went through in HS that is a textbook "small town politics" move that i got the short end of. Still haunts me...

 

I'm a lefty. played first and pitched. little bit of OF and DH-ing in my day also. varsity as a freshmen, but always missed playing time because we had a 1B who was a year older than me and coach was a wicked stickler for seniority and being a jock on the team. Yes, to the point that it effected our W/L ratio. Coach owned the local hardware store also, other 1B's father owned his own logging business and i can only imagine ordered tons of stuff through coaches store. The other 1B went on a week long school trip out of state in the middle of the season. I started the 1 game while he was away. went 3-4 with 4RBIs and the walk off winning hit in extra innings.. we won 8-7. I did everything possible to earn my spot when i had the chance. This kid couldnt hit with the side of a barn and the whole team knew it. He started every game for the rest of the season as soon as he got back... coach DH'd me a few times so parents would leave him alone...It was to the point that other parents would be talking about it in the stands. not just my folks, random other parents saying "why the heck isnt Z hitting at least today?" pitching, i pretty much feel that i got the innings i deserved...but loggers son didnt pitch...also, i was a 1 sport kid. In our small town here, you have to get lumped in with the athletes click. i didnt play soccer and basketball, so how could i be good at baseball?... umm, maybe because i was hungry for it all year while the other kids were shooting hoops!!!

 

fast forward a couple years to my SR year. New coach, and im caught in the exact opposite situation. He had a son (sophomore at the time) who daddy coached to LL states a few years prior. lots of great athletes in this sophomore class. His son was a big boy, but heavy. the type who is throwing 65mph in LL, and then maybe 70 when hes in 9th grade. relied on size, not work ethic. good clubhouse kid for the most part, but an early bloomer it seemed. (ended up trimming up in a couple years and being a great catcher.) either way... I had a stand out JR year, several HR's, clutch situation hits, 2 bombs in 1 game against a big rival team, all that. Really upped my velo on the mound SR year also. however, i spent more time on the bench being a captain my SR year than i had all of HS so far. I was ready to finally have my seniority and got it pulled out from under me.

 

this new coach came in and had no intentions of playing anything other than his old LL team. except for our LF at the time, he was my age, but he was a construction workers son, and his dad donated/build some awesome new dugouts for us, so you gotta play him... right?

 

I tried talking to coach a couple times about what i might be doing wrong and how to earn my spot back, but he pretty much didnt want to hear it...I'd even heard the previous coach wondering why i wasnt getting playing time (he finally would have played me, i was a senior now). 

 

here were my 3 last straws:

 

1- son complains about arm hurting and takes it easy at practice all week, just catching and flipping dad the ball while we are doing IF practice. barely even playing catch, really playing up the hurt arm thing. at a double header that saturday, he puts son in to pitch in a big game while im on the bench. I was a hard throwing lefty with a 12-6 curve as a senior and was dominant in the few innings he gave me. between games, Opposing team coach had seen me throw and play 1B the year before and asked me why i wasnt getting the time this year... i did my best to keep my cool.  

 

2.- older son is home from college for the weekend. Coach's son hasn't played 1B in years and its my primary position. Coach benches me and starts son at 1B so older bro can watch him play. at the time, this kid would have been our 3rd string 1B...really went out of his way to find a spot for his son this game. wouldnt you know it, he had a bad game. Coach PH'd me once cuz, you know, that'll shut him up. 

 

3.- our ace pitcher was infamous for having bad blisters always popping. Coach of course knew because he had this kid since LL. as a soph, he didnt have the overpowering velo yet, so he relied a lot on his curve. ace starts the game, blister pops in the 2nd inning. coach talks to him about how to lick his finger and wipe it off and such without tipping off the umps. Coach leaves him in for a complete game. Curveball (his main pitch and main blister tearing pitch) looses its effectiveness. We loose. i sat and watched from the bench. Coach absolutely reams us out as a team after the loss, which was pretty much entirely his fault for making such a terrible judgement call. we had at least 2 other pitchers who could have shut that team down. it wasnt even that good of a team. he just wanted ace to get a complete game. he just decided to leave ace in to get beat like a dog and blister split wide open. Not playing me is one thing, but putting this other kid at risk and breaking the rules in such a way is inexcusable to me. 

 

after that game i asked the coach if we could talk about my role on the team. he takes me out behind the dugout and starts to chew me out. swearing, red in the face, and all. I didnt say a word. just took off my jersey top and threw it at him. quit with 3 games left senior year. Now I am the coach of this team. When i first got the job, i was chatting with the AD a few days later and he brought up how "XXXXX really gave you the shaft your senior year huh? ...really too bad."

 

the memory still haunts me...I hope I never put a ballplayer through anything like that in my career.

