Question - Jupiter WWBA

You have to be there to understand this event and appreciate it. GO. Your son will be seen. It will not matter what team he plays on at this event.

Also if you love baseball you need to go at least one time.

If you're asking if it's OK, when you don't have a team to play for, to sign up for one of the PG squads, the answer is yes.

It may even be better than the cameo appearance with a standing team, because with a PG squad you're definitely going to get your chance. (I have seen kids promised playing time that never materialized in the cameo situation, so you really have to be careful who you link up with.)

The key is to identify the schools you're interested in and make sure they know when/where you're pitching. You must contact them and stay in contact.

They will be there, trust me. And if your son is sharp that day, folks will start drifting over to the backstop at his field as his stint progresses. You never know who might follow up with you in the week or so that follows.

A big key is to come prepared. The competition is fierce, and most of the hitters will have been playing somewhere all fall. If you come in after weeks on the sofa, or walk off a plane 2 hours before game time, it can be a rough day at the office.

Midlo Dad, Are you saying that the PG team coaches are good about giving all of the players on the roster meaningful playing time?

My own son never went that route, so I cannot speak from first hand experience. My observation was that the PG teams did have deep rosters, in the neighborhood of 18 players/team. Many of them were "pitchers only". As best I could tell, all the pitchers got their shots over the course of the weekend. Other players played more or less equally, which can be good or bad in your mind depending on how you think your son stacks up. Probably an offensive player would play roughly 2/3 of the time. Remember, the guys assigned to handle the teams don't know anybody coming in, so there's no reason to suspect favoritism towards anyone.

I would guess that if the team made the playoff rounds, pitchers would be selected based on their availability (hoping they aren't over used) and on how effective they were before. But in truth, I can't recall seeing a PG team make the playoffs the last two years. It's tough for a team that has never played together to do a whole lot of winning. Some, but not a whole lot. You might want to go to the WWBA site and pull up the Jupiter results from recent years and see how PG teams did. (They are named according to their jersey colors, e.g., PG Green, PG Gold, etc.)

Also don't hesitate to call PG's office to ask how it works. They will tell you straight what you can expect.

Got to go twice.

Go, you'll never forget it.

Thanks. I was just curious in view of the fact that in most cases they really don't know the players. Son is on another team anyway and we will be there. What a way to end the baseball year!

I wish I had an excuse to go, just to watch!