In my fall hs games I have been hitting everyone in the line up because it is free subs and it gives the kids the an opportunity to showcase what they can do for the team.
My question is do you think batting everyone and playing everyone in fall ball creates more competition amongst the kids rather than doing a starting 9 and rotating players based on the situation/score or vice versa like doing a starting nine so kids on the bench feel the urge to get better and be in the line up?
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You've asked pretty much the same question several times now, and lots of coaches and others have had a lot to say about it. None of the replies have given you anything to work with?
Our fall ball teams played their first games this past weekend. It was fun. As I mentioned in one of your previous threads, our V coach splits his lineup. I think the kids got a clear idea of where they stood when they saw which batting order they were on, and which innings they played on D. Ditto with the pitchers. 7 guys threw, pretty much in order of where you'd expect them to be in the depth cart. One of the lower level pitchers made a good case for moving up. Same with the position players.
My kid's main competition for his position was out of town playing for a showcase team, so he got to play all 10 innings in 98 degree weather. Brutal, but a lot of balls came his way so it helped him shake the cobwebs off.
It only creates a competitive atmosphere if there's a chance a sub can take a spot. If a starter knows that is not going to happen, it will rarely do anything (at least to the starter).
With that being said, is it possible for a sub to take a spot away from one of these players?
It's HS baseball, very few programs will have a competitive atmosphere at every position. I have been doing the fall thing 7 yrs and i tell my players that right now it is up to you to show me what you can do and where you can play. I am not worried about them being competitive. January we click it up a notch and the. February 28th it is go time!
I agree with IEBSBL - Even at a very deep school - My son's HS team won the State Championship and had something like 14 DI players in the program at the time but there was no real competition. The few places it existed was at the 3rd outfield spot, 1B and the 3rd/4th pitcher.
In a 10 team district this place could have won or done no worse than 2nd in the with the team it had on the bench. The JV team could have finished 3rd with the varsity pitching. Other than pressing a few buttons occasionally - the same 8 started almost every game.
It is easy to overthink this stuff. A couple of kids along the way banged heads with the coach - they lost because he didn't need them. I do believe the coach generally had the right team out there.
If there is one thing I learned watching HS baseball for 7 years it is this - coaches want to win. They really do and they are putting the best team out there to give them that chance.
I was always amused by the noise on the sidelines - conspiracy theories about cooking food at the concession, raking the field, or all the other ways you can apparently "brownnose" a coach. I would privately laugh, write the checks that were required and watch the games.
When finally asked what I thought was going on to determine the line up - I said - "Coach is putting what he believes is the best team he's got on the field". What I got back was priceless - "Do you really think so?" and my response to that "Why would he do anything else?" After that - blessed silence as I watched the game.
Luv. Generally I agree with you. However, in my area at one large HS the coach's mistress' kid was a full time starter - as was the kid of the parents whose house was used for their trysts. It was clear there were better kids sitting in the bench.
I had no connection with the HS (which had on its staff three future pro pitchers as well as half a dozen D1 players), but did enjoy watching their games (and listening to the parents).
Once the chirping about favoritism got loud enough, the house of cards came tumbling down.
Even the paranoid can be right once in a while.
Goos, in every profession there are bad human beings. There are bad cops, bad doctors, heck there are even bad pastors. The problem as I see it, and I am not accusing you, is that MOST parents believe that every HS coach is a bad coach, if their kid is not playing.
Luv, you have hit the nail on the head. I wish every parent saw things the way you did.
G/egg - Thankfully, our guy didn't have that kind of stuff going on. But I am a believer that if you are not playing straight it does come back at you sooner or later.
I have been told that I am optimistically naïve on this - but it is a philosophy that helps me contend with the nonsense that does exist. Don't lie, break the law or cheat and you'll never have anything to apologize for. In the end you can look in the mirror and never doubt who you are looking at. There is peace and contentment in that.
I have told all of my children that the greatest gift I have ever given them or ever could give them was a clean name. Don't ruin it.
Your coach can never say that to his children and that is a shame.