 

 

 

 

Amazing story.  And your parents didn't have to intervene.  You were man enough to take care of it

Coach Z - similar story to yours.  Looooong story short.  3 coaches last 3 years of HS.  In Jr. year coach quits 3 weeks before the basketball season.  All they can hire is a former player at the school right out of college.  He proceeds to become great friends with the Sr's (drinking buddies) and plays them no matter what.  First losing season in the history of the school.  Killed them in practice can't get the pine out of my butt.

 

Come back Sr. year with dues paid and new coach. The Principal of the school's son that was a year younger and less athletic than me but was similar in size and played the same position.  So on the eve of my Sr. year after rocking practice for a month the coach catches me at a water break in practice.  He tells me he is going to play the Jr's over me.  I look at him and ask..."Am I not playing better out there?  He says yes but  I need to think about next year"

 

I stood there amazed by what he said.  I will give him credit for his willingness not to drag me along but that wisdom came later as well as controlling my temper. 

 

In the moment I told him to "F-himself"  Being a Catholic school I don't think he ever expected that.  He said "WHAT?"  I said I have been the 2nd best player in the gym for 2 years and everyone knows it and I am losing my last 2 years of HS to coaches who are a$$holes so you and everyone else can F yourself.  Yelled it load enough for the whole school to hear.  He was so stunned he couldn't react and to give you some idea of the kind of coach he was he didn't throw me out of the gym.

 

Finished the last 30 minutes of practice as a scrimmage and delighted in embarrassing my replacement as I took the gloves off physically and verbally.  Not proud that I abused him to the verge of tears just to leave no doubt who was the better player. 

 

Coach never stopped it as he was unprepared do deal with my anger.  Guys on the team told me I was purple the whole time and scared them half to death and I knew a lot of them since grammar school.  It was the strangest hour of my life.

 

 

I had a kid, 86-89. Didn't make his grades his first two years in high school and was ineligible. Junior year hurt his arm pitching in "Sunday Leagues" we didn't know about during the season. When healthy he showed up late 2 varsity games in a row and was moved to JV. Was told this year his future was on the mound, and he wouldn't be getting much time in the OF, as he was about our 6th best varsity OF, and perhaps our 2nd best pitcher. Told him we could find him a college to play at as a pitcher if he was committed. had him all offseason.

 

First day of practice, he just doesn't show up. Tells the other kids he's quitting.

 

Got a nice email from mom telling me how political I was (not to mention a few other character-assassinating adjectives and accusations).

 

So for every kid at an event throwing 88+, there's probably a coach with a back story about the character of the kid.

 

Sometimes writing it off to politics is a world easier than your self-realization as a parent.

 

 

Politics are rampant in small town high schools. People that know each other, coaches' friends, relatives easily make the team. We cannot question these guys because that can lead to more problems in the future. I am not sure how you get around these politics without your kid being subject to poor behavior from the coaches.

 

I am glad that there are other avenues like travel teams and PG showcases to show case true talents of their kids.

Heard a very successful college coach speak yesterday. This is a man who have recently won a a national championship and is in his sports Hall of Fame. He was talking to a group of high school girls. He told them their parents see thru rose-colored glasses. But what people must understand is every single girl on his team is "one of his daughters." 

 

I think its a good lesson for the kids and a good lesson for the adults...

Politics have a part in every level of baseball. Always reinforced my 2015 with the cliche "just work on the things that you can control."  The good news is that if a player gets exposure through tournaments and showcases their skills will be noticed when and if displayed.  If you ask most college HC/RC they will tell you they usually rely on their own eval and high school statistics/championships do not mean much to them. Maybe some will have a local cross checker they will consult with.  My 2015 during tournaments/showcases is a C and only played 1 high school season full time at that position. He had offers from D1, D2 and D3 for C, and not one school called his high school coach. 

JABMK - that is awesome.

 

Bulldog19 - Coaches are different, cities are different, people are different. The amount of politics in some small towns is really atrocious - if it could be based on stats only, the kids that make the team and do not make the team in some cases will be very different. Ours is a small town, coach's relative was in basketball, had 3 games at baseball and made the team. Not a very good player - he replaced much more deserving kids. That should not happen. There is a lot of hypocrisy.

 

This message is to throw awareness of this issue out there because you have different options with travel teams, you can go to different showcases but you are stuck with the high school coaches.The power gets into their heads. This does not mean all high school coaches operate this way (at least I hope they don't).

 

 

Absolutely - it does exist in travel sports but there are choices. It is not as easy to change your high school coach.

Depending on how things are set up in smaller towns.Kids could have the same coach for years.We play MS ball in the fall.Our hS V coach is also the 8th grade C.My guy is entering his 6th year with this HC.Many, many times this guy has taken all the fun out of things.

