PABaseball posted:1) Kids don't play outside anymore.
This. This doesn't just effect baseball. It's changed everything.
Oh, and get off my lawn.
2019Dad,
I think you and I are sort of saying the same thing about numbers of kids. As you wrote, 2007 saw a record number of children born in the US. It was in 2008 that the numbers of babies started to drop. Looking at numbers of kids born, the years from 2010-2013 were especially low. That's why Francis' friend's "50% drop over 4 years" could be a demographics thing - if you assume kids start rec sports at age 6, and leave for club (or quit) by 11-12, the big bulge from 2006-2008 is on its way out and the much smaller numbers of 2010-2013 kids are not replacing them. But it makes sense there'd be some variation by state/city, with some places more affected than others.
Making things worse, this drop in numbers of kids is happening at the same time as there are all these other challenges to kids being outside and active. Streaming, e-sports (which my high school students try to "practice" in study hall on their Nintendo Switches), social media, etc are all huge distractions.
Kids that don't watch Baseball don't really love the game. Sure, feel free to disagree with me but I believe I'm right.
3and2Fastball posted:Kids that don't watch Baseball don't really love the game. Sure, feel free to disagree with me but I believe I'm right.
...an anecdote from Tom Verducci’s book “The Yankee Years,” in which Alex Rodriguez visits Derek’s New York apartment and is stunned to learn that the Yankees captain did not have the MLB TV package.
“Derek will never watch a baseball game other than the one he’s playing in,” said Mike Borzello, the Yankees’ former bullpen catcher.
Source: http://davegeorge.blog.mypalmb...marlins-play-a-game/
3and2Fastball posted:Kids that don't watch Baseball don't really love the game. Sure, feel free to disagree with me but I believe I'm right.
Interesting to see where this conversation goes, and I can't say that I disagree 3and2. I'm just wondering how many are playing baseball today at a high level that don't really love the game. I don't have data on it but my gut tells me it's more common than we might think. I know personally of a couple of kids who are, or will be, playing P5 baseball that I would put into this category.
I think you find this in a lot of sports guys. They love to play the game but are not watchers of the sports in professional or college. I have heard a lot of professional players who say they do not watch college sports and vice versa. I have found that most sports people either like college or professional but very few like both. There are a lot of sports fans who love to watch professional football or baseball or basketball but do not keep up with the college game and the same in reverse. I must admit that I would rather watch amateur sports over professional sports. I keep up with the professional rankings and watch highlights but if I'm gonna sit down and watch a game I would rather watch college or high school rather than professional.
3and2Fastball posted:Kids that don't watch Baseball don't really love the game. Sure, feel free to disagree with me but I believe I'm right.
I wonder how much of the "love of the game" in my generation was forged by an utter lack of options? If smart phones were around back in the day my guess is that a lot fewer people would understand the infield fly rule.
My 2021 absolutely loves playing baseball...more than the other sports he’s played...but I know he hasn’t watched 3 mlb games in the past 8 years. In fact he won’t even stay longer than 15 minutes to watch another 16u game at a tournament that he’s playing in. He’d rather play than watch.
I wish my son had the same enjoyment of watching bb games (not just pro level) as playing it. It would be nice to discuss strategies, question subs, analyze mechanics. So far it is only my dog that is interested in watching games with me as long as I keep my emotions in check and continue to rub his belly. I haven't had much time to reflect on this but I have to accept my baseball card collection will skip a generation or even longer.
MLB is failing, not the kids. Make the games shorter!
My kids, especially the older one, watches all sorts of game footage on Youtube.
IMO kids should not specialize in one sport. Do as we did, play everything.
Sprawl and our Nomadic behavior has a lot to do with this as well.
My neighborhood friends exist today and we played all sports together until College.
Times have changed.
I’m still able to drive for 3 hours and listen to a B.B. game. It’s in the blood.
It’s hard to sit and watch a game on tv unless it’s a big game. I’ll have the game on. But I’ll be reading. I don’t know that my son has ever watched an entire regular season game on tv. He would come into the room, watch a few innings, discuss baseball and leave. He said now other than the four Orioles and Phillies versus Red Sox games we attend together he goes to three or four more Phillies games. He will watch basketball and football on tv.
