Summer travel ball stories

The main thing I remember is my son and I watching "The Office" marathon for a week in Georgia in between games.  Somehow I had never seen the show.  The only actual baseball I remember is what made it to his recruiting video.

Another parent

in South Dakota on three hour road trip, the lead car stop and driver stepped out to shoot a rattlesnake in the road.

Bob

Saw a kid strike out yesterday and the catcher went to throw it around and the ball hit the bat and ricocheted right back to the catcher’s nuts. Funniest thing I’ve seen in a while.

Using GasBuddy for the cheapest gas. Driving at odd hours to not have to pay for a hotel room. Only one parent travels to minimize the mouths to feed. Eating just two meals a day (one being the free hotel breakfast). Snacks are packed from home. Staying the minimum night in the "Stay-to-Play" hotel to meet the tournament's reservation requirements, then staying in the cheapest/sketchy hotels that can be found. All really great life training skills for my son right?

Oh the memories! Son (2024) has played really well with the exception of one day, which he had terrible jet-lag exhaustion. His team has good and bad days, so they typically have only gotten one extra game beyond pool play. We figured he needed to play travel to show that he's a good player and can compete and he's done that. Not sure if it's caught anyone's attention...so he tweets video and also compiles highlights to send directly to college coaches. Just frustrating that coaches don't seem to be viewing the video according to the YouTube view counts. (Yes, he's sending to all levels). Maybe they see 2024 and just aren't looking yet?

Trying to figure out what to do next season as travel team tryouts are starting to happen. It's a confidence boost when he's one of the better players on the team, but I don't want that. I want him to be in the middle of the pack so he can be pushed/challenged. I also don't want others to think that he's quitting his current team. The coach, other players and majority of the parents are wonderful. (I say majority because a dad, who also keeps the book, has something against my son. I think he feels my son is competition with his son. The dad gives other players infield hits that should be reach on an error. Meanwhile my son hits the ball into play and is marked as reaching 3rd on an error for example). I just keep telling my son to keep grinding...

It took me several awful, dangerous and unhealthy bookings to realize not to sacrifice quality for a closer proximity to the field.

Somehow these posts reminded me of the time that we got upgraded to a room with a kitchenette, I tried to make burgers, and set off the hotel smoke alarm.  Never did that again.  We had done bug- and drug-infested motels for ultimate frisbee, and I said never again.  Tripadvisor is your friend!

Momball11, I remember that in the moment, the stats seemed to matter a lot.  Trust me, they really don't matter at all, especially in travel ball.  Everyone knows it's just some parent doing the stats.  What matters is what the coach thinks, and he knows what he sees on the field.  (having said that, there is some sketchy scorekeeping in summer collegiate league too, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't still worrying about this - but I still tell myself it doesn't matter).

Also, if your '24 son isn't a D1 recruit, then his recruiting summer will be in '23/17U/before senior year.  So, for that reason, you want to figure out where he projects, and try to find a team for next summer that will best position him to be recruited to the schools of interest (which is to say, that the coach has recruiting in mind and will be able to convincingly recommend him where appropriate).

I could tell you a million stories about my daughter and TB.  They won several big tournaments with a couple being tournaments of a week or more.  However, the thing that stands out to me is the time we spent in the car.  My daughter and I were able to see a huge part of this country by traveling to these tournaments.  We went anywhere from Florida to Colorado.  Some people in our small town couldn't understand why we would spend the money and do all of that traveling.  Now, at certain times, my daughter will bring up something we did on those travels and I know that it was money well spent. 

Speaking of stats, a kid on my son’s WWBA team had a previous high of 80. Well now his top velo is 88….. he’s not even here, lol. The PG score keeper messed everything up.

@anotherparent posted:

Somehow these posts reminded me of the time that we got upgraded to a room with a kitchenette, I tried to make burgers, and set off the hotel smoke alarm.  Never did that again.  We had done bug- and drug-infested motels for ultimate frisbee, and I said never again.  Tripadvisor is your friend!

Momball11, I remember that in the moment, the stats seemed to matter a lot.  Trust me, they really don't matter at all, especially in travel ball.  Everyone knows it's just some parent doing the stats.  What matters is what the coach thinks, and he knows what he sees on the field.  (having said that, there is some sketchy scorekeeping in summer collegiate league too, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't still worrying about this - but I still tell myself it doesn't matter).

