Rewards

Every competitive kid wants to win. But outside this I'd say for my son it's the fun, friendship and camaraderie of his teammates and the challenging moments in the game.

Last summer my son played in an 18/19U travel game. He was a 14U eligible freshman playing 16U. Playing third, he had two short hop rockets hit at him harder than he's ever seen anything come at him. He made the plays along a couple of others. After the game he was laughing and commenting, "That was fun!"

There are down times in competition. But in the big picture, if it's not fun, why play?

As a pitcher, getting the ball in a big game situation. Knowing that your coach believes in you and your ability to get the job done in this situation. And the feeling of walking off that mound, knowing that you rose to the challenge and you have delivered on that coach's trust.

I gotta be honest here.
My kid is 11. He likes the trophies. At each tournament we go to, before play begins,he circles the table holding all the trophies and tells me how cool they are.
I imagine it will change as he gets older because he loves to compete.

what made your son "happy" when he played baseball?
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been thinking about this for awhile now. like your son fungo,he has all the awards. all everything,from LL to jc. mvp's. no rings or watches ,but a few clocks.

i think he was just happy playing baseball. i'm quite sure if you asked him what kind awards he has he wouldn't/couldn't tell you.

i'm sure it was the game that made/makes him happy.

If I were being honest, I think when he was younger (maybe not now) it was seeing the smiles on his mom and dads face when he did something. To this day I can remember him looking in the stands at us every time he did something just waiting for our applause or thumbs up and then seeing the huge, ear to ear smile on his face. PRICELESS! I really think that drove him more than trophies.

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it was seeing the smiles on his mom and dads face when he did something

Danny, That is what first came to my mind when I posted this. Whether we like it or not we do influence our son's baseball. If they do poorly they feel as if they have let us down in a sort of way. If they do well they look to us for approval. It was important to my son to do well for himself but it was equally as important do do well for those around him. As my son moved up not only was it us (the parents) he "looked to" for approval but to the fans, coaches and teammates. I remember one game in college when he hit a grand slam against Mississippi State and he asked me after the game if the fans cheered. (for some reason he would never hear the fans during the game). While he didn't say it, I know he wanted their "approval" too.
Fungo

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To this day I can remember him looking in the stands at us every time he did something just waiting for our applause or thumbs up and then seeing the huge, ear to ear smile on his face. PRICELESS!

Even to this day, in MiLB ballparks (some of 'em pretty good size), I just know #1 son knows exactly where I am. It's like a radar for him...

And Fungo, you hit it spot on. It's even to the point where when they start dating a new young lady, they usually send home a photo by EMail to Mom & Dad, with the question.... so what do you think? I usually ask if they're nice to their Mother....

cadDAD

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Fungo - Its a very good question. I was really drawing a blank...then I remembered.

I don't normally like to do this kind of thing. But the photo below is of my son and his college head coach immediately after he had thrown his 3rd complete game at Oregon State this past season.



I really don't know what anyone else sees in this photo...but my wife and I sure know what we see. Total and complete satisfaction that he had his coach's admiration, gratitude, respect. Just after the photo was shot, he came right over to us.

Thats the reward my son seems to strive for...admiration, gratitude, respect from his coaches, teammates and family. Sounds kind of boring and maybe a little sappy? He never said it, we never asked. I can just read it.

Its my favorite photo amongst thousands I took over 4 years of his time at Stanford.

Justbaseball, Thanks for sharing. As they say: "A picture is worth a thousand words!" Sappy? Not at all --- But "Priceless" would be more appropriate!
Fungo

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Originally posted by justbaseball:
Fungo - Its a very good question. I was really drawing a blank...then I remembered.


Thats the reward my son seems to strive for...admiration, gratitude, respect from his coaches, teammates and family. Sounds kind of boring and maybe a little sappy? He never said it, we never asked. I can just read it.

justbaseball, I agree with Fungo. Rewards just do not get any better than those you have described and illustrated.

I believe you guys have nailed it.

I'll give you all an answer straight from the horse's mouth. There is more than one answer for me.

First of all, I love to pitch, and I love every aspect of it. I love the feeling of powering a pitch by the batter. I love even more outsmarting a hitter, where the whole at bat he can't even make a clean cut because there are just way too many thoughts in his head. I love running off the field after making the third out of an inning. I love warming up with loud music playing before an inning. I love pitching to contact and seeing my teammates make plays.

