What a coach just told my son he looks for

Just speaking from personal experience:  A few years back, I happened to be standing near a group of college coaches watching a VERY good outfielder during a game.  The kid was a STUD, but the back of his uniform jersey was untucked and the player never bothered trying to tuck it in for 2 innings.  It could have been more than those 2 innnings, but I started paying attention to it when the coach pointed out to others.

 

Long story short, the coach left after those 2 innings and said "If he doesn't have any pride in wearing that uniform, he's damn sure not going to wear mine.".  Three other coaches around him left too.  There's a great article about this very subject on this very site...

 

http://www.hsbaseballweb.com/never_know.htm

I'm wondering if the explanation for Army grooming standards, Army Regulation 670-1, could (and should) apply to baseball? 

 

The Army is a uniformed service where discipline is judged, in part, by the manner in which a soldier wears a prescribed uniform, as well as by the individual’s personal appearance. Therefore, a neat and well-groomed appearance by all soldiers is fundamental to the Army and contributes to building the pride and esprit essential to an effective military force. A vital ingredient of the Armys strength and military effectiveness is the pride and selfdiscipline that American soldiers bring to their Service through a conservative military image. It is the responsibility of commanders to ensure that military personnel under their command present a neat and soldierly appearance. Therefore, in the absence of specific procedures or guidelines, commanders must determine a soldier’s compliance with standards in this regulation. Soldiers must take pride in their appearance at all times, in or out of uniform, on and off duty.

Back to looking in your kids bag.  At the end of the fall season I was cleaning out the garage.  I carried his bag down into the basement for the winter.  I opened it up to put his glove in it.  I pulled out somewhere around 10 gatorade/water bottles, dumped out about 5 pounds of seeds, found a few pair of socks and about $70 in singles, 5's and 10's.  Now I know why I never "get my change back".

 

 

Does found bag money go under the same rules a found laundry money?

Went right into my pocket...

       
       

That's a bit of a broad brush there isn't it. My son sprinted on and off the field since his first t-ball game. I think my father told him he was supposed to so he's always done it. This belief was strengthened when a coach he respects very much and one of the top college coaches in the country told him to. Also as he has sat and watched dozens of that coaches games and watched this entire team do it. There is nothing false about it. It's how he believes a player is supposed to act and those that don't are just lazy. Also a bit of a broad brush on his part.

       
       
It's one of the reasons I'm glad my son chose baseball also. It may change if he ever makes higher levels but so far baseball coaches seem to care more about the players. In football it's pretty apparent from middle school your just a piece of meat to get the football coach a higher paying job.

I agree with you scotty. Your son does what he is supposed to do because that is what he was taught to do.
Some call it old school.  Thats a good thing, in my opinion.

       
       
I agree with you 100% we all are.guilty of the broad brush sometimes.  I known I am.  That is why I try to be a live and let live guy.  I personally am not a fan of the sprint off the field.  Wasted energy for shown in a lot of cases   but who knows for another player it may help keep him loose and ready to sprint home to first.  Or maybe a kid just flat out likes doing it.  Or maybe grandpa told him to so it is now a habit.  So I guess that is the point.  We don't know why a kid is or is not doing it so therefor it may be a little dangerous to make any judgement good or bad based upon it.

IMO, every good program has a set of "standards" that they want to instill in players and of which, represents a program in a certain manner.  Sprinting off the field, how one wears a ball cap, how one looks when they depart from a bus ... are all included in this for many coaches.  To be sure, it was for me.  I never said how a hat is worn made a player.  However, for my program, there was a correct way and so, do that and all is fine.  I know some of you argue here that these are trivial.  Maybe so.  When you run your program, do what you want.  For me, when my team showed up, we had a routine we went through and if you were the opponent, you knew you were in for a game.  I do believe that teams can be intimidated in various ways like these little nuances.   If you show up at a home game, you are going to see, as one coach once wrote me, A.. and elbows getting after it.  He talked about how his team was defeated before the game was played. 

 

All of the attention to detail that a coach might want to instill in his program won't matter to a hill of beans if the players don't buy in.  When they do, and I believe that they do in the best programs in America, it is a thing of beauty. 

IMO coach 110% correct.Its at the top of the list here.I show for my spot always early.Very early on in 2016 V play I ask him just what the hell was up with the pre game.When those teams that B25 mentioned show its the very first thing thats noticed.What really gets to me is looking like a senior pick up game is closer to the norm here.