Its about to get real......1 month from today is sonnyboy's first collegiate game. Not sure how much playing time he will get if any being a freshman..... but excited none the less. Can't wait to cheer on the team whether he is on the bench or the field.
#1BBALLMOMFAN
I remember it well, very emotional once that day arrives. All the hard work and now your sitting there watching him standing in line for the national anthem.
Good luck, enjoy the moment!
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Picked Off posted:#1BBALLMOMFAN
I remember it well, very emotional once that day arrives. All the hard work and now your sitting there watching him standing in line for the national anthem.
Good luck, enjoy the moment!
#20
Gee, can't seem to pick him out from the crowd. Haha. Happy Holidays to you and your family! I hear the boys think we broke up. Looking forward to February. Tell your son to stay at the other end of the line. I got cabbage some lifts for Christmas but I'm thinking it won't help much.
#1bballmomfan posted:Its about to get real......1 month from today is sonnyboy's first collegiate game. Not sure how much playing time he will get if any being a freshman..... but excited none the less. Can't wait to cheer on the team whether he is on the bench or the field.
Yup, five weeks for junior. After a very busy fall, he was glad to come home for some rest and doing a whole lot of nothing over Christmas break. I think that lasted about three hours...
He has played football, basketball, several trips to airport to pick up other friends home from school, "friend gatherings" almost every night, helped a few times with my HS squad, daily workout prescribed by school, hit in the cage almost daily, ugly Xmas sweater parties, traveled in several directions to see family for Holidays, selling stuff on ebay to earn money for summer ball and most recently, a bunch of the guys decided to go shoot shotguns (and other assorted firearms).
I have a family heirloom shotgun that was his great grandfather's. His name was Carl and he was a machinist so his name was engraved on the shotgun. I reluctantly let son take it out. It hadn't seen the light of day for over ten years and that was only briefly to scare away the first boy wanting to date my daughter. By the end of the day, the boys had a favorite gun of choice. Carl.
At least he didn't go snowboarding this year. Yet. His mother wishes he was a bit more of a bubble wrap kid.
Best wishes to your son, #1bballmomfan and everyone else looking forward to opening day!
Son has thoroughly taken full advantage of just being home for the holidays and relaxing. We went to our deer lease for a few days then he followed that up with eating, sleeping, working out, spending time with his siblings playing xbox and playing cards, little more xbox, hitting the cages and fields several times a week....eats more and just being a carefree college student . LOL Love having him home. I know he's anxious to get back and get into some dirt though. Seems just like yesterday when he picked that big barrel bat up for the first time, when the glove was the size of a cooking mit and his pants swallowed him up to now being so grown up. Some of the best years of our lives as parents watching him navigate and learn about life and it's ups and downs....and it seems to only be getting better. College has agreed with him so far and that makes a mamma's heart happy. Baseball has just been the icing on the cake for him. I'm gearing up and getting ready for a new chapter and watching some college baseball. Can't imagine it should feel differently sitting in that stand as any other, but somehow I imagine it does.
Enjoy it as much as you can. It will be a very memorable event especially for the new starters and freshmen. For my son's first appearance, we took lots of pictures but I really wish we had taken some video in addition. Good luck!
Fenway - great advice! I know I'll be there with camera in hand but probably wouldn't have thought to bring the video camera. Thanks!
fenwaysouth posted:Enjoy it as much as you can. It will be a very memorable event especially for the new starters and freshmen. For my son's first appearance, we took lots of pictures but I really wish we had taken some video in addition. Good luck!
Took care of that...hubs bought me a new zoom lens for the good old camera. Best present in the world to me so that I can capture those once in a lifetime moments and videos. Now if I can just figure it out before the first game. So many settings and functions. ANY PHOTO EXPERTS out there willing to give advice????
I am! send me a PM with your questions. Or start a new thread and we can give everyone on the board some photo advice. I worked for newspapers for 25 years and now have my own photography business. Photograph many of my son's games (2017RHP) but also try to enjoy the games and pick one time to take photos and other times just to watch and be a mom. Lighting, composition and speed are what you need to work out to get the sharpest, well-composed photos. And think about multiple photos that tell a story.
Loving this thread, as our son navigates the college recruitment landscape this year, it's exciting to read about your sons in college.
Many thanks & Happy New Year!
