Surprised by Your Own Player

PitchingFan,

Congrats on your son's success.  This is certainly going to be an interesting thread, because I think expectations, talent, and high water marks vary dramatically among our kids baseball abilities.  Achievement and great moments happen everywhere.

What is most interesting about my son's moment wasn't so much about him throwing a no-hitter against a conference rival with the most potent offense at the time...it was my son's  reaction to throwing a no-hitter.  My wife and I, teammates, coaches were going crazy.   He just walked off the mound like nothing happened.....like it was any other ball game that he pitched and he had something better to do.  I think it took a couple days to get a smile from him on his pitching achievement.    I was thinking about it the other day as it has been 9 years.   

I think he put the Dartmouth first base coach to sleep during the game......that is a big yawn.

I’m in a weird spot, as I have so much confidence in my son, as I get more excited than nervous, when he pitches.  Though, I think he’s surpassed my expectations of him so far.

His first outing as a freshman was our first series last year against South Carolina when he struck out 6 in 3 IP.  That included coming in relief with 2 out bases loaded, where he struck out the batter on 3 pitches, The only run he gave up was a solo HR to Wes Clarke.  Given how well Mr Clarke has been playing, I think that’s a nice momento😃

Although he’s only had 3 starts this year, he’s actually top 5 nationally in ERA, WHIP and hits/9.  He pitched 5 no hit innings his first start, gave up a solo HR in the 7th his 2nd, then a 2 hit shutout his last start.

I expect bumps along the way, but hope he continues to play well and surprise us along the way.

No matter what college, conference, or division, you really don't know how your kid stacks up on his freshman opening day.  Son's freshman year, his mid-major opened at Ole Miss.  Good grief.   Tons of tradition there with the Beer Shower, etc.   This is what his team was up against:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PiH9cSptm5g

And, since they were the visiting team, W&M batted first.  The coach puts son first in the lineup.

My moments were lessons learned that ultimately have played well in life, post college.

My son got seriously injured the first weekend post junior (hs) summer. He was expecting early summer offers. With resilience and a tough mental attitude everything worked out. He got to college ball. Freshman season he was starting by mid season after others failed. In the fall he returned to find a JuCo All American at the position he expected to play. He subbed on Friday night and Saturday. He started and got two hits Sunday. He started at a different positions the rest of the season. The next year there was a Gatorade POY at the primary position he played. The previous season’s first weekend experience played out again. He proved he could play. More importantly he proved he was resilient (a life lesson of mental toughness).

My daughter was a four year fourth outfielder. She thought she was better than one of the starters three of the years. But she did her part and played a lot. She was a sometimes starter. It takes a certain mental preparedness to be ready for one pinch hit, pinch run or a couple of defensive innings.

Eventually, after graduating from law school she was promoted to prosecuting violent crimes. One of her first trials was a smug, wealthy, military academy athlete charged with rape. When she called to tell me “I nailed the bastard to the wall. He’s going away,” I could picture a fist pumping kid who had just won a championship.

I see the lessons learned in sports play out continually in my adult kids lives.

When my Kid was 7 & 8 years old, we played “Guard the Line” a lot.  Essentially he’d play defense standing in front of a line on a field (usually at a football field), and I’d hit grounders at or near him and he’d try to stop them.  And we’d keep score.

One time, just to mess with him, I hit a ball way over his head.  He threw his glove up in the air, a good ten to fifteen feet over his head, and the glove caught the ball!!!

Its all downhill from there.  He could hit 3 HR’s in a college game, and it will never live up to that moment in Guard the Line.

I'm sure there are others and hopefully there will be more, but one that jumps out at me is his first practice on a pretty good national fall team. He went to a tryout and the coach came up to us to personally invite him on his platinum team and said he liked his versatility and how he plays the C position. We must not have reacted the way he was expecting because he followed with a soft, "uh, we're pretty good". They held a practice for all the FL kids on Labor Day weekend. I see these kids walking up to the field and all I can think is "I think we outkicked our coverage with this team". He held his own at the practice and actually stood out. After seeing he could play and would be a nice addition to the team some of the returning parents made their way over to me to welcome us to the team. I always thought he was a good player, but until that point he hadn't really had to compete with top level talent for playing time.

