When did you know you had a "Player"

NVR1 you have a PM.

Knowledge is Power! Thank you Mavens and HSBBWEB!

This is another great thread! I'm prejudiced 'cause I'm a mom but I try to be a realist too! I knew he could possibly have something when he was still 9 and his s****r coach picked him to play on his 11-12 yr. old team, only because he knew how he played the other sport. After a couple practices, he came out to my car to tell me that my son seemed to be a natural and wasn't afraid of the older kids so he was starting him as their catcher.
Then after the last game of his next to last LL season, he announced to the coach that he was going to be MVP next yr. for the league. I chuckled, he did it. Coach still likes to tell that story to the kids he coaches. What the coach didn't know was that several other coaches were telling us to get him away from that coach and they'd do whatever, put my husband on as a coach(even tho he couldn't coach because of his hrs.). My son showed the loyalty he still has today by turning them all down. They wound up being #1 and he got his MVP award. Around the same time, he was always getting calls from a bunch of the high school players to come out for a game in the park and he wasn't afraid of them! They'd always tell us how good he was for such a young age.
Then for real, when he was the regional high hitter for Jr. Legion and we'd drive into the park and the parents, of all people, would embarrass the heck out of him by bowing down with their hands in the air as we drove by.(He hated that) He wound up w/a .667 BA for the tournament and was pictured in the paper just about every day.
Made varsity as a 9th grader and started and has received numerous awards since then. What irritates me sometimes but also makes me proud of his commitment is his loyalty. He has had numerous opportunities to play elsewhere that would benefit him more but always sites his commitment to the other guys on his team. This yr. he even gave up a showcase to play in regionals for his legion team - even tho 1 of the coaches chose to go on his vacation and take 2 players w/him!

When he started LL @ 10, in his first ever game, a kid called him a "chub"....and he was. He came over to me(coach)and said I'll show them...he proceeded to hit his first pitch outta here..went on the mound and shut them out. I guess he knew before me. Still agreat memory and he keeps that ball in the forefront of others...especially since he pitches now.

Thanks for the thread to remind me how important memories can be.

"If you can imagine it you can create it. If you can dream it, you can become it". William Arthur Ward

"Baseball is Life"

My oldest's first word, literally, was "ballpark," spoken when I was a minor league baseball writer.

Both of the older boys were forced out of T-ball a year early, for the protection of the other players.

My 04, as a 9-year-old, had to play shortstop his first year in Little League because his brother was the catcher. But when the 03 pitched, the 04 had to catch, because he was the only one who could handle him.

There are other, frankly better, stories with them in hockey, but the combo of the two ...

When I saw Bob's great picture it reminded me of one that I had of Connor. I had to dig around a little but I knew that I could find it. Connor slept with this bat. He would carry it everywhere and when he was outside he would spend hours tossing pebbles into the air hitting them. He had bigger legs back then!



He just called and said that he met his new roommate, a catcher from Idaho. He can't wait to start throwing!

This is going to be fun!

Looks like about a 33/30 black Easton.

Geaux Cajuns!!

When he was 9 made the B all-stars in our local PONY Mustang league.

In the last tournament we played we got blown out, but on the way home he started crying, and said "I don't want it to be over."

Maybe when my Grandson was 4 or 5 years old and watching baseball and asking my son all kinds of " why " questions, on baseball situations . Maybe, when my grandson was 6 and playing T-ball, he was playing 1st base with the base's loaded no outs, for the other team. A pop up came to him and he called for the ball, caught it tagged the runner trying to get back to first for the second out and continued running to 2nd base,{ cause no one was covering the bag ] to tag the base for the unassisted triple play. And then , in t-ball you would stay on the field till the whole team batted in the same inning. The other team loaded the base's again and UNBELIEVEABLE, the exact same thing happened . Two unassisted triple plays in one inning. Then again , maybe it was when he was 11 and catching for his Mays team in a tourney in a different state and getting flattened by a boy as big as a man and holding on to the ball in a bang, bang play , when the kid came in standing up instead of slideing. Then again , maybe it was when he was 12, and playing in the region LL playoffs and he hit his 1st home run { and only home run in little league } over the fence to tie the game in the last inning. Or maybe , it was when he was 14 and after catching a double header, in the heat and when I drove him home, he put his catchers gear back on and persuaded me to throw him countless balls in the dirt so he could practice his blocking skills. Or, maybe it was his sophmore year in high school after catching a J.v. game , the coach told him to stay and catch the hardest, wildest thrower on the varsity. With four coach's watching , baseballs were flying all over the place , I thought it was the pitcher they were watching, I found out later it was actally an " audition " for my grandson. The next Varsity game he was behind the plate. He has been there ever since, as he enters his senior year. Or, maybe it was when he got the first call from a college coach , this past summer.