Also, if your '24 son isn't a D1 recruit, then his recruiting summer will be in '23/17U/before senior year.  So, for that reason, you want to figure out where he projects, and try to find a team for next summer that will best position him to be recruited to the schools of interest (which is to say, that the coach has recruiting in mind and will be able to convincingly recommend him where appropriate).

Yeah not to worried on the stats, just more disappointed in the parents actions. Right now I'm not sure what to think on his level. Some have said weaker P5, others have said mid major, and some have said to just go juco, D2, D3 because of the log jam from covid and the transfer portal. So in other words I think they are having a hard time projecting him. Probably because my husband is tall and I am petite. Lol!

@Momball11 I’m 5’4”, hubby is 6’5”. Oldest daughter is 5’8”, youngest daughter is 5’11” and the boy (the baby) is 6’7” 😂 Ya never know!!

This is my first summer without summer baseball since 2012. (He was going to play in a summer college league but decided to train instead this summer before reporting to college for the first time next month.)

Do I have stories from the previous 9 years? Yes! So many...some of the best times in my life...and a few that I wished never happened.

The biggest thing is that I miss it. Right now, I have friends with younger kids playing tournaments in Georgia and Florida and I am a little jealous - although my wallet and credit cards are saying "Finally...a summer where we're not being abused."

I'm getting a lot of reading done this summer and my lawn has never been so consistently and routinely maintained this well in a long time. So, there's that...

But it's really weird not having baseball this summer. That's for sure. So grateful for the truckloads of memories collected over the previous summers though.

We never did summer travel. Iowa has summer HS baseball, so we didn't start travel ball until late July or August. Like so many others, I miss the time my son and I spent alone in the car. I still say being with my son is the next best thing to being alone--which is a compliment. We knew when to talk to each other and when we needed some space.

Particular moments that stick out include the PG tournament in Florida when we went looking for a place to watch the Yankees play in the world series and ended up in an Hispanic bar on the edge of a really shady trailer court that was playing all soccer on their 10 big screens. They very kindly turned on the game for us, but were pretty happy to see us go after a couple of innings. Then there was the Uber on Halloween with the stuffed cat in the back seat and the driver wearing cat ears who suggested he/she could take us to a really fun bar to party. And the stop at Mount Rushmore en route from one college visit to the next — I had booked it all not factoring in driving through the Sturgis motorcycle rally going on around us.

We didn't always make good choices.

This summer, he is playing college summer ball in Ohio. I think the saddest moment was when I offered to drive with him (thought we could recapture all that driving) and he said, nah, I've got it. Cherish those moments, including the sketchy hotels and long nights. They pass way too fast.

@TerribleBPthrower posted:

Speaking of stats, a kid on my son’s WWBA team had a previous high of 80. Well now his top velo is 88….. he’s not even here, lol. The PG score keeper messed everything up.

Crazy PG score keeping pushed me over the edge of not caring about stats at all. I can’t imagine any college coaches taking PG stats seriously after seeing how messed up it is. According to diamondkast last week, someone from the other team hit a line drive double… to the catcher…

Lots of memories for sure. The most unforgettable one is both my saddest and proudest memory. An older brother of my son’s long time teammate died in a car accident back home while we were out of town in one of the big PG wwba tournament. That older brother is one of our team’s biggest cheerleader and became a good friend of the boys on our team. He stayed home that summer bec he just started a summer job.

The whole team was crushed. The coach gathered all of them in a conference room in the hotel the next day. A few dads shared some words but the boys were all just downcast and quiet. We were trying to get the boys to talk some to air out their grief but they were all just silent. Finally, the coach ended the meeting by asking for a volunteer from one of the boys to close us in prayer. After a few min of silence, my son volunteered. In the middle of his heartfelt prayer, he started sobbing.  The dam burst and all the boys started sobbing.

I’m in tears right now reliving that moment.

@Consultant posted:

Another parent

in South Dakota on three hour road trip, the lead car stop and driver stepped out to shoot a rattlesnake in the road.

Bob

I don't know if I'm more surprised by the rattlesnake in the road or the fact that the driver had a gun at the ready.  Did the team issue guns to everyone, or was the driver a volunteer?

@atlnon posted:

Lots of memories for sure. The most unforgettable one is both my saddest and proudest memory. An older brother of my son’s long time teammate died in a car accident back home while we were out of town in one of the big PG wwba tournament. That older brother is one of our team’s biggest cheerleader and became a good friend of the boys on our team. He stayed home that summer bec he just started a summer job.