Overall, it was a great experience. They played 4 of the top 10 teams in the country that fall and a bunch of top 50 teams. They went 2-2 against the top 10 and faced some amazing players.

My son has been in baseball for a long time. There have been times when we have been so proud of his accomplishments and other times when we have been like "what the heck"?!

You will go through those good and tough moments, but always remember you love your son for who he is and not because of his baseball accomplishments.

This advice comes from one of the top baseball coaches in the game.

His first college game was the season opener against the #1 team in the country on a Friday night. 8th inning of a tie game. Bases loaded, no outs, and he was brought in to pitch to who I believed would be the Golden Spikes winner. I was just hoping he'd get an inning to make the trip worth it, couldn't believe he was in a game that close and couldn't believe it was this situation and batter.  We couldn't see the bullpen from our seats and we had no clue he was coming in until it showed him running in on the video board.

Baseball Is Fun

I posted not long ago that I knew my son was something at age 4.

About 6 years later, my son told me to knock it off. In another 4 years he was getting a lot of recognition and I was working overseas. He actually was something and I found most of the good stories on the internet. Since his mom and I were divorced, she was the main influencer and enabler for his journey and she excelled at this.

Around that time I found HSBBW and through the help of many of the wonderful posters onboard, I was able to understand the various decisions, paths, ups and downs that lay ahead for my son. I learned about the big PG tournaments and showcasing, agents and advisors, college or accepting draft selections, etc. and had a ton of fun along the way. This place will always be special for me and I am forever thankful for its members.

My biggest surprise is that his dream has come true.

...and he is still living it 27 years later.

At this point, nothing surprises me about my son. He has spent the last 5 years proving everyone wrong, including me. I’m excited to see where this game we all love takes him.

Well my son is still in 8th grade, but i'm going to post anyway. He was just asked to join a very talented Select team and I was worried that he might not be quite at their level. Tonight they started him as pitcher-First Inning: He threw a perfect  inning( 11 pitches for 3 Ks, only 2 fouls balls). Second Inning he struck out the first batter, walked two, then struck out the next two. No batter ever put a ball in play from his pitches. All this from the kid that couldn't even get his pitch to home plate on his first Pitching try-out( Minors Little League).

Keep posting folks-I love to read about these great success stories-however its defined.

@TMM_Dad, I love it! I was the same way when my son was 7. 😂 As he got older and started playing against higher level competition I was (and continue to be) amazed by the talent out there! And it’s made me realize just what a big deal it is to be able to continue playing at any level after HS.

Also Like you, I was overseas for some of my son’s coolest moments recently as well. This summer, he hit back to back grand slams at the East Coast Pro against some of the top high school pitching in the country (both of which were game-winning although not walk-offs). I was watching live streams in Mozambique so there was a delay. For the second one, I got a text from my husband saying “He hit another one” before I got to see it. It was surreal.

But I have to say, after crushing a bunch of home runs at the beginning of this (high school) season, PTWoodson has been struggling. March was a rough month. As fun as it was to see him succeeding this summer, he’s impressed me even more with how he’s handled struggling. He’s calm, he’s there for his teammates, he’s still playing within himself and that maturity and humility has just blown us away.

I just thought back to a moment when my son was a freshman in high school. It wasn’t something he did in the moment. It was a question he asked ...

Dad, in any of the sports you played did the game ever seem like it was moving in slow motion and you had all the time you needed to make the right decision? It seems this way in all the sports I play.

He had always shown 6th sense intuitive skills from the time he took the field/court. When he asked this all I could think was  .... yes!

My son back in 10u travel baseball single elimination playoffs. They are down by a run late in the game with one man on. He's up and first pitch he rips a deep line shot bullet just foul....if fair, would have been a home run down the left field line. As he makes his way back to the box, I'm figuring he's disappointed and I'm thinking the rest of this at bat may not go well. Very next pitch he hits a bomb homerun over the left centerfield fence for the go ahead run and they end up winning the game.

