Youth baseball

brownisdown

Twelve Pointer
Contributor
What level was this at? Why do you think you were cut?

I RARELY see anyone bat over .500 in HS. A HS second baseman who can hit over .300 would be HIGHLY sought-after, I would imagine.
High School. I don't think, I know the reason as I was told by the coaching staff many years later and that was a combination of favoritism to a few other players and personal grudges held against family members. I have never hit a home run in a game and hit less than 10 in practice but had a pile of singles and doubles and rbi's.

I never played travel ball though so I probably sucked.
 

DBCooper

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
High School. I don't think, I know the reason as I was told by the coaching staff many years later and that was a combination of favoritism to a few other players and personal grudges held against family members. I have never hit a home run in a game and hit less than 10 in practice but had a pile of singles and doubles and rbi's.

I never played travel ball though so I probably sucked.
I'd say that wasn't the case. I played college baseball, and I never recall anyone I played with who hit much over .500 in high school. .690 and .750 is incredible.
 

brownisdown

Twelve Pointer
Contributor
I'd say that wasn't the case. I played college baseball, and I never recall anyone I played with who hit much over .500 in high school. .690 and .750 is incredible.
It's well established on here that you are the finest specimen to grace a baseball field, golf course, contractors job site, 3D archery range and anything else for that matter. How dare I share a life experience.
 

DBCooper

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
It's well established on here that you are the finest specimen to grace a baseball field, golf course, contractors job site, 3D archery range and anything else for that matter. How dare I share a life experience.
It's well-established that I was giving you a compliment. Whoever cut someone who can hit .690 and .750 from a high school baseball team is an idiot.
 

brownisdown

Twelve Pointer
Contributor
It's well-established that I was giving you a compliment. Whoever cut someone who can hit .690 and .750 from a high school baseball team is an idiot.
Apologies for reading that response the wrong way. I took it as there was no way possible that happens.
 

brownisdown

Twelve Pointer
Contributor
I said...."I'd say that wasn't the case" - in response to you saying you probably sucked.
I loved the game but never really thought playing past HS was an option but putting the bat on the ball and guarding the plate like fort Knox was a mission.
 

pattersonj11

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
Baseball is fragile for a lot of people. It doesnt take a big change to leave a sour taste. We had a couple stats girls in highschool that kept the books for baseball. I enjoyed it all around. I had a great senior year. I still remember my coach calling me out of a classroom to his classroom and asking me if my parents by any chance kept a separate book for the year.

My first game senior year I was 3 for 4 at the plate. Every single at bat after that showed a strikeout. I started every game and was the 4 hitter until we changed from the traditional lineup. We typically had a good leadoff, tried to get someone in the 2 position, then had a traditional 3 and 4. About halfway through the season….it was decided to stack 1,2,3 and hope for the best.

To this day, I dont know why that occurred other than highschool drama. I could only tell my coach that I didnt have a single game without a hit, and not a single game did I bat a thousand. I knew I had 3 strikeouts senior year….and knew the pitcher that got every one of them off of me. Knew I was the only player to bust up his no hitter on one of those games and knew he caught me with a 94mph ball to the thigh on my next ab.

All that said, i would love to know where I ended up that year.
 

richard corn

Ten Pointer
My son had a teammate his soph year at Guilford College that hit over .500. I believe it set a NCAA Div III record
 

Scrub

Twelve Pointer
Contributor
From coaching for years to having a chance to play Minor League at 18 for Single A Redsox. I turned it down because I would’ve starved to death on what they pay low round players. If you are ”that” player they will find you. Travel ball is a money racket that preys on players and parent dreams. You want to play college ball or above get nominated to play in State Games. I’ve not seen or coached a D1 player that wouldn’t have got the opportunity if they were playing travel ball or not. Take it for what it’s worth but it takes a lot of desire and work to get there, not continuous playing weekend after weekend. I’ve seen tons of kids with useless arms by the end of HS, there is a limit to anything. You can’t tell me anything about travel or showcase I don’t know I coached it for too long. Take care of kids arms, playing other sports is a GREAT thing and limiting baseball to no more than 6 months of the year. Again take it for what it’s worth but get back to me when your kid is 18-20 years old that played travel ball and let me know what you think.
 

