If you could change anything in HS baseball

i don't know about the 9-inning deal. you see that struggle in legion ball a lot. If there is good pitching, then yes, 9 is great. Wood bats are a great idea but as much as they scream about the metal bats being dangerous, just wait til a kid gets stuck in the throat with a broken wood bat. You cant' reenter in college or pro, so why allow it in HS?
I wish all prep sports would do a GPA requirement but the pointy ball people will never allow it.

 

Lets encourage some true learning and prohibit pitches being called from the bench.

 

Use the lumber!

 

Playing nine may be more traditional but the fact is about half of a high school team's schedule is on a school night, and about half of those are away games. That would put kids getting home, in some cases, well after midnight... with showers, eating and homework waiting for them. Also you would lose some fans to the late hours. You could start games earlier but then the kids would have to miss more class time in leaving for away games.
The reality is that we've all been to legion games where we would be willing to pay the ump to call more strikes, so as to put us all out of our misery!
Now it might be interesting to play nine in the state finals, which are played over a weekend... but I don't think it would ever happen.
Bottom line, 7 innings are best for the STUDENT athletes. With developing bodies, and hopefully developing minds, it's just a good fit.

 

I know this would never happen due to money issues but I would go to a three man umpiring crew for conference games and non conference games where it is written into the contract (ie Bigger Non Conference games, exp, Providence vs South Caldwell, WHS vs North Davidson).

 

Coaches

One thing is that high school coaches should not be allowed to coach players from their school team also on a travel team. We played against a team where this was the case and some of the guys on my team were also on this high school team. Talk about awkward. The guys on the travle team are mostly the ones that start on the high school team. And we were playing against a team that has found a way around the dead season and summer rules. He coaches most of this a team all year long. Doesnt seem right.

 

amen

Of all the suggestions I read, going to a 3 man umpiring system and playing real baseball rules sounds the most appealing to me. I agree it will never happen due to budgets, but it would be nice to be in a 3 man system. The arguement against that would be that if the 2 man system is good enough for single A then why isn't it good enough for high school? And it is a valid reason. Another thing you have to remember is in order for that to happen you would need more umpires. So would you rather have 2 pretty good umpires in a two man system or 2 good umpires and one bad one in a 3 man system?

Playing by real baseball rules I assume mean playing closer to the Official Rules of Baseball (pro) as apposed to the National Federation rules (fed). This of course wouldn't happen because the guys at the NFHS who edit the rule books every year would be out of a job. Ever wonder why there are rules changes every year? Hmmmm, I wonder.... Although it would never happen, it would make the transition to pro ball & legion ball smoother, however I wish the NCAA would do the same thing, but they won't I'm sure. Its amazing when you actually study the rules how big a difference there is between the 3 books.

 

I disagree with you guys about the reentry rule. Sure its not by the book, but it gives a coach the opportunity to run a younger guy in there when the game is still on the line (the time that real learning and improving takes place). Take away the reentry rule and those guys ride the bench except for extreme blowouts.
I would like to see stricter IP rules for each pitcher each week. Two reasons for this: One is health of the pitcher. Two is taking away the ability of a team to win a championship on the back of one pitcher.

 

I know this isn't talk about what someone else said thread but I do not agree. The JV works just as hard and deserves to leave it all out on the field and not get it stopped by time.

I would also like to see a more strict education standard than what is in place now.

 

Although I don't disagree that the JV players work hard and deserve to play a full game, not every school has one. And truthfully, because of financial constraints, there are drums beating to do way with JV programs completely.