WSJ Baseball Article

while it may be dropping in numbers, baseball has a good following here in the seacoast. as do most other sports.

but, i think lots of kids play youth baseball in general. as the game speeds up, or more talent is required it does thin the herd some what.
lets face it.it is a diffuicult game to teach and to learn. if you don't love it, it is a slow game as well.

Shawn,

You're right, good conversation starter.

quote:

As for Little League, which covers kids aged 4 to 18, about two million kids played in the U.S. last year, compared to about 2.5 million in 1996—an overall decline of 25%.

quote:

At the high school level, baseball has held steady with about 15,786 programs in the U.S.—a number that ranks it No. 3 among all boys' sports. Youth sports officials say there's been a small decline in the number of teams, but largely because of funding cutbacks.

The quotes above was taken from the article.

Not debating anything but just curious....

Are those figures pertaining to the "Little League" Baseball organization only or 4 to 18 year olds in general? Because many other organizations have grown significantly in that same time period. I think the same thing could be said about American Legion baseball. If you just use Legion participation numbers, it might look like baseball is declining.

Also, If baseball has remained constant in high school would this mean the quality of high school play is lesser than it was? Not sure how to compare the quality of high school baseball over a 10 year period, but I haven't noticed any difference. We don't have to look very far to find outstanding high school teams and players. I would be interested in hearing what veteran high school coaches think about this. Is the talent level diminishing? Are the numbers down in their area?

I feel there is a resurgence in the past 10 years as I see more and more kids, who love baseball, working on the game year round with private lessons, fall wood bat leagues, and off-season conditioning. At least I hope that this is the case because it has to be this way, or yes, baseball will not be able to keep pace with the other major sports especially in the northeast.

The article weighs in on travel baseball which has emerged in recent years probably because of the scene described where a coach pitches batting practice and a bunch of kids stand around and watch the grass grow. I'm sure it will always come down to coaching. Baseball can be slower than the other sports, but practice never has to be. Yes too many kids leave baseball for other sports, but bad baseball coaches help to drive kids away from the game from the time they are 8 right through HS. I know for a fact that a freshman coach at a D1 NH high school is teaching his infielders to throw to third on ground balls with runners at 1st and 2nd. Go figure. Can anyone guess what's happening at the youth levels? Maybe parents figure that at the AAU level they're at least getting quality instruction.

Basketball has taken off with travel teams as well as AAU. While Travel Teams are mainly coached by parents, AAU is a money grab. Every kid no matter their skill level can play, just stick them in a lower level. It's all for the kids,right? And the $ that AAU programs get to turn your kid into Michael Jordan.

Basketball is easier to coach, anyway, because you can just "roll out the balls"...kids want to run, It actually looks like something is happening. Just blow the whistle and pretend to teach someone. Every parent thinks there kid is the 2nd coming, anyway.

An average high school basketball player is playing in the summer with his team, in the fall with his team, and in the winter with his team. He begins playing his AAU schedule in the Spring. Where's time for baseball? The thing is, kids and their families can always delude themselves in to thinking that they are good enough..."I got a rebound and scored 4 points." "Johnny didn't get enough touches."

Baseball, with its foundation of individual performance, is hard to be fooled by...especially when you go 0-4 with 3 strike outs.

We have high school students who are playing s****r year round as well. The HS football player's "season" has been extending longer and longer. I know a good 15 year old baseball player who can not play Legion ball anymore because summer football workouts will interfere.

Unlike when I was in HS, and 3 sports athletes were commonplace, it is almost as if the world is requiring specialization.

I suppose I have rambled a bit, but as it was stated earlier by Shawn, it's a great conversation starter and I love baseball.

Baseball doesn't get any respect from other sports in high school. all summer long we are constantly losing players because the football coach wants them at summer workouts or the basketball coach wants his players playing travel or the hockey coach needs his players playing in a summer league. what would be the football coaches reaction if a player told him he couldn't make a practice because he had offseason hitting to go to ? I wonder if down south where they can be outside yearround if they have the same issues ?

http://www.fosters.com/apps/pb...4089864/-1/FOSSPORTS

ironic, but dover's big draw was cal ripken. nh was/is the 2nd largest cal ripken state . behind florida.