Should junior play ball?

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Originally posted by rz1:

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Yes, another trip to the mound, but the best competition most likely he will face while in college. That's more than just a trip to the mound.

I'd have to disagree and say that a successful pitcher has to treat every outing like its "the" outing regardless of who he's throwing against. A "team" as a whole may look differently when playing against a specific team but a pitcher has a specific mental and physical routine that they follow. I think most pitchers will say that approach and/or mindset does not change regardless of who they are playing against. You always want the rock for the big games, but in the end it's still just another trip to the mound. If that pitcher does well then those on the ourside say he was pumped to play that big game, if he fails they say he can't handle the pressure or wasn't up for it. IMHO

Absolutely agree with you that a pitcher has a certain routine and the mindset shouldn't change.
However, there are special moments that some players face. First trips to the mound are special moments. Maybe not for everyone.

And it is more than a trip to the mound.
It's a chance to prove (or not prove) that you can pitch and play against the best, first or last trip.
You might not understand that, that's ok, we can agree to disagree.

Whatever happened to the "backyard" games we knew as kids, or at least I knew ?

My dad was the best coach/teacher I ever had

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And it is more than a trip to the mound.
It's a chance to prove (or not prove) that you can pitch and play against the best, first or last trip.

You might not understand that, that's ok, we can agree to disagree.

I guess I may never understand that. However, neither will 90% of college pitchers who will never know if they can play against the best because they will never have that opportunity. They will have to go through their careers wondering what that feeling is like, and/or if they could handle it.

There is little doubt my sons love for baseball began with t-ball. At 6 I think he loved the fact we allowed him to swing this stick without getting in trouble. I remember practicing with him in the back yard and that twinkle in his eye when he hit one hard. Funny thing with all that practice he did he could really hit the ball, and after a while during games some parents would take their kids off the field when my son came to bat.

Over the next ten years I would remind him of that story and we would both laugh. Fast forward to this summer he is in the middle of a championship game, he must know I’m a little up tight. While he is on deck he motions me to come over and tells me the way he is feeling “some of these parents should take their kids off the field”. Hits a double, two runs score and they go on to win the game. Yea t-ball is worth it.

Kids losing interest in BB is a common thing and very few stay in the game past 18. I have seen many kids who just don't have the drive/love for the game. They lose interest when they get their licence, date and get jobs. other sports pull them away. I can't see burnout being an issue if it is not accompanied by some other issues.
Fungo I know he was excited but for him you aren't going to see it. He just dosen't show anyemmotion win or lose. Very dry personnality. He is the total opposite of me. I would be over the hill with excitement.

Ahhh, the memories. I recall the very first play in my son's very first T-ball game....

You all know the scene: 12 assorted boys and girls, distributed in the field. Only a couple could catch or throw, but every inning they rotated positions.

But that first inning, my son was at the pitchers mound. That's where most of the balls rolled, of course.

Very first batter, predictably, hits it to him, and he picks it up and throws it over to first, where Tess was manning the bag.

Except Tess wasn't quite ready to play ball. In fact she didn't even know the game had started. The ball hit her square in the nose. She never even saw it coming.(Luckily, it was one of those safety balls.)

Tess's dad was an emergency room doc, and he ran out to take care of her.

No permanent damage, but Tess's baseball career was cut short. Never saw her on the diamond again. Career lasted precisely one "pitch."

As for my son.... what could I say to him, other than: "Nice throw!"

sonsbaseballvalet:

Great story...I love it!




Rob;
"Nice throw!" He's got a nose for the game...and it belonged to Tess!

Yea I am old school and very much so---so why is a 16 year old calling his dad over in a "championship" game-I do not understand---

Why TR? To share a long standing and very funny T-ball memory with his dad/valet/coach...followed by a nice double to break open the game.

I still like the backyard games where we learned the basics of the game

By the way my dad was never a "valet"---he was working with me to learn the game--as I said the best coach I ever had

TR, Remember the old game.
Work-Up.
Where you field a team, and there are 3 are 4 Batter's.
You bat till your put out.
then go to RT. field, and work your way around the field.
RT,CF,LF,3rd,ss,2nd,1st, I'm not sure about pitcher/catcher.
I think one of the older boy's would pitch.
Then you get to bat again.

They should start a league called Work-up.
And play all comer's, in there age group's are ability.
And then you will see the player's true Ability.
EH

EH - I never played work-up but it sounds fun to me

When we could not field a team as kids, we often played wiffle ball. You could throw curves, sliders, screwballs, knuckleballs etc. and you only needed two players. If the ball was not hit a minimum distance you were out. Ghost runners were employed. My favorite part was if you did field a ball, you could throw it at the runner to get'em out. Of course, along with getting them out, part of the fun was leaving a nice welt on them if at all possible

My fielding range for wiffle ball was greater than my "fall down range" in hard ball. Nothing got by me.

I agree with you TR in regards to the backyard stuff.


And EH, I remember work up very well...everything you say about it is true!

I loved wiffle.
The thing about work-up, Is it was all-comer's.
You get 9 to 14 player's and you have a game.
You might have to play 2 position's( only 2OF, Are only a deep SS, No 3rd baseman, ECT. )
You might have a 15 yr. old and a 7 yr. old on the same field.
And it was OK.
The Older one's took care of the younger one's.
You learned the game, and had fun.
Where there fat lip's, and black eye's.
Scrap's, Cut's, and Bruises.
Yo Betcha.
Battle wound's you showed off.
And we lived??
EH

those were the best times.didn't need 9 kids to play.anything hit to right is an out,pitch to leftys from 3rd.that's where we learned the tricks of life.lol.

priceless memorys

TR

Not to far out of the way when your coaching third.