#1bballmomfan posted:Son has thoroughly taken full advantage of just being home for the holidays and relaxing. We went to our deer lease for a few days then he followed that up with eating, sleeping, working out, spending time with his siblings playing xbox and playing cards, little more xbox, hitting the cages and fields several times a week....eats more and just being a carefree college student . LOL Love having him home. I know he's anxious to get back and get into some dirt though. Seems just like yesterday when he picked that big barrel bat up for the first time, when the glove was the size of a cooking mit and his pants swallowed him up to now being so grown up. Some of the best years of our lives as parents watching him navigate and learn about life and it's ups and downs....and it seems to only be getting better. College has agreed with him so far and that makes a mamma's heart happy. Baseball has just been the icing on the cake for him. I'm gearing up and getting ready for a new chapter and watching some college baseball. Can't imagine it should feel differently sitting in that stand as any other, but somehow I imagine it does.
I see that you live in Texas and so does Redfishfool. He is always talking about going to the deer lease!
46 days 
Opening night is 2 months from TODAY. So excited to make the road trip and see son's first college regular season game. He'll play second base. My principal excused me for the day (so long as I cover my classes 
)
chefmike7777 posted:46 days
24 Days for me!
rynoattack posted:chefmike7777 posted:46 days
24 Days for me!
lucky lucky man
10 days until guys report for "Spring Training" -- that's a week before classes start. I'm afraid though the kid has been chilling too much and working too little during the break. Ready to see him shift his preparation into high gear.
1 week to go before team's first practice, and 39 days until their first game. Hey El Niño, you need to chill in February, March, April and May.
Players report in 4 days. They were just told to make sure to bring sleeping bags with them so that they can camp out in the gym for three nights and four days. They begin the campaign by eating, sleeping, learning the system, working out and practicing together for the first few days back before school starts. Now that's taking the idea of training camp pretty literally.
Team chemistry wins championships!
Mine flies back to school tomorrow (Tuesday). First practice - 6AM Wednesday.
School and official practice starts today. He has been there since December 27th, though being close he did pop in often to the homestead. As far as I can tell most everyone who was not in dorm was back about a week ago. I know I have 15 different players at my house since then to feed off and on .
Grocery budget took a good whacking in last week
39 days 2 hours 47 minutes until first pitch
Mine went back Saturday. They reported to field yesterday at 10:00am. Had an hour meeting, ate lunch in fieldhouse, practiced from noon to 3:00, post practice meal, done at 4:00. First game is January 29th. Still get nervous, so it's not just a freshman parent thing. Good luck to all.
Son goes back to school next Monday with classes starting on Tuesday. First game is February 29th. CAN'T WAIT! Best of luck to all for a healthy & successful season.
My Son's Spring Practice started at 5:30 this morning! First game is Superbowl weekend so it should be cold/rainy in McMinnville, Or! His school (Linfield) is ranked #10 in pre season. They lost some pitching to graduation but have some good arms coming up! Offense should keep getting better with only a handful of graduates leaving and a strong group of Sophomores that got alot of playing time on Varsity last year. My Son will probably spend another year as a Utility player, which is awesome getting to play multiple positions! May even pitch a little, can't wait!
Have to share.........just got the call from a super excited young man that during their scrimmage he dropped his first college bomb of 380+ against a pretty descent pitcher. Son said pitcher took it well and congratulated him for taking advantage of his ill placement. In 2 weeks is "GO" day. Little brother starts his select ball next week so ready or not here comes the best time of the year!!!!!!!!!!!
Awesome!!!!!!! And to hear a woman talk like that... "dropped his first bomb"... well, my kinda woman 
Dropped the son off last week for Spring Training. Then the wife and I went and enjoyed the So Cal sunshine and beaches for a few days. Stopped in to say hi and take the kid to lunch on the drive back home. Pretty clear it's going to be tough to get much playing time. The team kept 13 outfielders in toto. 2 seniors, 5 juniors, 1 sophomore and 5 frosh (though one of he frosh is hurt and can't throw right now but can bat, so that's really 4 and a potential DH, I guess). Definitely looks like the frosh are all headed for JV squad this year. 7 of the 8 upperclassmen are returning varsity outfielders and one is a junior JC transfer. Two of the returners saw almost no PT last year when the varsity carried a mere 7 OF. If they carry all 8 of the upperclassmen, there will be even less to go around. Tough odds. Very crowded OF. Kid says that they can all play too and that a number of the bench guys would be starting on other teams in the league. On the bright side, my kid seems to be playing his butt off. But man, that's a lot of competition!