thandy

Ten Pointer
My son plays showcase ball and high school ball. He wants to play collage ball and should get an opportunity as long as he stays healthy. There seems to be a ton of politics in high school sports, at least at my sons/daughters school. The coach at the high school has no desire to promote baseball players but the travel team we are on does a ton of it. My son is a lefty and throw mid/high 80's as a junior he also plays 1st base. During travel ball playing with and against better competition he never came off the field and was never higher than 5 in the lineup. So far through 4 games in HS he hasn't had a bat in his hand, pitched one inning and not played the field otherwise. Two parents help coach with players on the team and neither of them have sit an inning. He knew it was going to be tough with 12 seniors on the team but wasn't expecting the daddy ball. He is a better defensive 1st baseman then the Sr who start and about the same bat. The difference it the staring 1st baseman has the football locker named after his dad...
 

Scrub

Twelve Pointer
Contributor
My son plays showcase ball and high school ball. He wants to play collage ball and should get an opportunity as long as he stays healthy. There seems to be a ton of politics in high school sports, at least at my sons/daughters school. The coach at the high school has no desire to promote baseball players but the travel team we are on does a ton of it. My son is a lefty and throw mid/high 80's as a junior he also plays 1st base. During travel ball playing with and against better competition he never came off the field and was never higher than 5 in the lineup. So far through 4 games in HS he hasn't had a bat in his hand, pitched one inning and not played the field otherwise. Two parents help coach with players on the team and neither of them have sit an inning. He knew it was going to be tough with 12 seniors on the team but wasn't expecting the daddy ball. He is a better defensive 1st baseman then the Sr who start and about the same bat. The difference it the staring 1st baseman has the football locker named after his dad...

If he is a lefty throwing high 80’s as a junior and can get to low 90’s with movement he will pitch in college. Practice throwing two seam fastballs over and over and over. Work on arm strength and he can pitch in college. Lefty’s are highly sought as long as he isn’t really short in height. High school politics only go so far if he is a lefty slinging it he will be fine.
 

brownisdown

Twelve Pointer
Contributor
If he is a lefty throwing high 80’s as a junior and can get to low 90’s with movement he will pitch in college. Practice throwing two seam fastballs over and over and over. Work on arm strength and he can pitch in college. Lefty’s are highly sought as long as he isn’t really short in height. High school politics only go so far if he is a lefty slinging it he will be fine.
Not if he never gets the opportunity to sling it. I'm bitter though lol
 

thandy

Ten Pointer
If he is a lefty throwing high 80’s as a junior and can get to low 90’s with movement he will pitch in college. Practice throwing two seam fastballs over and over and over. Work on arm strength and he can pitch in college. Lefty’s are highly sought as long as he isn’t really short in height. High school politics only go so far if he is a lefty slinging it he will be fine.
His goal is 90 by summer travel ball. His 2 seam has a ton of movement and he has a couple off speed pitches. He will get his opportunity in showcase ball, he was one of the main pitchers last season for the Dirtbags. Size wise he is 6-1 and about 170 but he will tell you all day he is 6-2...lol
 

dc bigdaddy

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
His goal is 90 by summer travel ball. His 2 seam has a ton of movement and he has a couple off speed pitches. He will get his opportunity in showcase ball, he was one of the main pitchers last season for the Dirtbags. Size wise he is 6-1 and about 170 but he will tell you all day he is 6-2...lol
I tell you I'm 6' all day long, but don't measure my 5'-11-1/2" fat frame self
 

pattersonj11

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
His goal is 90 by summer travel ball. His 2 seam has a ton of movement and he has a couple off speed pitches. He will get his opportunity in showcase ball, he was one of the main pitchers last season for the Dirtbags. Size wise he is 6-1 and about 170 but he will tell you all day he is 6-2...lol

How is his control? Mid to high 80s in high school is something that any school would love to have. The kicker is in the control. Hitting the strike zone or inside/outside half of the plate is about all that would be asked for at that level.

