South Meck Fall Baseball Workouts

Yeah But.....

his biggest competitors DON'T!

 

My two cents

Everyone knows I had too say something.

Personally i think that the fields should be open too anyone wishing to tryout in the Spring. Ole Hal Bagwell has a few days that he "lets" everyone come out and play. Last year, as in years past, he has chosen his team in the fall, and tryouts are just a sham to make everyone happy.

Today, players for next years Audrey Kell team are playing a scrimmage game at Audrey Kell's field. Bagwell is running the scrimmage. Is this within the limits of the rules?

Coach or no coach, the SM boys will be fine. Unfortunately this new coach is not aware of the tradition of SM baseball and how important it is to the players. Would it not be great to see boys from a school play together in showcase tournaments, USSSA, AAU etc...?

 

today and tomarrow are days where anyone can come out and play. next week is going to be the same. and i dont think you know the new coach very well becasue he is aware of the tradition and he knows how important this is to him player. and from having played for bagewell in the past, i can assure you that the scrimage he has today is inline with all the rules. he wouldn't do something to put his teams season in jepordy. he may be out there, but if hes not allowed to be coaching, we all know he will have his pen and clipboard

 

I wish somebody would get him to register. It would do him well to introduce himself to the board. I can assure him he will be treated with respect.

We would all like to get to know him and I do not think he would want 2000 people to come by practice to say hello.

 

It's all way too complicated - big league dreams with big league paychecks obscure the very essence of the game - travel ball, recruiting for travel ball teams, high school rules, NCAA rules, college recruiting, showcases, all star teams, state games, blue and gray games, baseball camps, etc, etc, etc. and parents trying to make sense of it all so they can give their son the best shot and we're all getting crazy because of it. We stress over it, obsess over it, fight over it, go into debt over it and lose very dear friends over it. Would we invest so much time and money and sacrifice our families and the very short and precious time we have with our kids if the payoff were say, that of a teacher's salary?

 

Observer, you have a way of always putting things into perspective.

But, you know, anything involving competition potentially brings out the worst in some people. Whether it's cheerleading, sports, beauty pageants or spelling bee's; there is always another side that ain't too pretty.

 

Braves...I'm still looking for your "pretty side":1peekdoor ....front, back, it's all ugly what "Beauty Pageant" were you in?

Honker....I'll give you credit, you never let up....you know though, I believe Bags will be okay even without your support.

South Meck faithful....give the new guy a chance, you got no other choice at this point and time...

 

Mind you, true story, I did win the Aquacentennial Beautiful Child pageant when I was 6-7 yo and I was selected by The Captain Kangaroo...of course, he was spending the night at our house the night before.

EDIT: I don't know why I was entered, so don't dare ask, dbacks.

But for those who know me, I ain't real pretty in the front, but I drive the old ladies crazy with my "trunk". Also, my mother thinks I'm pretty

 

Went to the workout yesterday and introduced myself to Coach. My immediate thoughts were:.....this is a stand up guy (very likeable & personable) who is very aware of SM's traditions. He was watching, in the top bleachers with clip board in hand, and let the upper classmen run the entire work out. He also stayed for the entire workout, which lasted about an hour and a half.

The upper classmen did a very good job of running the workout. Sometimes, we as parents do not give these young men the credit that they should deserve. Good job fellows!

Braves, I'm sure that when coach is made aware of this board, he will participate in it.

What I observed from the workout was this: .....that these players (sophmore's, junior's & senior's) from SM's past teams, still have the desire, the heart and are very aware of the tradition that comes with being a part of the program. They know what has to be done, and will work and do all the things that are needed to do to make the program continue on the path that Bagwell started. To say that I was impressed with these young men, would be an understatement.

 

Part 1

Why would Coach Bagwell not use a player he identifies as someone who could help his program? He and his staff work throughout the year in preparations to create the best team they believe they possibly could have including open fields, eight man workouts, team tryouts, and even what they see in classes. Any player that the staff believes can help them, and the player is eligible and willing to follow the rules Coach establishes, will be on the team regardless of the time of year he is seen.