That's just crazy. Seems kind of selfish too for the coaches to stockpile so many players. I know it's a business, but that is cold.
JCG posted:That's just crazy. Seems kind of selfish too for the coaches to stockpile so many players. I know it's a business, but that is cold.
Yeah, it left me wondering how typical this is for a D3 with a JV program. There are something like 40-42 players on the total roster between JV and Varsity. Still 13 OF seems on the high side, though.
Questions that need to be asked in the 1st interview. SSU or SRJC is no different. 100 players "trying" out in the Fall only 30 will have active participation in practice and games.
At MSU, there was a Freshman team, 100 players "tried out", only 5 played 3 years later on the Varsity in the College World Series.
Question: JV or "red shirt" or transfer.
Bob
Goodwill Series and Area Code 1983-2016
Sometimes it depends on the league. The OAC almost every team is in the 40's. In my faborite, the NCAC is usually carries in the 30's. Denison since Deegan has taken over may carry the lowest roster size. The HCAC is similar to the OAC. Bluffton carries in the 50's. But Bluffton neber cuts a player. There are players on team that know that they will never see the field. (Thanks to jboss for his info there). Mount Union in the OAC does the same thing.
BishopLeftiesDad posted:Sometimes it depends on the league. The OAC almost every team is in the 40's. In my faborite, the NCAC is usually carries in the 30's. Denison since Deegan has taken over may carry the lowest roster size. The HCAC is similar to the OAC. Bluffton carries in the 50's. But Bluffton neber cuts a player. There are players on team that know that they will never see the field. (Thanks to jboss for his info there). Mount Union in the OAC does the same thing.
40+ or even 50 WITHOUT fielding a JV team? Wow!
Son's first year at JuCo there was 55 or so during the fall season. When asked the coach said not to worry, he won't have to make cuts. They'll self cut by spring. Sure enough, a few became ineligible due to grades, some injured (redshirt) and the rest self cut (quit). Come spring the roster was at 35.
Additionally by the last month the active roster was down to 28 or so as more quit due to lack of playing time, grades and I think maybe one or two injuries.
SluggerDad posted:BishopLeftiesDad posted:Sometimes it depends on the league. The OAC almost every team is in the 40's. In my faborite, the NCAC is usually carries in the 30's. Denison since Deegan has taken over may carry the lowest roster size. The HCAC is similar to the OAC. Bluffton carries in the 50's. But Bluffton neber cuts a player. There are players on team that know that they will never see the field. (Thanks to jboss for his info there). Mount Union in the OAC does the same thing.
40+ or even 50 WITHOUT fielding a JV team? Wow!
Not sure anout JV, if there is they do not play many games.
Wife and I are just trying to learn the freshman ropes and excited too see what playing time and contributions son can make to help his team this spring. They say "adversity doesn't build character but reveals it" and his path to get to this point has been filled with one roadblock after another. I'm not sure how I would've handled it but he has with the heart and desire of a true champion.
Between his freshman and sophomore year of high school he experienced elbow pain during summer ball. His forearm would tighten and his bicep would contract. After 6 months of doctor visits, MRI, nerve tests and rehabs, it was diagnosed as a pinched nerve in his shoulder. At one point we thought we were headed for Thorasic Outlet surgery. Thankfully we live near one of the best in the country for this and he said surgery was unwarranted. He pitched pain free and with a loose arm his sophomore year and through district play of his junior year. In the third round of the playoffs, in the 6th inning of the game, after a fastball on a 1-1 count, he toed the rubber but looked uncomfortable. I saw him twitch his arm slightly and knew immediately it was his elbow. As many on here know, it's the sickest feeling a parent can have. He signaled for the pitching coach but the coach just thought he wanted another pitched called. When he realized the coach didn't understand, he started to walk off the mound and collapsed in pain. He didn't rupture his ligament, he tore it completely off the bone. This was in middle May of '14. He had surgery in June of '14 to repair and we opted to do reconstructive surgery at the same time. Yes, he now has 2 ligaments in his arm. The doctor said his original was surprisingly healthy with little scar tissue and had pulled cleanly off the bone. Hindsight, his arm had tightened up in the first round of the playoffs (shoulder nerve again) and he didn't tell anyone about it. He learned an unfortunate lesson that the pronator muscles are important to provide support and stability to the elbow and...... communicate.