Yes - our coaches have been the coaches of our town for a very long time. Therein lies the problem. Small town, small town politics even though the town has grown quite a bit, the politics are still the same.

Boohoo.

 

Make your kid better at all aspects or make excuses. It's not too complex. 

 

Entitlement exists in big and small towns as much or more than politics. You are proof.

ironhorse - you are proof of one who benefited from small town politics - thou does protest loudly and accuse others of what you have no clue about. Let me guess - you are a big fish in a small pond? 

Bingo. I grew up in a little town in Southeast Texas called Houston. You probably haven't heard of it.

Never thought my post looking for a league for my 15 year old 8th grader would turn into this. Lol. Everyone has different experiences and not all coaches or schools are the same. Trying to say they are is crazy. Politics or not, I hope everyone has a great baseball season.

There's no question that some kids get the shaft, and that politics do exist on some level in most places.  I have always preferred to not allow our family to use that as a crutch.  My wife and I have always told our kids to get better.  If you get better, try hard, have a good attitude, your chances of getting hosed because of politics diminish greatly.

I have read this particular discussion thread several times and appreciate the plight of both the parents and coaches that in most cases try to do the best with the information they have at the time of a decision on who makes the team and who does not.

 

However, there are situations that are not as clear-cut as your kid is not good enough for HS baseball… now go home.

 

We live in an exceptionally competitive high profile 6A “Friday Night Lights” baseball community with two (2) Top 10 Varsity teams located within 4 miles of each other.

 

JV Team Overview 

 

School A  - JV team

23 total roster spots:

20 sophomores / 3 juniors

86.9% sophomore mix

 

School B  - JV team  

24 total roster spots:

13 sophomores / 11 juniors

54.1% sophomore mix

 

Bottom Line  = 7 extra sophomore roster spots available at School A then School B

 

Which school is better off from a talent standpoint??  

 

I am not sure, but I would think that long-term School A might be better off having culled most of the “not ready for prime time” juniors.  – And in the process built a JV team filled with sophomores who all know up front that this coming year is their make or break season in order to move up to Varsity.

 

So…

 

What to do if your sophomore son finds himself left out in the cold...especially if he attended School B ?? 

 

Do you stick around and tryout for a “junior on JV” spot next year??   

Do you look for an alternative spring program such as the one mentioned at the top of this thread?

Do you tell your son to hang it up and learn to love his new “music class”?

Do you transfer to a new school?

 

With this backdrop I know of many parents who would look for an alternative of some kind for their son.

 

 

ironhorse - you are proof that cronyism benefits you. Here is your post from a while ago:

 

"Already got it. Strong principal, campus coordinator and AD. 

 

Now that doesn't mean every ounce of stress is gone, but the stress being replaced for pissing off the wrong people is not there,"

 

That explains your attitude - you are a high school baseball coach that does not have any fear of being held accountable. Hence your nonsense all over the place denigrating all parents instead of being open to the idea that politics exist - it exists in all walks of life and seeing all your posts, I sure as heck know that it exists in your school. Not sure how many poor kids are affected by your dictatorship. Maybe your vocabulary does not include some of the words in this post - look it up in the dictionary.

 

 

Let's see.  You've been on this site just a few days and you've managed to...

 

-Sign up with bogus location and profile info

-Completely insult every small town coach (including myself) with your initial blanket statement

-completely twist the meaning of a poster's past statement

-stoop to intelligence insults

-"like" your own posts

 

Hmmmm.  Welcome.  I guess.

 

I coach in a small town.  We strive to be fair in our efforts to provide a competitive program that the players can take pride in.  We have had several booster and school board members' sons play roles other than starters because that is where their talent level dictates.  We have done the same with some of our strongest financial backers and most avid volunteers.  If a cut was in order, we would make that cut, regardless of political ties.  Conversely, when we have a parent who is particularly difficult, we make a concerted effort not to penalize the player.  Admittedly, it can be very difficult.  Most other coaches I know operate in a similar fashion.  They would also be equally offended by your blanket statement. 

 

Sure, there are exceptions.  Sometimes, politics can come into play.  And, I'm OK with folks coming on this site to vent, as the OP did.  Many, many times, there are other circumstances at play, as Ironhorse alluded to.

 

However, I also think we have a responsibility here.  Many young players (and their parents) come to this site looking for guidance through the process. There is a very real chance that a thread titled "players that didn't make HS teams" will attract those players and parents looking for advice on best next steps .  The message when dealing with such issues, perceived or real, should be clear.  Work hard and leave no doubt in the coach's minds.  Control what you can control.  Yes, travel teams and showcases can be great avenues as part of the solution, but we also want these players to have a positive attitude about coming back next season and earning a spot.  Focusing on small town politics as the primary barrier to entry is not a helpful outlook.     