We had a kid that was hitting 95mph as a junior in high school, but his control was come and go. May have a good inning and the next inning walk 4 and bean 2. When he was putting them over the plate, he was a stud.

He played some short stop and 3rd base as well. One of those full windup to throw the ball from any position guys. I played first base and saw the ball thrown over my head and over the fence behind me multiple times. Seems like it was always 10ft in front of the bag or 10 feet over the bag.

He had a great arm but lost all of that advantage taking all the additional time getting ready to throw. From the time the ball entered his glove to the time it exited his throwing hand was probably 2-2.5 seconds gone. You cant make that up with a cannon.
 

thandy

Ten Pointer
He has pretty good control he will throw one short every once and a while. His 1st outing this year he had some nerves and walked a couple but that is rare. Another kid on the team throws harder and has hit 4 or 5 so far, about one an inning. His travel ball coaches love him pitch him every tournament but the high school coach not so much. He has a pretty nasty knuckle ball and threw during a scrimmage last year and the HS coach jumped all over him. Took him out and blessed him out on the sideline, told him he was to never throw another knuckle ball at that school. I tried to ask the coach why and was told "he was the coach and to drop it". We play tonight and the kid starting, assistant coaches son, has good control but throws it about 70ish. Last year his ERA was double digits, its BP speed for most teams.
 

DBCooper

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
Man.....baseball must've changed.

A LH pitcher throwing in the high 80's could pitch at a LOT of COLLEGES in my day.....and anyone throwing 95 would be drafted out of HS.
 

sky hawk

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
has good control but throws it about 70ish. Last year his ERA was double digits, its BP speed for most teams.
70ish? We've got a local kid in 5th grade throwing that fast.

I hate social politics. Same as national politics, kids should get what they earn. By merit, not by birthright or cronyism. Not because your Daddy helps coach or your mama works at the school and is the community busybody. And not because this kid plays travel ball, but this other kid came from rec league.

Put them side by side, work them out, and see who has the skills, physically, mentally, and emotionally, to best help the team win. All anyone can ask for is a fair playing field, but too often it's not.
 

thandy

Ten Pointer
70ish? We've got a local kid in 5th grade throwing that fast.

I hate social politics. Same as national politics, kids should get what they earn. By merit, not by birthright or cronyism. Not because your Daddy helps coach or your mama works at the school and is the community busybody. And not because this kid plays travel ball, but this other kid came from rec league.

Put them side by side, work them out, and see who has the skills, physically, mentally, and emotionally, to best help the team win. All anyone can ask for is a fair playing field, but too often it's not.
They moved the kid up to varsity last year as a sophomore only kid they moved up. His mom was the assistance principle and his dad helped coach. This year his mom has moved on but his dad and older brother help coach. They moved one kid up to varsity this year... and guess whos dad is helping coach? I have talk to my son and he understands to take advantage of any opportunity he gets with HS ball but not to worry over playing time... head down work hard and use it as practice for showcase ball. Take advantage of the pitching coach and throw as many bullpens as they will let him it will work out in the end.
 

agsnchunt

Old Mossy Horns
How is his control? Mid to high 80s in high school is something that any school would love to have. The kicker is in the control. Hitting the strike zone or inside/outside half of the plate is about all that would be asked for at that level.

We had a kid that was hitting 95mph as a junior in high school, but his control was come and go. May have a good inning and the next inning walk 4 and bean 2. When he was putting them over the plate, he was a stud.

My cousin to a T. He hit me more than once in HS playing against him and wore out my hand and legs trying to catch him in Legion.