The whole team was crushed. The coach gathered all of them in a conference room in the hotel the next day. A few dads shared some words but the boys were all just downcast and quiet. We were trying to get the boys to talk some to air out their grief but they were all just silent. Finally, the coach ended the meeting by asking for a volunteer from one of the boys to close us in prayer. After a few min of silence, my son volunteered. In the middle of his heartfelt prayer, he started sobbing.  The dam burst and all the boys started sobbing.

I’m in tears right now reliving that moment.

OMG. So sad but so good of you to share.

One of my favorite memories is from when one of my son's 17U teams stayed in the same hotel as a U18 girl's soccer team.  The hotel had a big barbecue pit area and for several nights the teams ate at around the same time. Next to the cooking area was a small basketball court and the boys realized the girls were sitting in spots where they could eat and watch the court at the same time. Suddenly there were guys who I know for a fact hated basketball try to go all Steven Curry on each other. Pretty comical watching so many testosterone driven baseball players not only turn into wannabe hoopsters but also want to be on the skins team.

The best part was the next night when the girls took over the court; they could actually play and the boys were like: OMG. There was even a half-hearted attempt for a coed matchup but the soccer coach put the kabosh on that.

I'm in a hotel right now with my wife and son because he has college orientation today and we live out of state. True conversation between me and my son at 6:40 AM this morning in the hotel room:

Me: Is it weird staying in a hotel without any game to play today?

Him: Yeah...but...that's because we never go on vacation.

Me: We never go on vacation because you always had games to play.

----

That's summer travel baseball in 3 lines.

And, we went on family vacations. Did Disney for a week 5 times from the time he was 4 to 15. The whole family. And we did more than a few summer out of state beach destination trips too with the whole family and no baseball.  So, don't believe him.

@smokeminside posted:

I don't know if I'm more surprised by the rattlesnake in the road or the fact that the driver had a gun at the ready.  Did the team issue guns to everyone, or was the driver a volunteer?

It would have been dramatic if he had crushed the snake with a baseball bat.

@Consultant's stories are always an order of magnitude better than others!

Not a bad season so far. Been in hotels the past 3 extended weekends, a lot of miles driven. Some good and not so good games. Moved up from 15U to 16U after the first tournament. Team has not been playing to well, but son has made all tournament team at every tournament. Best memory so far, was the team dinner at Twin Peaks. It was interesting to say the least. LOL

I think of all the things about baseball the one that stands out right now for me was the fact that my parents were able to see my son play.  We moved from TN to MIssouri when he was in 8th grade.  They had to plan trips that would get the most ball in for football in the fall and baseball in the spring.  But in the summer of his 14th year, he played in 14U, 15U, 16U, 17U, and 18U WWBA in Atlanta.  They brought their camper and stayed right beside LakePoint and were there for him all summer when I could not be for most of the summer.  He was not excited about it to start with but still talks about it.  They took him fishing, his favorite restaurants, made his favorite meals, and did anything he wanted that summer.  Even the weeks he was with the Royals they were at every game.  My dad passed this past December and people don't understand why he says my dad was one of his heroes but I know it was because for 2 summers he saw them every day and spent an incredible amount of time with them that most don't realize because he never lived closer than 8 hours from them.

Some of the greatest moments are the weirdest ones when it comes to travel ball.  Youngest son played 3 times between 1-3 AM game starts at LakePoint and those are the ones we talk about.  Middle son helped coach youngest son one summer and we talk about that.  They are 8 years apart.  Every time Ben McDonald does a UT game we talk about the fact that we upset Ben's travel ball team in WWBA with son on the mound.  The little things become the memorable things.

@smokeminside posted:

One of my favorite memories is from when one of my son's 17U teams stayed in the same hotel as a U18 girl's soccer team.  The hotel had a big barbecue pit area and for several nights the teams ate at around the same time. Next to the cooking area was a small basketball court and the boys realized the girls were sitting in spots where they could eat and watch the court at the same time. Suddenly there were guys who I know for a fact hated basketball try to go all Steven Curry on each other. Pretty comical watching so many testosterone driven baseball players not only turn into wannabe hoopsters but also want to be on the skins team.

The best part was the next night when the girls took over the court; they could actually play and the boys were like: OMG. There was even a half-hearted attempt for a coed matchup but the soccer coach put the kabosh on that.