Now he had 14 offers from D1 schools, 12 from power 5 conferences. He had committed to a high academic P5 school although there was one school that had really caught his attention that I thought he would never consider. He really loved the coaching staff and especially the pitching coach but thought the opportunity to play baseball and get an education from the high academic trumped that.
A month to the day after his arm surgery, he had an emergency appendectomy. Two weeks before signing day, the school pulled his offer. Third punch in the gut. After the other schools found out about this, most contacted him to see if he was still interested? Only the one school he loved didn't. We found back channels to let them know he was available and they called him to gauge his interest. They still wanted him and everything worked out, hurrah!
After finishing his rehab in mid October, he started his throwing portion at the end of October. Because the original ligament was still healthy and reattached, it was thought he might be able to return mid season of his senior year. His throwing portion started uneventful, in fact, it was quite amazing. In April of '15, he was suppose to start ramping up his bullpens and the ball was jumping out of his hand. Unfortunately, he kept complaining about a tugging in his elbow. He kept asking, "do you think I have scar tissue in there. We're now at the end of May and doctor visits and an MRI later, he's scheduled for ulnar nerve transposition surgery. So in June of '15 he has the surgery. Doc tells us he had a "spider web" of scar tissue around the nerve.
After all this, things work out for a reason and he heads to school in July. The "reason", he is on campus with one of the best if not arguably the best pitching coach in college baseball. They bring him along slowly and when he eventually throws his first bullpen, the coach tells him he's seen enough, he doesn't need to rush into fall ball and says he will play a major roll in the spring. He eventually has a limited, quiet but strong late fall.
Sorry but we're not done. :-) Right before Thanksgiving, he starts complaining about what sounds like a hernia. It only bothers him when he lifts and runs but not throwing. I say, welcome to the family, I had one, your uncle, grandad and great grandfather all had them. Only thing is, he had no protrusion. They want to keep him on a throwing program even though the rest of the staff is shut down because they are trying to build up his arm strength. 2 ultrasounds and an MRI later, it's discovered he has a sports hernia. Now originally, we were told they thought they could manage it through the season, but the pitching coach had a different idea. He didn't want him to have to worry about it during the season and when and if he would hurt. So, we found a specialist and he had surgery on Dec. 28th. He threw all the way up to surgery and will start throwing again lightly this Friday.
Through this whole ordeal, nothing has made us prouder than watching him grow as a young man and his resiliency and determination will carry him far.
So......here's cautiously and optimistically hoping it's all behind him and praying he can just do what he so passionately loves!
FoxDad posted:Son's first year at JuCo there was 55 or so during the fall season. When asked the coach said not to worry, he won't have to make cuts. They'll self cut by spring. Sure enough, a few became ineligible due to grades, some injured (redshirt) and the rest self cut (quit). Come spring the roster was at 35.
Heh, funny....this sounds exactly like my son's juco, same situation. Looks like the spring roster is currently at 40.
Season starts in 13 days....woot!
So......here's cautiously and optimistically hoping it's all behind him and praying he can just do what he so passionately loves!
AGDAD19 - If this were a competition, your son would probably be in the lead for comebacks. Good luck and hopefully the decks are cleared for the rest of his career. I've still got about 24 months to go before my 2017 gets his shot and I am hoping for a much less eventful two years.
Please give us an update as the season progresses.
Our freshman son will start practice 9 days from now. 1st game is on the 19th of Feb. He says, "there are lots of pitchers", but tells us his bullpens are going well. He seems to have a good relationship with his pitching coach and understands the communication, feels confident he will get substantial innings this spring. He's excited for the opportunity and can't wait to get started. 29 more days till I get to watch some baseball. Yay !!
Sons college roster posted this weekend and seeing his name on it took it to a whole new level. Hoping he gets to travel with them next weekend.
#1bballmomfan posted:Sons college roster posted this weekend and seeing his name on it took it to a whole new level. Hoping he gets to travel with them next weekend.
I remember when my son was a freshman at a JuCo. JuCo's can play a limited number of fall games. For the first several away games he didn't make the "travel squad" (bus held 28 - 25 players and 3 coaches plus gear), but late in the fall season he calls with news he had made the travel squad and they would be playing about an hour from home (the JuCo was 4.5 hours away). My wife and I were real excited. From that point on he always made the travel squad.
Opening day for our son tomorrow. Already have taken the day off and will be there for the whole weekend series. Good luck to all. Enjoy every inning of every game because it goes fast.