I am also very competitive. There is nothing better than winning. Within a game, there are always both wins and losses. I focus on winning each pitch and each batter. It keeps me from getting too high or too low depending on game situations. I was 5 outs away from a no-hitter this spring and I never got too excited because I was always only thinking about how to make the next pitch. I know that when I win most of these small battles, the game will be won. I take as much pleasure seeing my teammates plate the big go-ahead run as I do sitting down the tying run.

I'll also be frank and say that I enjoy the recognition that goes along with success. I like to be congratulated and looked up to by my teammates and always try to reciprocate the gesture when they succeed. I like over-analyzing the game with my dad at home afterwards, pitch by pitch and batter by batter. We pick on all the negatives and have some back and forth but then look at all the positives and talk about the next game.

Heck, I spend an inordinate time on this message board reading current and old posts about the recruiting process, colleges, off-season training, college commitments, and of course baseball in general.

Just my .02, but maybe some things will change as I'm only 17 and hopefully there is a great deal of baseball left to be played. I really hope that I enjoy baseball just like this as long as I play though.

Very impressive post for many reasons. I like it a lot , thanks!

Fungo, great topic! Its nice to remember all the good times we have had with this amazing game. And Justbaseball, how awesome it must be to watch your son play for one of the top notch programs in the country knowing he did it with hard work and talent. JPontiac, my son likes to pitch too, his reasons are a lot like yours too. A very good post well written by a current player. So nice you and your dad can go over a game together and talk about it.

Now my opinion as to why my son plays, is a good excuse for not getting a part time job!

Great post Just baseball great picture. What an awesome thing to experience on so many levels.
My son has a lot of awards and all have different meanings, HS section was pretty exciting.
My son trully plays for the love of the game and just loves being part of the game.He likes everything about baseball.

For myself I have loved how baseball has provided him so many opportunities with traveling, friends, Jobs, just everything that goes into a persons memeory box
one day when my son is older and rocking on the porch , I want a sweet smile to come across his face when he shares his baseball experiences with his grandchildren.He will have a lot to share, some of the story has already been written, but there are hopefully a lot of chapters left.

jpontiac

great post son,sounds like your a gamer.


keep up the good work

Jpontiac,

If you pitch half as well as you write you should have a long time to keep enjoying the moments.

Pretty sure for my son the trophies were simply a side benefit, he really liked them when he was younger but now it seems to be more about the feeling he gets from winning.

His college team won their conference in his sophomore year but he was injured in the third game of the season that year. He got a ring and is proud of it but I know he would have much rather have contributed to the effort that brought the prize.

Things change for most kids as they ascend through the ranks. My son is far from the top, but recently I've seen his attitude shift away from extrinsic rewards. Whether it be newspaper mention, praise from coach, or notice from scouts, it's becoming apparent that that stuff is more important to me. He's learning that he cannot control any of those things- what he can control is how he prepares, performs, reacts, and ultimately how he measures himself. The intrinsic stuff is more reliable for a player, and the rest becomes icing on the cake.

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Originally posted by spizzlepop:
Things change for most kids as they ascend through the ranks. My son is far from the top, but recently I've seen his attitude shift away from extrinsic rewards. Whether it be newspaper mention, praise from coach, or notice from scouts, it's becoming apparent that that stuff is more important to me. He's learning that he cannot control any of those things- what he can control is how he prepares, performs, reacts, and ultimately how he measures himself. The intrinsic stuff is more reliable for a player, and the rest becomes icing on the cake.

This is the change I've experienced recently. The newspaper clippings and things like that are more of a novelty than anything else. I used to live and die over that stuff, but now it's just a neat thing when it shows up, and when it doesn't (which is more often than not around here) it isn't a big deal, I know my accomplishments and I know that the right people will know.

What great responses, I can relate to many.

I never asked son, but I can say his rewards in baseball most likely have been the places he's been to, the lifelong friends he's made, the stories he can share forever and the coaches and individuals that have helped to make a difference in his life.

I believe I was standing right next to Justbaseball when he took that photo!

What makes my son happy when he's playing baseball?

For my son, the question is its own answer!

He's happy when he's playing baseball!

As others have stated, great question Fungo.
After thinking about it for a while I think my son likes the competition the most. I know he likes the accolades that go with knocking a big run, but I really think he likes the heat of an intense game.
Especially when he pitches.
When he came off the field after pitching the last inning of a very intense, emotional, trash talking game (amongst the players, not the parents), where after every pitch the bench was screaming at him, he had a huge smile on his face. While walking to the car he said it was the most fun he had in game in a long time. The game ended in a tie!
He hated those kids for a day or two.
Two weeks later 2 of them are at fall tryouts and were on the fall team and they are great friends and laugh about the game.
I guess he likes the commradarie alot too!!