My baseball son doesn't watch regular season on TV/stream but will watch the postseason. I'll usually have the Giants games on in the background in the evenings during the season.
He and his buddies hit several live games, usually the A's since they can take BART.
My son, Dad and I are doing a 2 week east coast baseball tour this July. My son is super psyched for the trip.
BaseballBUDDY posted:IMO kids should not specialize in one sport. Do as we did, play everything.
Yeah, and modern day coaches say the same thing. Where the rubber meets the road is when you have to tell your traveling baseball coach that you are going to miss practice because you have a soccer/hockey/basketball/etc. tournament, let alone a game. Then they reverse course in a hurry!
Old guys like me used to play less games, and practice way less. Used to have informal pickup games way more.
My son is 13 now but since he was 7 or 8 while other kids were watching cartoons in the morning before school he would turn on MLB Network. Even now, if he watches TV he's usually watching the MLB Network. He'll watch some of the games as well, especially if the Yankees are playing.
When he was 8 he could name all the retired Yankee numbers and players in Monument Park at the stadium. He's familiar with the names of a ton of MLB players as well. That's a striking contrast to kids I have coached in rec and travel ball that didn't even know the names of Harper and Trout.
I firmly believe that kids not watching MLB on TV now and then presents a huge obstacle in coaching youth baseball. There are a lot of 10, 11, and 12 year olds that have no idea about some of the basics of the game.
Coach Koz posted:My son is 13 now but since he was 7 or 8 while other kids were watching cartoons in the morning before school he would turn on MLB Network. Even now, if he watches TV he's usually watching the MLB Network. He'll watch some of the games as well, especially if the Yankees are playing.
When he was 8 he could name all the retired Yankee numbers and players in Monument Park at the stadium. He's familiar with the names of a ton of MLB players as well. That's a striking contrast to kids I have coached in rec and travel ball that didn't even know the names of Harper and Trout.
I firmly believe that kids not watching MLB on TV now and then presents a huge obstacle in coaching youth baseball. There are a lot of 10, 11, and 12 year olds that have no idea about some of the basics of the game.
No argument here.
57special posted:BaseballBUDDY posted:IMO kids should not specialize in one sport. Do as we did, play everything.
Yeah, and modern day coaches say the same thing. Where the rubber meets the road is when you have to tell your traveling baseball coach that you are going to miss practice because you have a soccer/hockey/basketball/etc. tournament, let alone a game. Then they reverse course in a hurry!
Old guys like me used to play less games, and practice way less. Used to have informal pickup games way more.
Pick Up games?
How do you know who’s in what team?
What scouts attend?
Is it AAA Travel Pick Up?
Who are the coaches?
What is the age limit ?
yeah, we’ve come a long way baby!
Another sport that is pulling kids away that is growing fast is Ultimate Frisbee. My baseball players was more into it in middle school and thought about focusing on it more. He has shifted back to baseball and is ranked fairly high for our state in his position. So having more things to do is pulling kids in all different directions. Some come back some don't.
I think I've commented here before on MLB on TV. Its near impossible to get a game over air TV until the post season. I cut the cord on my TV long ago and I buy enough streaming services already so don't want to add MLB streaming. MLB might get more money from cable channels to stream there games but they are losing a lot of cable cutters in the process. I am encouraged by Amazon starting to stream football games. Hopefully it can carry over to baseball.
Sorry to say but, I have lost almost all interest in MLB games. I will however, sit and watch College baseball every weekend I am free.
Agree that back in the day, recreational options were much simpler. Going to the local park with 10 guys from your school/neighborhood and playing ball all day was what we did. Baseball (at least through the 60's) was the top sport in the country.
Now Baseball has fallen behind Football and Basketball and there are way more things for kids to do. From what I've seen today, the kids that are heavily engaged in Baseball (whether as a player or as a fan) are those that have had a heavy influence from Dad. The problem with this approach is that not all Dads have the time to give to plant the seed about Baseball. The ones that do, like most of us, do see the results.