 

 

 

I want to repeat something here that I posted the other day in an old thread. A year ago a user named Dman come on the board. He made some inflammatory claims about how his son's HS coach excluded him for political reasons and wouldn't even let him play JV as a Junior.  The dad came off as unhinged, the board slammed him, and the thread was eventually deleted. In the process he inadvertently disclosed the name of his kid and the HS he attends. 

 

Dman eventually returned to the board and said his kid is fine, he's plugging away at camps and travel ball, and intends to keep playing as long as he can. 

 

Being curious about the story I checked the team's roster on MaxPreps the other day.

 

Dman's son is now a senior playing for his school's varsity team.  Moral of the story -  if you love to play keep working at it, even if there may be politics and a PITA parent in the picture.

cabbagedad - How many days I have been on this thread is irrelevant. When ironhorse makes statements like you are proof of entitlement, you don't know about Houston etc... it shows his attitudes. The point of the original post is that small town politics exist as do big town politics and a statement like that should not cause Mr. ironhorse coach to make nonsensical remarks where he puts down the people having an opinion and get away with it. He is free to disagree with any post as I am also. He, however, has demonstrated fully what I have been talking about. If you look through his posts, there is a lot of bashing and putting down anybody that might dare question a coach. Imagine how he would treat a kid/parent that has the audacity to disagree with him .....

 

Other than your ardent support for ironhorse, I do agree with a lot of your comments. Sometimes awareness to issues are brought out when opinions are voiced, civil disagreements are fine but denigrating and attacking somebody for their opinions is unnecessary. My responses were responses to his personal, ill informed attacks.

Well I guess I mislabeled my post, lol. Next time I'll do a better job. Like I said before. My 15year old is an 8th grader and I was just looking for a league for my son to play in this spring while we wait for summer ball to start. My son has not been affected by "politics". I did say something about politics in our high school athletic program, but I was basically agreeing with a previous post that I've seen it.

Coaches should be questioned. No problem with that at all. Used as scapegoats for blame and excusing making, not so much.

 

If I could understand the rest of those GIANT words you were using I would respond more (fervently looking for a Webster's). Make your excuses, nothing I can say will change them, so be a victim and go about your merry (or is it marry? or Mary?) way.

 

Politics exist in some situations, no doubt.Excuses seem to be a lot more prevalent and no one ever admits to that.

 

And saying you've never heard of Houston was tongue-in-cheek (that's a rhetorical tool I think!), since you said I was from a small town. Sorry you missed that one.

 

I was hoping to keep bashing people and "getting away with it," whatever that means.

 

 

ironhorse - none of your opinions matter to me because you have demonstrated your true self. At least you agree that coaches should be questioned - that is a step in the right direction. Let us continue along that path - coach ironhorse.

Jack,  Please do not give it a second thought, did a great job explaining.   You have now experience the same phenomena that exists in all government entities.  It makes no difference how clearly you define the problem or question the solution will always address something totally unrelated!!!... ESPECIALLY when the battle lines have been drawn! 

BTW, sorry Jack M... I mistakenly looked at the top of this page 3, thinking it was the OP.  We have strayed quite a bit, haven't we.

       
       
Let the record show I went back and re-read your OP.  And it is very true you did not start the whole politics thing!  But it certainly turned into quite a thread though didn't it!

It has definitely been insiteful and entertaining tho 😎

We both know my opinion matters to you. Otherwise you wouldn't reply so many times. Not sure why, but it does. I think you want your kids to play for me! Or are you a kid? Either way I hope you move to my area. I promise you a spot to play, no matter how good you are. Wanna hit 3 or 4? It's up to you. You're my new bestie so you can set the lineup!

Oh coach ironhorse - you are straying from the right path. Legs feel like lead (or is it iron) while continuing along the right path? Come on now...keep trotting along the right path - otherwise we will have to have a talk with your AD friend about your bad behavior.

Inane. I was hoping for a clever response.

Yes - as I thought, you would not get the clever response above.

Appears we have a different idea of what constitutes clever. Simpleton rhetoric doesn't impress. 

 

However there is a new thread on politics!!! Yaaaay!

Feeling is mutual. And you have been exposed. Got more important things to do ...so I will be the voice of support for any parent you bash unnecessarily but other than that I end this thread.  With this parting thought for coach ironhorse - keep trotting along the right path. Adios!

 

Gotta love this, it has been stale too long. I think everyone has been confused with the, politic word. We should be actually, be discussing democracy

Coaches, get the vote, not posers.

So glad this was resurrected....

 

I don't have anywhere else to bash parents!

 

 

Democracy  is the mob rules....Less than 1 hour of reading you will find that our founders would have stayed with the king if the other option was ....A democracy....