I am confused Honker. You have let it be known your dislike for Coach Bagwell’s approach to coaching his team, yet on the first week where schools are allowed to have off season workouts or open facilities you are there watching Kell and must have been on the field to see that he is running the scrimmage. That seams strange to me for someone who spills so much venom on this board about Hal that you take the time to go watch. If you were not there, by his side, then you are just making this up about him running the scrimmage because you really don’t know what Hal was or was not doing.

I openly admit that I am a colleague and friend of Hal’s, so I have a bias opinion. But because I have the opportunity to work with him on a daily bases, I also have some insight into what is happing with Hal, his kids, and program.

For you to suggest, as you are here, that Hal is doing something illegal is wrong, in that he is not holding practice sessions with more than eight players where he is instructing. It is also wrong that you find a public forum to make such an accusation. If you truly believe that he may be in violation of a NCHSAA rule, then you should contact his AD and/or his principal and they will investigate the situation. If he did break a rule, he would be disciplined accordingly.

However, I can promise you that Hal routinely studies not only the National Federation of State High Schools Association rule book, but also the North Carolina High School Athletic Association Handbook. He is well aware of what is allowed, including how athletes may participate in both on and off season workouts and what he, as coach, is allowed to do with these kids. When Hal has had questions about interpretations of the NCHSAA rules, he seeks clarification from his colleagues, AD, principal, system AD, conference commissioner, and Carolyn Shannhouse, et al of the NCHSAA for the correct interpretation. In fact, in one of his first seasons as head coach, because of his study of the rules, his team correctly earned their way into the state playoffs through the appropriate tie breaking procedure that the SW4A was not going following, and was finally advised by the state that they (the SW4A) must use the tie breaking procedure as prescribed in the NCHSAA handbook.

From your first post on this board . . . 5/11/06 “Was it me, or was Bags' a little carelus in pitching Laymen the complete 11 innings? Sorry guys, I just do not like his coaching style. he seems to ruin a lot of players, look at what Coble did at Belmont this year” . . . you have been critical on Hal and his coaching. It is fine to have an opinion and not like his style but some of the ideas you float are preposterous. Let’s look at your record:

I have cut and pasted to be sure not to miss quote you. “he seems to ruin a lot of players, look at what Coble did at Belmont this year.” I am assuming you mean Josh Cable. As a freshman, Josh was 11 of 73, batting .151, with 8 RBIs while strikeout 34 times. As a catcher, he threw out 9 of 29 base stealers. He had 135 put outs and 15 assist. The vast majority of his putouts are from strikeouts. Assuming he had about five fielding put outs at the plate, with the 7 errors he made on about 20 chances he had a fielding percentage of about .650. Now that I have looked at his statistical season, I am not sure if you are saying: see how much better he is playing now that he is playing for someone else besides Hal, or Hal was correct for sitting Josh down when his play either dropped off or was surpassed by a junior during their ‘05 playoff run. Under your theory, Josh should have shown tremendous improvement this year under new coaching, and maybe he did, since I did not have the opportunity to watch Josh in the fall or throughout his first season of college ball. My guess is neither did you. But looking at his stats, obviously, it was an adjustment that Josh struggled with to be competitive at that level. Statistically, he was an average 4A player, why would we be shocked when he struggled even more at a higher level in his first year at that level? I hope Josh is maturing, learning and working on his weaknesses to get better at the collegiate level if that is what his goals are, instead of blaming others has he was when I last saw him. Josh was a nice high school player, not great, but worked to contribute to the best of his ability. Unfortunately for Josh, as the level of competition rose, his limitations were exposed. He played at a higher statistical level when he was younger and a little more mature that many of the others he was playing against, but eventually they caught up to his physical stature. That is why he was a back up as a junior, a part time starter as a senior and struggled at the D2 level as a freshman. Can he make improvements to the point were he is a greater contributor for Belmont, I believe so, but that is more up to Josh to put in the necessary work to become better. It is not because Josh has not been exposed to good coaching, even if you omit Hal, he has been coached by other well respected baseball people. Are they all poor coaches? When does the athlete start taking responsibility for performance?

It is noted at this point, how you were quick to point out to someone on this board in you 5/17 post “Spelling”. . . “I hope that this is a player, if so, he needs to concentrate on his studies more. When you KNOW something, it is not NO.” . . . while looking at the 5/11 post above you see your spelling, capitalization, and punctuation are far from accurate.