Great to read all these responses. When he was younger my son consistently hit doubles. While real young, he always slid into second. As he grew, he slid less often. His routine after sliding into second would be to stand up, clap his hands once, catch my eye, and then smile from ear to ear.

In high school he recalls a semi-final game when he fielded a comebacker to end what had become a close game. He recalls running toward first to toss the ball to his good friend who was playing first. He tells us the two of them were grinning like there was no tomorrow.

JPontiac:
Impressive post. I'd say about a 31 on the ACT?

In high school - going to the 3rd game of the playoffs & watching our son secure the save in a very close game & throw his glove in the air after the last out. It was the 1st time their high school had progressed past the 1st round in 12 years. That summer he chose to go to college after passing on 1st supp round money & never looked back. After 1 year of college and being a weekend starter, you can hear the love and pride for the game when he talks about his season. His eyes light up and the smile goes from ear to ear! He loves the competition and his teammates. It's knowing that he made the right choice that gives him the most reward.

Just starting his HS freshman year, my son has not had a chance to even play HS ball. I told him about this thread and he said each game comes with its own reward, whether it be a shut out, getting the ball in relief and getting the save or just a good hit well fought game. Playing the game well is its own reward. I thought Wow how deep.
Then with a smerk on his face told me how it felt good a few weeks ago when the the prospective freshman players were asked to stay after by the V & JV players for a pick up game. Each pitcher pitched an inning & my son struck out 2 Seniors and a junior. Left the mound only to see the varsity coach standing there smiling ear to ear with a big thumbs up for him.

That was the most recent Reward.

What a great topic, this is my first post. My son was a freshman starter on a top HS team in our area, his first HS at bat was a 3run HR, after the game he came to me and said " was that cool Dad" I said "NOW THAT WAS PRICELESS". He cant wait for his sophomore year of Baseball to start.

Always remember
IT IS GOOD TO BE A DAD

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" was that cool Dad" I said "NOW THAT WAS PRICELESS"

Thanks for the post and welcome to the HSBBW. Looking forward to more "priceless moments"!
Fungo

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Originally posted by trojan-skipper:
JPontiac:
Impressive post. I'd say about a 31 on the ACT?

Well, I haven't taken the ACT yet, but that's what I'm shooting for on my first go around. My older brother got a 34 on the test and all indications are that I'm smarter than him, so I hope to get 33 or 34 eventually.

The big hit; the big play on D. No question. He doesn't care if I'm looking or not - he just wants to do something big to help his team. A couple of weeks ago, we were at a tournament and he drew nine walks in 3 games. He hates to walk. But when he finally did get a pitch to hit, it was a two-out bases loaded double. That made his day.

JPontiac- your post about being smarter than your brother made me laugh (being a mom with 2 boys). You are an amazing writer and this skill will help ensure your success in college. I hope you play baseball as well as you write!

Keep posting, us parents love to hear from the kids.

Well, I hope to major in journalism or a related field so the kind words are both flattering and encouraging. My brother would probably try to refute the fact that I am smarter, he is more of a common sense in the real world and low effort type and I will do whatever is necessary for good grades but I admit sometimes I get a little scatter-brained when in conversations, which is what he would use to say he is smarter. He (and I will soon) did well on his ACT because the subject matter on the test is normally a couple years old as far as where he was (and I am, even moreso because I have been very ambitious in class selection) academically. This allowed him and me the ability to not frantically try to learn and cram before the test, but just refresh more than anything. We both will benefit either way from it though, he received a full football scholarship as a quarterback and received attention solely based on his score and I know what a great tool strong academics are in baseball. As my brother sent out recruiting DVDs to football coaches, he always put his name, position, high school, and ACT score on the disk. The coach that signed him said he was ready to discard it as junk when he saw the 34 ACT written on it and it prompted him to watch the tape. The rest is history. I hope I'll have a similar story.

I wonder if I could use a metric score for my son's SAT and it will catch a coaches attention?

JPontiac, the first thing I thought on your first post was this cannot be a teenager, writing is too good, better than this old guy!

The strange thing is, both my parents are pretty intelligent, but neither were very good in English and both aren't necessarily strong writers. I don't know beyond that on my mom's side because everyone else spoke Greek that is older than her and my dad's side, well, I didn't get it from that side I don't believe.