This is exactly why God made sand volleyball courts.

Priceline and Hotwire are your two best friends during travel ball season or really for any travel.  Book the night of and it's even cheaper on Priceline.  It's changed the way we travel.  Everything we book is last minute and it usually ends up with a 4 star cheaper than a Hampton Inn.

The youth travel ball memories have really come rushing back this year.  Watching guys we played with and against as young as 8u  playing deep into the CWS was pretty cool.  The showcase circuit was fun but we put a lot of miles in, especially the last year.  It seemed like every tournament was 8 hours away.  I enjoyed it, but I don't want to do it again and it was probably unnecessary. 

My memories of travel ball are a little different and are unique to my situation at the time. My youngest son started travel ball in 2010 during the time that me and his mom were going thru a horribly contentious divorce. I became a travel ball coach so I could coordinate our team tournament schedule with my weekends of possession. I had to do that in order for my kids to be available to play baseball. So we played every other weekend basically until I had extended possession. Along with a general lack of cooperation my ex also attempted to poison my relationship with all 3 of my boys. It was a very difficult time for me and my boys. During the worst of times travel ball was the thing that kept me connected to 2 of my sons. The car rides and weekends away were opportunities to spend meaningful time with them when it mattered the most. They were able to see firsthand who I really was and it paid big dividends down the road. As much as I bag on some travel ball orgs, I have to give credit to one in particular for throwing a life raft to me and my boys. I often reflect back on those times with a ton of gratitude. Just one more reason why baseball holds a special place in my heart.

this one was recent but i think it will stick in my mind for a while.

we were down in Lake Charles a couple of weeks ago.  i try to bring a travel fishing rod and small tackle bag to every trip so i can get some casts in during down times.  behind our hotel was a small bayou.  we went over there, where the water was right next to another hotel parking lot and saw a sign that said "Caution, Alligators and snakes".  not ten feet away from the sign, right off the shore, was a smallish (4-5') gator just chilling on the top of the water. 

i didn't fish this trip

Watching my son strike out Phil Niekro's grandson, with Phil coaching first base.  He allowed pictures with kids after every game.

Sky opened up during a game in South Georgia. Stopped just as quickly. Took a team of 12u drowned rats to an animal park where you could feed the animals through the window of a bus. Giraffes, bison, camels ...They all remember that day.

Tons of little stories that turn into a lifetime of memories.

The youngest leaves for college in a few weeks. Still trying to remember what I like to do.

Summer of 16u. Son just finished sophomore year of HIGH SCHOOL.

We're about 400 miles away from home, staying at a hotel. We need to eat and hit a local restaurant. Just me and my son.  On the way out, the bus boy slips my son a piece of paper. It says "Hi, this is Heather. I was your waitress. Call me." And it had her phone number.

I tell my son "Don't you dare call her. And, don't give the number to any of your idiot friends."

Next game coach tells me he heard all about it. I said that I told him not to call her. Coach says: "Well, he did...and she's a sophomore in COLLEGE."

I still laugh when I think about it.

@Francis7 posted:

I'm in a hotel right now with my wife and son because he has college orientation today and we live out of state. True conversation between me and my son at 6:40 AM this morning in the hotel room:

Me: Is it weird staying in a hotel without any game to play today?

Him: Yeah...but...that's because we never go on vacation.

Me: We never go on vacation because you always had games to play.

----

That's summer travel baseball in 3 lines.

And, we went on family vacations. Did Disney for a week 5 times from the time he was 4 to 15. The whole family. And we did more than a few summer out of state beach destination trips too with the whole family and no baseball.  So, don't believe him.

I must say, Francis, you do sound a bit defensive.

@smokeminside posted:

I must say, Francis, you do sound a bit defensive.

Read his last post

@anotherparent posted:

It would have been dramatic if he had crushed the snake with a baseball bat.

@Consultant's stories are always an order of magnitude better than others!

I worked on cattle ranches during summers from 17-24 yrs old and ran into a fair share of rattlesnakes.  I'd stay out of the way and let the foreman have at it.  He preferred using big rocks.

And, yes, I, too, love Consultant's stories, especially the ones that happened pre-color tv.

The youngest leaves for college in a few weeks. Still trying to remember what I like to do.

Me, too. Let me know if you remember. Maybe I liked it, too.

@Francis7 posted:

Summer of 16u. Son just finished sophomore year of HIGH SCHOOL.

