Next week and then its on!

Great Question

Great question. I would love to hear the answer on that one too.

 

Tennessee High School Baseball

A friend of mine coaches High School baseball in Tennessee. Some areas in Tennessee play as many as 45 games (including state tournament) while others are limited to 18-24.

 

Wouldn't that be fantastic!

 

Stats - Give me more games!

Not only are HS stats hard to "buy in to" because of the wide variance in teams/talent but it's hard for me to get excited about a guy when he is:

35 for 69 (.507) and 8 of his teams wins were in 10-run rule games in a 24 game season.

For me..................show me at least 200+ at bats against tough competition and I'll take notice.

That's why the top level showcase teams have good hitters hitting in the .300 to .400 range. I haven't heard of a lot of showcase guys hitting .600+

Not even at the younger ages! Then all of the sudden we've got a guy (in HS) hitting .675 with 10+ Home Runs?

See what I mean?

 

HS stats are for the parents

 

Bingo!!!!

I do not put alot of faith in HS stats, they are usually kept by a parent of a player or a team manager who does what he/she is told. I have seen fielders choices scored as hits, walks changed to hits, and many errors changed to hits, long after the game is over. I can hear RED BEAR laughing already. Alot of coaches just grin when you talk about HS stats.

 

I was fortunate to grow-up with a dad who is a coach and a mom that is a sport’s fanatic. I have been told that I started attending games when I was about 6 weeks and have not stopped since. Once you catch the bug. . .

More important to me was their support when I started playing. Growing up in a small town, the norm was to play three sports during the school year. No matter were I was playing or running, mom or dad were there, full of encouragement and never degrading, even if my performance was, shall we say nicely, a bit off. College days brought more of the same, even though I raced from Michigan to Texas, North Carolina to California nearly every weekend from Jan-May. The short drives for them where only four-five hours one way if the Michigan snows were quiet. In the 10 years from junior high to the end of my collegiate days, I think I competed one time without a parent present.

As I transitioned from athlete to coach, they continued to annually come watch games, sometimes taking a month off and traveling 1500 miles, just watch my teams. For the past dozen years they come to watch the grandkids beginning with T-Ball and through this year as a collegiate freshman.

The performance, no matter how good, is always enhanced with the family there watching. Enjoy the games with your kids, for even if you are just starting out, or you are a veteran of hundreds of t-ball, machine pitch, minors, little league, travel/showcase, legion, or school ball, the last game will come all too soon.

 

These other states where they play more games work on "play dates". They are restricted on the number of play dates. What happens is they play doubleheaders on those dates. That is how they get their game totals up.

 

Oh helllllllllll...

every body duck for cover you know it!!!