Great thread and great stories..I love this stuff. There are several moments that i recall but will share a few key ones move the needle for me.

Getting the opp to play for Clemson in the ACC.

Freshman year he started and no hit UGA through 5 innings and got the win (they elected to NOT recruit my son)

His draft day.

My kid is a grinder and loves the sport. I know I did everything to test that and sometimes in not so nice ways, I have no diplomacy skills. I am most proud of his resiliency and to excel from it. There has been and currently are injuries that have cost him opportunities to promote himself (at least he thinks that) and I get frustrated by his own perception considering where he finishes and how well he is regarded by his teammates, coaches and organization he plays with/on. I guess that is part of his motivation.

My most fondest memory is at 12U, he found a travel team and reached out to the org head on his own and asked for a tryout. He played a couple of games in the fall, batted last as they had a full squad. He knew one kid barely but went through winter workout and it was loaded as any preteen small field team could be, I joking called them the Dominican all stars and my son. Fast forward to spring and in their first tourney they hit him in the bottom of the lineup, and he was good about it. The second game is played against a rival org with former players on the team so there was a lot of drama. The team is down by 3 late in the game, kid is up with bases loaded lefty vs lefty, he works a full count and everyone is screaming, the coaches giving instructions in English, Spanish and Spanglish. I was the iscore dad and was also feeling the pressure of the situation. Kid hits a homer left center, everyone is going nuts, 1st base coach is jumping up and down the dugout coach runs out and high fives the 1st base coach. I am screaming too and my son is crying on his way to home from 3rd, I guess the pressure release was too much.  They moved him up in the line up and he never looked back. It was a team with a lot of potential, a couple players went back to the DR and got drafted at 16. The parent drama killed the team, the tragedy of youth sports.

I think I need to change my name - I am now a 2024 Righty dad.  I had joined under the name 2017Screwball or something like that.  Well, 2017 hung them up after one year in college after getting red-shirted.  Still waiting to get the full story, but that may take a few more years.  But once again, I am being surprised by my own player.  Have a freshman playing JV and doing quite well - both on the mound and at SS.  I thought I had sort of learned how to "spot talent" a few years ago, but 2024 is a true surprise.  He loves baseball, seems to love school, so I am once again thinking about his potential to keep playing after high school.  Learned great lessons her about fishing in the right pond, but I really think it will be another 12-24 months before the right pond reveals itself.

Many familiar names - thanks again for all the info last time and I hope to get to tap back into the wealth of info again.  Maybe this time he'll make it to college summer ball - something I missed out on with 2017.

Interesting thread. There are some specific situations that come to mind like son striking out Kody Clemens with The Rocket sitting behind home plate. But in general I will say the fact he played at LSU, seeing him perform in game 1 of CWS against the eventual champion UF in 2017 and being drafted by the Rockies in 2018.

This year has been potentially the highest of highs and lowest of lows. I can't say I was surprised at the highs, more surreal I guess, like he actually just did that, even though I knew he had it in him. Son was given the opportunity to start the first series game (had always been a reliever when pitching in college) against the #3 ranked D2 team on the road. Pitched a complete game 5 hitter, we won 3-2, struck the last batter out with the tying run on 2nd. So now he's the the solid #1/#2 starter. Picks up another win the following weekend as a starter. That's the high. Now the low. His elbow had been hurting specifically when he pitched since summer of 2019, but since he was originally going to be a position player last year, didn't think much of it, didn't hurt in normal position playing. The next game he starts, he goes 3, but his elbow is killing him. Time for an MRI, and after MRI, his UCL is partially torn. He's been throwing with it like that for almost 2 years, just pushing through it. So now we're awaiting a doctor's recommendation, surgery or PRP (if it's an option). Should know tomorrow. About as high and low as one can be in a span of roughly 4-5 weeks haha! But it's all a part of a plan, even if we don't understand it at the time.

Love hearing the stories, keep them coming!