Every one's right when they say it happens in stages. We felt that our son had "potential" when during the first swing of his first at bat in Pee Wee Ball (that's when he started playing ball), he hit his first homerun, which was off of the pitching machine. We still have the ball marked with the date, etc. However, we realized that without hard work and dedication on his part, and the support of his family, the potential that we saw would never reach it's true fruition. Not a week has gone by since, that we don't emphasize to him the need to work hard and stay focused. He is currently doing well and is focused on realizing his dream.

When the doctor said: "It's a BOY!"

Is this heaven?...

quote:

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Because he has been so good, he has experienced been benched because "he is so good he doesn't need to play" as one coach put it.

He has gone through so many of those kind, that now he deliberately plays "down" just to get to play and be accepted.

It has been interesting to watch human nature deal with a baseball prodigy. And in spite of it all he remains to this day one of the kindest, most thoughtful human beings I know.

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What is the prodigy's name? I am always looking for great players. I don't think they should hide their talent.

"I love the HSBBW"

http://baseballresource.com/rodriquez04.htm


[X...marks the spot]

Message edited...

Not sure when I first realized that he had something. My son has always seemed to have a passion for the game. From the time he was old enough to play on a team he just seemed to stand out in the crowd. ofcourse the fact that he walked around with a ball and glove 90% of the time gave us a clue.

Today, I constantly get dad's who come up and comment about my 9 year old. He's a definite athelete, put together very tight muscle wise and constant gamer. They comment how when he was 5 and 6 in t-ball he was already doing EVERYTHING perfect with his hands, feet, swing, throwing... It's a bit over the top but I get their point... I also get the "you know he's gonna cost you a fortune in travel teams when he's older..." From dad's I don't even know but know who my kid is... He's already been invited to several 10 year old Travel Teams and I look forward to watching him develop into a great player... He's got an older brother he's been watching for years and also he's gotten his fair dose of SF Giants PACBELL Park baseball games and Barry Bonds home runs to imitate and inspire him. He's got that EDGE also. Very intense, want's to win, very physical in your face kid who likes to go for the W constantly... I'm constantly reeling him back in whenever he goes too far. Interesting is his older brother is the complete opposite, calm, cool, collective... And finally my 9 year old watches WWF 5 nites a week which drive's his mother and I NUTS!!! Maybe that explains that whole in your face thing.. LOL!

When he was in seventh grade and starting on the high school varsity team.

He played summer ball with the same team the year before. And he played AABC 11-12 league when he was 10. Last year in eighth made the All District team with an .750 batting average in two games (4-4 in first game).

Bob, great post. Thanks. I knew...when at age 3yrs he sat down and watched the movie "Field of Dreams" and didn't budge! PGStaff: Jerry, what year was it that you built those baseball fields out there in Iowa?

It's hard to pick one precise time that I knew my son was a "player" because I think it's more of an evolution rather than a one time event but I have to share a rather momentous event that happened when my son was about 5 years old and playing in a "coach pitch" league and his father was the head coach of his team.

It was the day of team pictures and my son managed to stray away from his team and head over to the adjacent high school league field where he wanted to watch the "big boys" as he called them, play....he didn't think being in the team picture was nearly as important as watching the "big boys" play and even at his tender age he watched and he learned. It wasn't until the pictures were distributed to the team members that his absence was noted...my husband had some definite explaining to do when I noticed that my son wasn't in his team photo!!!

Needless to say, that scenario never happened again because Mom was there to make sure son was present for the team photos...but we still get a big laugh about it even today. I could relate a few other events that might qualify under this topic but this one has to be the best.



Ann

I’ve been watching this forum for a while and I still can’t think of any one day that made me think my kid is a player. I can think of different occasions, some big, some small; so small that only a Mom or Dad would see. Rather than turning this into a Dad brag and talk about specific times, I would rather give general ideas.

Whenever he was confronted with a challenge, he would always rise to the pressure and achieve results. Whenever given an opportunity, he would double off the fence. Whenever he is given a bad situation, he would give a quiet word of encouragement to his team mates. Is this a boy turning into a player, or a boy turning into a man?

He has had a lot of success between the foul lines, and more is to come. But we are most proud of who he is becoming outside the lines.