We played it all, from dawn to dusk. In the city environment, we all walked or biked to the field every morning. Normally, RF would be closed or we shifted. Where do you think the "lefty is up" came from? From all of us.

When the group would be reduced throughout the day, we reverted to what we called "fast-pitch rubber". The strike zone, oversized, chalked or painted on a wall. You only needed 2 guys, man on man, and the hits were judged as they occurred.

Never a complaint about the arm hurts, nothing except pure passion!!

We would even play 8 hours of baseball when we had a little league game the same late afternoon, and even that wasn't enough.

Occasionally, we would play some football in the outfield or hoops on the court behind RCF.

Mischief was popping wheelies on our Banana bikes, or playing "your it" or tag.......best workout around, unstructured and unsupervised.

I still can't pinpoint the moment I lost my passion the first go round, but I got it back a few years later during college and played some form of baseball until age 44.

I think many of us were real good, as good fundamentally as the kids today, but just didn't know it. No web, different rules, no marketing, no showcases.

Times have sure changed!!

Hey everybody, this is brilliant stuff! Sorry I didn't get back to you sooner, been out of town on business. Don't worry, I know even the jabbing was kind hearted.

Here is the situation in a nutshell. The folks in this community know that I was the manager of the Columbia Red 17-18 team for 16 years. Our team has enjoyed some local and national prominence at times, and over the years, local high school boys have mentioned our program or my name in the papers. Somehow they have erroneously equated some of their success with my and my coaching staff's coaching (crazy kids)???

My son's friends are mostly a year or two older than him. The dads approached me a while back during a barbecue and asked if I would consider coaching their son's team this year. It would be 7-8 year old coach pitch. They have seen how my son plays in the backyard games with their kids, and think I have worked some magic on him. I tell them the only magic I have worked is to allow his good hand/eye coordination to manifest itself. Whether we are playing tennis together, hitting balls in the backyard, casting the fishing line at a target, or whatever.

My dad was a great man who never pushed me into sports. He supported me, but allowed me to ask him to play catch or toss the football. He didn't shove it down my throat.

My daughter is an accomplished swimmer (heck, I can barely swim 25 meters), and plays very well in s****r, basketball and softball. I used the same approach with her as my father did with me and my sister. She is almost 10 and still enjoys playing sports. I have never coached her. I was nervous at first, and now when people ask me why I don't coach her, I tell them cause she loves her coaches and I don't want to mess that up. I coach her in the backyard sometimes anyway (when she doesn't have a book or a doll in her hand that is).

Back to the topic here. So, I am feeling a little pressure from these guys to coach their kids. I won't coach the team if my son doesn't play. Wouldn't dare risk missing one of his or my daughter's games while I was coaching someone else's kids (the reason I stopped coaching the Columbia Reds team).

I watch their kids, and they are right. Matt would hold his own fine. He knows the kids, and likes the kids.

The reason I am struggling with this is that as a coach of a 17-18 team for 16 years, I had one 16 yr. old play for me in all that time. He was exceptional, and that was that. I think if kids are always the youngest on a team, they miss out on developing as a leader.

As for T-ball, it is not the T-ball we all grew up with. My daughter played on a team with another girl, and 12 boys. She hated it. The PC crowd has killed T-ball for the rest of us. It is all about the snack. Don't get me wrong, at 5'8" and 220 lbs, I like snacks too. But snack time is after the game. In my area, kids aren't required to listen to other adults, pay attention during a game, etc... Mom and dad are simply looking for a babysitter for a couple of hours a week. I'm all for letting kids be kids...but only to a certain point.

I agree with most of the old school posts. I will say I believe t-ball is good for the kids. If anything it begins some basic skills as in running after you hit the ball, which way to go and making some friends. Saying that Larry has hit it on the nose. T-ball is all about snacks and the PC crowd. Unfortunately little league has become the "PC" way. In the old days there were 3 divisions, t-ball age 5-7,Minors 7 and up and Majors 9 and up. Now I think majors is 11-12.I guess a player doen't have to earn their way to the top level, it's now just given to them. It might give them a complex if they can't play with the best players. Switching gears,I can remember those wiffle ball games... they were great . As others have said, you would play your game earlier, go home and play wiffle till it's dark. My kids did it the same way, and at times they would drag me out of the house and make me be full time pitcher. The same neighborhood kids would play nearly everyday. I believe wiffle ball is part of my kids success. His buddy, who lives/lived across the street(His parents are still there), played together the entire time they were growing up ( they met in T-Ball). Today, they have both been drafted, they are roommates, both pitchers at the same college. When they talk to people , they sometimes mention they have played together since t-ball, it's great.

I do think T-Ball is good for the kids but it is just as..if not more important to work with your kid as much as he or she wants and not just dump them off at t-ball practice expect them to be best. All of us here on this site can definitely tell by watching young kids play , which kid practices with the parents and which one doesn't.

Good luck

Welcome back Larry!

Thanks for qualifying the story with your history and experience. With that said I feel that you should still be the coach....when your sons age group gets there. There may be a compromise. Use this year and see what t-ballers may have the passion and next year grab some of them and do your magic in a very informal manner. I see the potential for many conflicts of issues in your future. These older kids are buddies with your son now but I've heard that the future is very hard to predict. Within his age group is a safer bet. I also have a problem with the older kids dads using your son as the sacrificial lamb in order to get you involved. Do it, but do it on your terms.

At 5 I say just let him play. Enjoy the sunshine, enjoy laughing with a new group of friends, enjoy running with all of the oher team mates to wherever the ball is hit. Your boys grow up so fast...just let him play