We're about 400 miles away from home, staying at a hotel. We need to eat and hit a local restaurant. Just me and my son.  On the way out, the bus boy slips my son a piece of paper. It says "Hi, this is Heather. I was your waitress. Call me." And it had her phone number.

I tell my son "Don't you dare call her. And, don't give the number to any of your idiot friends."

Next game coach tells me he heard all about it. I said that I told him not to call her. Coach says: "Well, he did...and she's a sophomore in COLLEGE."

I still laugh when I think about it.

She asked your son to call her, too?  And then she grew up and changed her name to Annie Savoy.

@smokeminside posted:

I must say, Francis, you do sound a bit defensive.

Well, how many vacations with the wife and children are actually vacations for dad? Basically spending the whole time doing what everyone else wants to do!

3 years later and I am immersed in youth summer golf tournaments.  Let's just say that I prefer baseball, especially when it's really hot.  At least with baseball parents are not pulled into the action (to help find lost balls).

@JETSR71 posted:

The youngest leaves for college in a few weeks. Still trying to remember what I like to do.

But yes, when he's gone, I'll have no idea.

@smokeminside posted:

I worked on cattle ranches during summers from 17-24 and ran into a fair share of rattlesnakes.  I'd stay out of the way and let the foreman have at it.  He preferred using big rocks.

And, yes, I, too, love Consultant's stories, especially the ones that happened pre-color tv.

I agree with your last statement especially. Bob’s stories always have a little more meat on the bone, so to speak.

I see what you did there.

@smokeminside

I must say, you have been on a roll today!!

Summer travel baseball was much different than what it is today. When son's team, named the Florida Pokers were not playing Connie Mack in our local area, they traveled and played on college campuses throughout Florida, Alabama and Georgia, where coaches were always in attendance for games, then  they would tour the facilities and campus.  The owner of the Pokers, Mike Roberts always took his teams to Omaha, Dave was on 2 of them.  Before the summer the boys had opportunities to raise funds for the summer or we paid the costs out of pocket.  When the team was  traveling they had work assignments. Coach Mike wanted them to know what it was like to travel in college, they had to do assignments from the local newspapers.  Sounds boring, but they had a blast doing it and shared their reports at breakfast each morning. Parents did not travel on these trips.

There were other trips taken, a story for another day.

Mike Roberts was one of a kind. He had meetings with the team and the parents before the season.  I learned so much about recruiting from him.

Coach Mike was responsible for sons recruiting success. He became his mentor.  He helped get son into Clemson. Son loved him. As a thank you, son had a Cardinal's jersey framed for Coach Mike's office.  When Dave was in town they would meet for dinner. It was more like a grandson/grandfather relationship.

A few years later, while Dave was away playing in season, Coach Roberts died, suddenly. It was devastating. There were over 100 people at his funeral, former players, parents of players, HS and college coaches.

Dave is very close with Coach Mike's son, Lenny. His son got drafted last year, it was such a happy day for his family as well as ours.

I don't know how I got into writing this,  but after thinking about what happened many years ago, I wanted to share because I hope that while in their  journey, your son's will be lucky to find a Coach Roberts.

@anotherparent posted:

3 years later and I am immersed in youth summer golf tournaments.  Let's just say that I prefer baseball, especially when it's really hot.  At least with baseball parents are not pulled into the action (to help find lost balls).

But yes, when he's gone, I'll have no idea.

I thought I would miss summer baseball...I don't. I have zero regrets and loved just about every minute but it comes time...

- Bought a place at the shore and a boat

- play golf twice sometimes 3 times a week, typically the 3rd round of a week is with one or both of my sons.

- I actually watch the Phillies again after so many years of seeing so much baseball that I just didn't care.

@Francis7 posted:

I'm in a hotel right now with my wife and son because he has college orientation today and we live out of state. True conversation between me and my son at 6:40 AM this morning in the hotel room:

Me: Is it weird staying in a hotel without any game to play today?

Him: Yeah...but...that's because we never go on vacation.

Me: We never go on vacation because you always had games to play.

----

That's summer travel baseball in 3 lines.

And, we went on family vacations. Did Disney for a week 5 times from the time he was 4 to 15. The whole family. And we did more than a few summer out of state beach destination trips too with the whole family and no baseball.  So, don't believe him.

you don't know how many times I've been told "we never go on vacation".