The Bullwinkle is verklempt, talk amongst yourselves.

Bullwinkle:

Excellent and touching post! Better even than Babs Streisand!

Isn't it amazing to watch our once "little guys" grow into such fine young men?

Good luck to all the young men out there.

ps. where do you get your hair done?

Although I am new to the message boards, I would like to share my own experience, so here goes.

My son was three, like many of you parents have stated your sons were. I always tried to instill in my son the basics of throwing to a "target" which was the center of my chest. Catching with "TWO (2)" hands.

I always reminded him of keeping his hands back in his swing, keeping his 'eye on the ball', and his head still, like a pro golfer does.

At some point in little league, he also started to pitch, besides playing ss, 2nd, catcher and outfield. Nothing wrong with being adaptable to any situation. I told him when he pitched that the most important thing to remember was to throw strikes. Don't worry about the other team hitting the ball. That is what the other eight players are for, to field, catch and throw the runner out. Many times that didn't happen. To help him maintain his composure on the mound, I would tell him to take a deep breath, just like when right before you take your backswing in golf.

I would also tell him to take his time, and not hurry. Get into his own rhythm, maybe count 1-2, or 1-2-3, and then throw. Stops the jitters. He had the ball, he was the "king" on the mound, and nobody could do anything until he threw the pitch. It worked!! He had very good 'location', wasn't over-powering, and got players out. Now as a high school sophomore, he plays, infield, outfield and catcher. Not at one time, of course.

I still have his little, vinyl blue fielding glove, wrapped in plastic, along with my fathers from when he played minor league ball.

Yes, he can play!!

I hope you will allow me to come back here, since I did become "long-winded"???

"Sherman...set the Waybac Machine for......"

I realized there was potential in my sons first Tball game. They put him in CF and a kid hit one to the fence. My son instinctively knew the ball was not going out but was over his head to the fence. Rather than chase the ball all the way to the fence, only to have to turn around and chase it in the other direction after it bounced off the fence - he took 2 steps toward the fence and waited for the bounce. He caught the ball on a one hop and turned and gunned the kid out at 2nd base.

http://www.highviewheat.com/index.asp

http://www.kristensfastpitchworld.com/index.asp

I remember when our son was a fairly new reader, he checked a book out of the library on "how to pitch". He would sit at our picnic table and look at the book and then practice throwing that pitch against our cinderblock garage. Later on he measured the distance to homeplate and marked off a strike zone. He also got very good at fielding grounders when the ball bounced back to him. He still throws out there when he is home from college. When I hear the sound of a baseball banging against the side of our garage, I know that all is right with the world. The boy is happy.

enias,
Would you say the HOF book is what made you realize you had a player or was there something that happened prior to the publication that led you to think this?
fungo

Never argue with an idiot. They drag you down to their level, then beat you with experience.

Bullwinkle put it best.......

When he said that he wants to coach BB when asked what he wanted to do for a living (he's 05, playing the game for the love of it).

When he quit football (after playing 6 years) so that he coulf concentrate on BB.

When he was on a traveling team playing 145+ games a season and he would complain when it rained.

"You can't hit what you can't see."
Ping Bodie (NYY 1918-21) Speaking on Walter Johnson

My Son Connor slid into home right out of the womb

It was interesting reading all of the accounts in this thread. At first I thought I might sound a bit presumptuous thinking I had a gamer at a young age (My son is still quite young, not yet 11) but I see others feel the same way.

My son was 2 1/2 when this picture was taken in our basement, working on hitting over the winter. He loves the game, perhaps even more than I do.... which is saying a lot.

I remember when he was about 6 or 7, he ran over to his mother after a Coach Pitch game. He had done quite well that day and was excited to give his mother a play by play, despite the fact that she had seen the whole game.... At the end he said Mom, I was born to play baseball I don't think it was conceit (leave that to his dad ) it was just a little kid speaking profoundly... or as profoundly as a child his age could....



cong

When he told me he wanted to pitch in the Bigs. However, I know the reality in today's era of modern baseball and try to enforce this in his mind. "You have a better chance of hitting the powerball lottery", I tell him. But he still works out and chases his dream.

Knowledge is Power! Thank you Mavens and HSBBWEB!