He threw well enough to play in college.
 

pattersonj11

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
He has pretty good control he will throw one short every once and a while. His 1st outing this year he had some nerves and walked a couple but that is rare. Another kid on the team throws harder and has hit 4 or 5 so far, about one an inning. His travel ball coaches love him pitch him every tournament but the high school coach not so much. He has a pretty nasty knuckle ball and threw during a scrimmage last year and the HS coach jumped all over him. Took him out and blessed him out on the sideline, told him he was to never throw another knuckle ball at that school. I tried to ask the coach why and was told "he was the coach and to drop it". We play tonight and the kid starting, assistant coaches son, has good control but throws it about 70ish. Last year his ERA was double digits, its BP speed for most teams.

I can see both sides of that. It can be a good pitch at certain levels, but its really an accessory pitch. Throw a bunch of them and they will wait on it and tee off. Its pretty rare to see. It looks cool when it works, but it doesnt look cool 400’ from the plate. Id say its nearly impossible to consistently throw it for a strike.

Hitting batters is just a thing in baseball. It doesnt always mean a lack of control. Its not hard for a pitch to get away from you.

Some aggressive players, and many times players that arent very good try to get an advantage by crowding the plate. I have no issue at any level if a player crowds the plate and a pitcher lets him hold one on the hip. I had no issue being tagged a few times playing ball. Being hit 3 times in a row in the same game was pushing it.

Worst thing I ever saw was a catcher calling an intentional walk, taking it to 3-0, then sneaking a strike in before the 4th ball. That was about as disrespectful or even more than someone crowding the plate.
 

thandy

Ten Pointer
I can see both sides of that. It can be a good pitch at certain levels, but its really an accessory pitch. Throw a bunch of them and they will wait on it and tee off. Its pretty rare to see. It looks cool when it works, but it doesnt look cool 400’ from the plate. Id say its nearly impossible to consistently throw it for a strike.

Hitting batters is just a thing in baseball. It doesnt always mean a lack of control. Its not hard for a pitch to get away from you.

Some aggressive players, and many times players that arent very good try to get an advantage by crowding the plate. I have no issue at any level if a player crowds the plate and a pitcher lets him hold one on the hip. I had no issue being tagged a few times playing ball. Being hit 3 times in a row in the same game was pushing it.

Worst thing I ever saw was a catcher calling an intentional walk, taking it to 3-0, then sneaking a strike in before the 4th ball. That was about as disrespectful or even more than someone crowding the plate.
I don't disagree with anything you said. A knuckle ball can also be hard on your catcher but to sprinkle it in as an off speed pitch shouldn't be a big deal. I went to school with the coach so when I asked him about it I wasn't being disrespectful. One I was curious and two I care for his approach.

I have been around baseball a long time and the kid I mentioned above is wild and has no control. I think the only strikeouts he gets is out of fear.

Like I said I have been around baseball for a while and this coach just does stuff that doesn't make sense, outside of anything with my son. Played a team Tuesday with a freshman catcher who didn't have a good throw down and we never attempted to steal. Got a kid who is 2nd on the team in BA, over .400, he has another kid DH for him with a .278 BA. All the while the assistant coaches kid with a .143 is batting. There is other stuff but that is two examples from this week.

He should get to pitch today or tomorrow and will let you know how he does. We have games T/W/TH I don't see how he wouldn't get a chance. The pitching coach told him early he would be pitching often either middle relief or closer so we will see how it goes.
 

alt1001

Old Mossy Horns
I know I'm late to the party on this thread, but I'll give my $.02.

One thing I hear often is how amazing travel ball was for certain kids and how a school coach came along and ruined the sport for their kid. Travel ball is a racket, where any dad with money can start his own club when he sees something at another club that he doesn't agree with. It's become a fragile model where the programs are built around the kids versus having a program and forcing kids to conform to the standards of said program. Now these high school coaches are dealing with an influx of kids who have never had to play a role or compete for playing time because daddy took care of them, so these players are now having to sit the bench, not being able to pitch, having to play a role, etc, for the first time in their lives and according to these entitled parents it’s these HS coaches who are “ruining sports for these kids”.

