Baseball Talk: Hitting, Pitching, Catching Strategy

Here is what AAU Mom said originally (for reference):

We live in the Salisbury area, my kids are in the East Rowan school district. We're not "fourth generation Rowan County" people having only moved here about six years ago, but I still to this day find baseball, even at the school level, to be so political. I guess what I'm trying to say is, there are certain kids that make teams irregardless of ability simply because their parents are on the school board, or is a booster with deep pockets. I think that's a shame. Roster space is limited and should go to the players with the most potential/skills/attitude etc. We've been fortunate in that my son's abilities and attitude have overcome that obstical.

Sabrefan:
You have the distinction of being involved in a program in the big city. Pretty much the same for me. Small town baseball is different. It always has been.

I can't say anything about the north end of the county now because, when you combine the 3 towns up here, the population nears Gastonia in size and it's split among 2 HS (1 until last year).

When your student body is in excess of 1800, no, you won't see politics play much of a part. There is just too much talent to see that happen. When you are dealing with a small town and smaller schools, it's sometimes difficult to field a varsity team and a JV team of 18 top quality starters. You end up with holes and thats where the politics come in.

Let's hear from some of the small town guys and see if the situation has changed over the years.

OBTW: I think you have to eliminate the Hickory area because the kids up there have a .250 batting average at birth and are already hitting 42 on the jugs gun.

 

I can guarantee you that the HS coach at West Henderson does not bow to parent/local politics. His past record affords him the privelege of not having to. I think if you dig, you will find that successful coaches, who have winning programs do not. Younger coaches should really take a close look at their competion, that are winners year in and year out, and truly see what makes them successful. Get involved in their summer programs and support them. The more the kids play "together" the better they get. Give them an opportunity to stay together and play together year around.

 

wild game form rec years

When I think of the topic on bone head plays a few come to mind from my rec years. There full of them.
This one comes from about three years ago, SE Charlotte vs. SE Charlotte, or Matthews, don’t remember. I was up to bat and it was late in the game. After hitting two deep line drives I was swinging for the fence. But at that bat I connected with the ball extremely low on the bat shaft, and sent a hobbler right back to the pitcher. Now there are two outs and all he needs to do is throw me out. But instead he takes off to first in a slow trot. Any baseball player knows this is a mistake, because anything can happen when there’s a live ball. Well to make a long story short I ended up sliding under him, clipping him and reaching the base on a sure out. Needless to say his coach was not happy. There’s a reason you learn the basics otherwise you’ll end up here on the bone-head plays.

 

NCBB,
it is tough to keep up with the program at Harding from down here. Once the coaches that i played for left (knotts and rego) and i moved down here, i lost interest. both programs (football and baseball) have really struggled. the last game i attended was 5 years ago (wow...has it been that long???) when they honored the 10th anniversary of our championship team. to be honest with you, i have followed South Mecklenburg...Hal Bagwell is a college buddy of mine. i come here to keep up with all of CLT ball.

Braves,
I was really disappointed to watch Chet take over the program at Harding...two years after a championship...and they win something like 5 games his first season. they never sniffed the playoffs during his time there. There was still talent there...he just did not know how to deal with those kids.

 

i don't know of many coaches that would risk a losing season in order to play the political game. most coaches are way to competitive to allow that to happen. just because a coaches opinion is different from the parents doesn't mean it is politically motivated. some people just have to realize that they are not playing across the creek (at the little leaque) and they now have to MAKE the team.

 

There are probably some political decisions made by coaches, and I have seen some pretty intense lobbying by a few parents to make sure their little dumpling is on the team. I know of parents who have done things for the coach to gain an advantage for their kids, and unfortunately, it does happen. Hopefully it isn't often and hopefully there aren't many coaches that fall into that trap. Coaches are pressured though and there is a lot they can do to dispel any perceptions of politics.

What may look like politics too, is that many of the players come to a school with a reputation already. That reputation is seemingly the result of the ball they played at their previous school. For whatever reason, recreation league reputations don't seem to transfer as easily. So, that political decision could really be a kid's reputation. Coaches talk and they know what to expect when a middle schooler come to high school. Many times though the reputation doesn't meet up with reality.

In my small area, and I won't name it although some may guess, the biggest problem seems to be that many good ball players won't even try out for the team, or they transfer, because of the perception of politics. Whether it is really there or not is another question, but the coach isn't very well liked by his players, and I haven't heard of a one that respects him. In fact I have seen his players walk by him and never utter a word to him. But to be fair, he doesn't speak to them either very much.

I agree with catamount36 though, that a lot of the feelings of politics is most likely a difference of opinion between parents and coach, and of course the parents are going to side with their kid.

If we as parents would butt out of the situation and check OUR egos at the door, most of the kids would be happy. Many of them would be happy just being a part of the team.

 

Boy, it's really interesting that so many of you guys think along the same lines as I do.

I live on the other side of Salisbury from AAUMom, but I know a lot of the players and parents that are currently playing East Rowan. I've always heard the rumblings of politics in their Little League but never in MS or HS. I know their former coach( my son was fortunate enough to play for him one summer) and I'll never believe that he ever played politics when it came to his team. He was(is) a competitor and he would never let anything jepordize his team's chances of winning, (his record will atest to that) and made a lot of enemies in doing so.
I can't say that I have had the pleasure of meeting their present coach, but neither his reputation as a coach nor convesations with some of his players would lead me to think he is any different.
On the other hand, there's a little(too much) politics in just about everything, I guess baseball maybe no different.

 

I will also admit freely that a parent is probably the WORST evaluation of his players talent.

They are either overly enthusiastic or overly critical (and sometimes both in the same sentence).:help:

 

rcbbfan: Please go on just a little further than that...what exactly are your lines of thought and what exactly do you think?

 

NCBBallFan, you are SO,SO, right.

When the kids are younger it is much easier to pick out the more talented players, but at the HS level it's much tougher for the untrained eye. That's why when someone asks me about my son I tell them to come to a game and make their own assessment.
As a parent, you're torn between the fact that you think your son(daughter) is a good player and the reality of knowing that what you think doesn't mean squat.(my son reminds me of this every now and then) We all want our kids to be successful in all their endeavors but some just can't see the forest for the trees.

Southloop, I was editing my previous post when you posted. I agree with what was said by all the previous posters. Although there are probably some HS coaches out there that allow themselves to be "bullied" into playing politics(I doubt there are many) I can't say that I know of one first hand. So I don't intend to come on here and accuse anyone of it.

As far as the size of the school, I'm not sure that it really matters.
To me, its a matter of integrity.

You guys will have to forgive me, it took me nearly an hour to type this post. I'm a very slow typist and a computer illiterate to boot.