There are so many and some I hesitate to tell because of the possibility of injury that my son took many times w/ me standing on the sidelines watching. First was probably when he was 7 or so when he would become so angry at other kids for not making the play. He didn't inderstand that they couldn't physically do it talent wise. Or the times when we would lose and the other kids were ok, and he would cry and stress for days, he could never understand why they didn't care on the same level as he did. But probably the main times were when he would pitch with a 100 plus fever. Sometimes I let him because I knew he would make himself sicker not pitching then he would pitching, and sometimes ,when he got older, because he wouldn't tell me how sick he was. But the main one was when we were in a tournament and had a track meet on the same day. Don't ask. It is a small school coaching thing. Anyways, he ran in the track meet, ( 3 events) and pitched back to back games on the same day. He wasn't supposed to pitch back to back, but the other pitcher had to leave to take a girl to prom. We won second in the tourney. The latest time I knew was when he was bound and determined to get a scholarship to play. He signed 7 hours away in Kansas, and he is loving it. Oh, how could I forget. He would go to showcases after playing football Friday night. He went to one in Austin where we left the game at 10.00 drove all night, got there at 3.00, and the showcase started at 8.00. He was black and blue from the night before. He never considered football because of his size, but his senior year he was named to the top five players in six man football in the state of Texas. He led the state in interceptions two years in a row, but baseball is where it is at for him

tracy

I would be curious as to how he fared in the showcase on a Saturday morning after getting "beat up" in a football game the night before

Do you think it was to his betterment to perform in front of baseball coaches and scouts in that type of physical condition?

TRhit

TR

Or on the flip side it might just impress a few coaches. After all they are looking for kids who can take it to the next level.

Who knows the coach may see a toughness in the kid that the coach respects. After all coaches are looking for the complete package.

He did ok, probably not as good as in a better situation, but I do think his determination was seen as impressive, and he was not the only one in that situation. That was one of the first things asked at the showcases I assume because it was in Texas, and the people putting it on knew
friday night in Texas meant football. We live in a very rural area and the chance of getting attention locally was slim so we did the showcase route and they always seemed to fall in football season. At all his showcases he was rated as a possible mid level d 1 player or high juco

APARENT

That is possible but you also increase the injury potential in doing what this young man did

tracy

I would much rather see him do better than OK --there are showcases out of football season

A player wnats to attend a showcase in tip top baseball shape not black and blue from last nights football game

Most coaches I know dont see this as viewing a complete package

JMHO

TRhit

I agree, it would have been better, but it just wasn't possible for us. He went to a small school where he played everything. There was never anytim off. He went from football to basketball and from basketball to baseball and track. I dont know that he ever played baseball in tip top shape after he got into high school because they did track at the same time and because he was always over pitched because we didnt have enough pitchers. Luckily now that he is in college maybe he can focus only on baseball. Still tho, the showcase people said that they were in general impressed w/ multisport athletes

Well I would have to say it was at some point in his second full season. He was 6 years old and playing up in Minors having skipped Farm completely. He was selected for the All-Star game as a position player and his hitting, but the coach called him in to pitch relief and close, and he was cool as a cucumber. As I recall I think most of the other boys were 9/10? He then played with his age for tournament and won the regional championship game with a homerun with one of the sweatest swings I have ever seen, bottom of the last down by a run. Every year since then teammates have prayed and parents have yelled and hoped for him to come up to bat in that crucial point near the end of the game. And ever since then more often than not he seems to be the next batter up, or the ball is hit to him or he's involved somehow when the game is on the line.

Tx2

My kid was THE worst player on his Little League team @ 9 y.o. He literally got 1 hit all year & the Coach gave him the ball(GREAT MOVE he still has it in a trophy case). @ 10 he started switch-hitting & made the All-Star team that year & the next year. Thought I had a pretty good hitter on my hands.

The following year, he was on a team that made the "Bad News Bears" look like the '27 Yankees. Mid season, during a another blowout game, his Coach asked him if he wanted to try pitching... 3 up, 3 down 2 K's & a weak ground ball & he was hooked. Now all he wants to do is pitch. #3 pitcher on his varsity team as a Sophmore last year. WHERE DID I GO WRONG?.

His first over the fence home run was at his first coach pitch game, and I have a picture of him running between 3rd and home with both feet off the ground, looks pretty cool!

"It's hard to make predictions, especially about the future."
Lawrence Peter "Yogi" Berra
New York Yankees

When I stopped coaching him and let him decide.

NorthernCalif Dad,

IMO - What a great answer!

Agree with you 100%

J.R.'s Mom---

Your avatar is making me dizzy!!

Is this heaven?...

Don't look at it for too long, it will put you an a trance! I just love this site, it is so addicting, what a great group of people it has attracted.

"It's hard to make predictions, especially about the future."
"Yogi" Berra