30 years ago when I was playing rec ball, they took the best from each team and formed an all star team and you would travel to nearby counties and compete with other all star teams. You learned quickly and at a young age, that when the best of the best get together everything is put into context and you might not be playing as much you'd like or in the positions you want to play. These lessons are being learned much later in life and these parents are wanting to point blame at coaches and institutions they don't have control over.
 
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agsnchunt

Old Mossy Horns
I know I'm late to the party on this thread, but I'll give my $.02.

One thing I hear often is how amazing travel ball was for certain kids and how a school coach came along and ruined the sport for their kid. Travel ball is a racket, where any dad with money can start his own club when he sees something at another club that he doesn't agree with. It's become a fragile model where the programs are built around the kids versus having a program and forcing kids to conform to the standards of said program. Now these high school coaches are dealing with an influx of kids who have never had to play a role or compete for playing time because daddy took care of them, so these players are now having to sit the bench, not being able to pitch, having to play a role, etc, for the first time in their lives and according to these entitled parents it’s these HS coaches who are “ruining sports for these kids”.

30 years ago when I was playing rec ball, they took the best from each team and formed an all star team and you would travel to nearby counties and compete with other all star teams. You learned quickly and at a young age, that when the best of the best get together everything is put into context and you might not be playing as much you'd like or in the positions you want to play. These lessons are being learned much later in life and these parents are wanting to point blame at coaches and institutions they don't have control over.

 

alt1001

Old Mossy Horns
It's the same with basketball too. Why are guys like Jokic, and Luka Doncic, and Giannis, etc, the best players in the NBA? Because overseas they focus on REAL development, they focus on making it out. Here, parents want to chase clout with their 10 year old's.
 

timber

Twelve Pointer
I know I'm late to the party on this thread, but I'll give my $.02.

One thing I hear often is how amazing travel ball was for certain kids and how a school coach came along and ruined the sport for their kid. Travel ball is a racket, where any dad with money can start his own club when he sees something at another club that he doesn't agree with. It's become a fragile model where the programs are built around the kids versus having a program and forcing kids to conform to the standards of said program. Now these high school coaches are dealing with an influx of kids who have never had to play a role or compete for playing time because daddy took care of them, so these players are now having to sit the bench, not being able to pitch, having to play a role, etc, for the first time in their lives and according to these entitled parents it’s these HS coaches who are “ruining sports for these kids”.

30 years ago when I was playing rec ball, they took the best from each team and formed an all star team and you would travel to nearby counties and compete with other all star teams. You learned quickly and at a young age, that when the best of the best get together everything is put into context and you might not be playing as much you'd like or in the positions you want to play. These lessons are being learned much later in life and these parents are wanting to point blame at coaches and institutions they don't have control over.


Do doubt that travel ball has a lot of money floating around. But it’s not all like you described either. It cost a lot of money to play these tournaments especially the big ones. The money the parents pay here is a drop in the bucket to what the cost is to play. Corporate and other business donations is what pays the way. The money the parents have to pay probably barely would cover the cost for the Myrtle Beach tournament and the other big tournament they have in Coopers Town NY not counting all the other tournaments this summer then again in the fall tournaments. Can’t speak for all travel teams but couple I am familiar with you are invited to play because of ability and if you are not up to par you get cut. Don’t really matter how much money you parents have if you can’t play ball. There are exceptions but a lot of the better players I see playing school ball and rec ball also play travel ball. I think a lot of that is not they are any better athletes but some of these kids on travel ball practice 11 or 12 months a year.
 

timber

Twelve Pointer
Grandson’s team was suppose play today in JV school conference championship. The team they are supposed to play was tied with them for first place. They each had one conference loss and that was to each other. Now they came out last night or this morning saying the game they beat us early in the season they had ineligible players they had pulled off varsity team which those kids were age eligible but want on the roster at start of the season or when we played them. Now they had forfeit that win. Next problem not sure if flipped a coin or how they determined home field but we were suppose play there at 430 at there school. Since we now finished first solely we have home field supposedly. As of 30 mins ago not sure where or if it will be a game. Just a cluster. Hate it for the kids. They had nothing to do with way things were done but are the ones losing out.
 
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