I’ve been observing on this board for more than eight years now. I found this sight by searching the internet for information after my son asked me if “I am doing the things that Mark McGuire did when he was my age (12)”.
When I first started there were about three hundred members including Fungo, Bama Bomber,bbscout, and OPP, among many others that now post infrequently if at all. The last time I looked there were more than 10,000 registered members here.
Fungo, Bama Bomber, bbscout, and OPP all had sons a little older than mine, had weathered the high school baseball storm, and were starting college, or had been drafted.
Anonymously, and without registering, (you didn’t have to register then) I watched as the membership quickly grew to more than 1,000 and then registered when it became required.
I observed a lot by watching those four, three of them reaching the minor leagues, one is in MLB. They are and were kind generous souls willing to answer questions about their experiences with their sons, for free. I was very fortunate to receive their advice.
As a newbie during the fall that I probably joined, I sometimes jabbed, poked fun, and sometimes was critical of other less informed members, all anonymously, of course.
At some point, a question from a new reader came up, that I had experience with, and I answered the question. That is when I became a Former Observer.
Like many of you now, I gained more interest as my son passed through the select baseball to high school transition. This site was very helpful as others had talented freshman son’s that took high school seniors playing time and knew how to deal with the often debated high school politics. Fascinating chess game to me.
Yes, I tried to find out if my son was on the lists. When our son’s are 13-14, I think it is natural to look for outside indicator’s and confirmation of our son’s abilities. Maybe because that is when I started, I don’t think that much earlier than that should be important.
To me that transition to high school baseball is an early indication of potential talent that is often clouded by older players, with less talent, but more experience. A challenge that you will also face in college, too.
Maybe it seems like things are changing here, but I really don’t think so. I see new parents (fathers and MOTHERS), (now earlier, and with pictures (bigger pappi’s son facial expression is my favorite), which is OK) looking for confirmation of their son’s abilities, just like I did more than eight years ago, maybe in slightly more subtle ways. And, I see many new people, now seasoned with their son’s experiences, willing to share, becoming Former Observers, too.
We are now approaching the fall and winter when baseball activity slows and hsbaseballweb activity “heats” up. We have a new crop of incoming players and parents with a fresh set of seasoned sophomore varsity parents. I always thought things heated up because everyone’s time was not consumed by baseball games and practice, but, now, am realizing that this larger group of “newbies” and "old-timers" need a little time to get adjusted to one another, just like a new baseball team.
So, maybe for the newbies, I would encourage more “observation”. Sometimes, it is better to be quiet and be thought a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt.
There are many times that I wished I had followed that advice.
For the “old timers”, I remember when we encouraged “stupid” questions, overlooked spelling , grammar, and typing errors, and helped the “fools”, anyway.
I was one of the “fools”, too
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