Politics in High School Baseball

I'm reminded of someone that most people hold in high esteem as a coach. To my knowledge his integrity and character have never been held in contempt. Yet, every year he always held a position open to a player that would never get many minutes, but whose father was a friend of his. That was Dean Smith.

I'm not suggesting HS coaches do that and they certainly wouldn't allow that to enter their mind when it comes to starting, but to have a player on your bench that is a positive teammate who always hustles during practices and supports everyone on the team....well, if his family is a strong supporter of the team, I'm sure that doesn't hurt.

I'd take a good teammate with a positive attitude vs a more talented player that always whines and complains about starting anyday.

I'm sure there can be some conflicts of interest, but we are talking about HS coaches. It ain't like these guys are making a ton of money coaching and for them to supplement their income in an area that involves their expertise; I can't begrudge them for that.

It's not a perfect world and I bet we could all cite some exceptions, but it's been my experience that most coaches display character and try to do the right thing for their team.

 

Agreed...

Braves...The satisfaction a coach get s from seeing his players be successful as a group makes all the other BS insigninficant..or so it should be! You can t win for losin bottom line!:newsmile63:

 

no-no

Don't know the specific situation, but IMO the coach & his wife should have steered clear of this mess.
that's just asking for trouble.

 

ummmm

(The following assumes the sr. & underclassman ARE equal in skills, talent, intangibles, etc).......... when I read many of the posts about the sr vs. underclassmen thing, I detect an underlying sense that most are giving the nod to the underclassman. do you , would you??

is this because you have additional yr's to look forward to from the underclassman?

 

There are many factors to consider... While I do see that a younger player will be around longer, IMHO the senior gets the first nod out of loyalty (all other things being equal at the time). If he cant hold teh poistion, then I go to youth. While I believe there is consolation to rewarding a senior that has been loyal to the program, if the job isnot getting done, then I go with youth. So it depends on the situation and no two are the same. There are too many factors to consider, it is not always cut and dry. Sometimes you go with a gut decision when all else fails... Just many factors here!

 

OK

coachevans26, I like your reply on this.

 

Decisions should be made in the best interest of the team.

Having coached my sons teams from T-Ball until he was eligibal for middle school ball I recognized early on that he had a special gift for hitting a baseball. Not wanting to fall into that usual daddy ball trap I was harder on him than anyone else just so no one would say I ever favored him over anyone else. When he started playing middle school ball I had to take that step back and become a supportive fan and let the coach do the coaching. I didn't always agree with every decision his middle school and high school coachs always made but I sat back and keep my mouth shut as I was about to bite my tongue in half, but in the case of his middle school coach, it was a one man show and he didn't have anyone helping him and he wouldn't let any of us parents assist because he didn't want to open up that can of worms. When he got to the high school the coach did at least have an assistant or two. My son came to me one day before his senior season in baseball and told me that he was very proud of myself and PRD because we weren't like most of the other parents he had always been around, criticizing the coachs and the other players all the time(I must of done something right).
At the start of his freshman year the coach saw me at practice one day and told me that he was going to start Robbie out on the varsity team but that if it didn't look like he was going to get a lot of playing time he would drop him back down to the jv team so that he could play everyday. I told the coach that all I asked was that he get a chance to prove himself and the rest would take care of itself. You see all these varsity players were the same boys he had always played with or against up until middle school. After five games into the season he had worked his way into the staring line-up and the rest is history. He never missed a start in the rest of his four year career. The one thng that hasn't been mentioned in this thread and it might even justify a seperate thread is the impact that this kind of success has on the player himself. I know my son heard a lot of negative and derogatory comments from the players parents that he supposedly took their kids playing time from. This really bothered Robbie at first because he has a good heart and wants to be everyones friend. That was just another one of the great life lessons that this great game can teach you. Now we are at the next level he is starting in right field as a freshman and a new adventure begins. I am going to miss those high school experiences and friends especially PRD (theres only one Bruce-Bruce) I'm even going to miss Coach26 a little bit. I wish all of the posters on this board and their sons a great season and I hope all of your expectations are met. These are truly the best years of your life.

 

Great Post Big Byrd