Baseball season from hell

[Blaze]

I couldn't make this up. My older son's 14U travel ball team started season with 10 kids. Almost immediately one kid tears up him ankle playing football. Out for season. Then my son strains his triceps muscle in his throwing arm. Not taking any chances, rehab, out for season. My catcher gets Osgood-Schlatters and his knees are jacked. Letting him heal, out for season. Then another kid breaks his foot. Out for season. I have four catchers and three of them are in this list. Then last weekend on Saturday we put a backup catcher in. Takes a fastball to the thumb on his clove hand, fractures and dislocates thumb. We swap him out. Next game my other catcher catches a foul tip on a bunt off of his wrist on his throwing hand, swells up and bruises immediately. Take him to ortho, no break, but oh yeah, his left hand hurts too. Torn tendon in thumb. Out for season. Had to forfeit game, ran out of players. Put together a bunch of guest players to play on Sunday. Second game a kid takes a hard cut at a fastball and fouls it right into his face. Fractured orbital and concussion.

At this point I call the parents and shut down the season. Not only do we have three roster kids left, but I'm worried for their health now. Such freak injuries, never seen anything like this. We got in 6 games over the course of all this. That's it.

Now in the mean time, I hurt my arm and my other assistant hurts his ribs. I have possible UCL tear and he's got a broken rib.

I can't make this shit up. Fucking 2020.

 

[shawn]

In before somebody blames Trump

 

[Blaze]

In before somebody blames Trump

I blame Obama. Always my go to.

 

[Fabrik8]

Trump would tell you that no one has done more for youth baseball than he has. Then he would blame someone else for the problems with youth baseball.

 

[UTfball68]

Cheese and crackers...impressive this thread turned political, by the first response, no less. I’m sure the injuries were due to cognitive dissonance.

 

[RatLabGuy]

Sounds like a Russian subversion plot to me.

 

[Falko]

Sounds like a Russian subversion plot to me.

We'd expect that from someone rife with cognitive dissonance.

 

[Tacoma747]

My son started playing this year, coach pitch, he is 8. He likes it but it's crazy how serious some people take it. I spent about $70-80 on a bat, and they tell me I should get him a different bat that is lighter. Big NOPE, not spending $150+ on a bat he will grow out of in a year. Once in the high school age leagues I can see spending a little more on a bat, but at his age who the heck cares. People take sports way too seriously.

The coach of his team bought a new glove, she was saying it had been forever since she had gotten a new glove---about 10 years..... I failed to bring up I am still using the same (cheap-not a nice one) glove that my dad used when I played baseball, it's at least 25 years old haha. Why the heck does a coach need a new glove to play catch with 8 year olds? :-D

 

[UTfball68]

who the heck cares

But little johnny is gonna grow up to be a super star. I get in to some of the most entertaining arguments when I tell parents if their kid is good enough, they'll get the attention. Coincidentally, if they're good enough, they can and should be able to use any tool handed to them to complete the task. That's not to say they shouldn't hone their skills and get exposure...but on the whole, the eye test is the main thing that matters.

 

[Blaze]

My son started playing this year, coach pitch, he is 8. He likes it but it's crazy how serious some people take it. I spent about $70-80 on a bat, and they tell me I should get him a different bat that is lighter. Big NOPE, not spending $150+ on a bat he will grow out of in a year. Once in the high school age leagues I can see spending a little more on a bat, but at his age who the heck cares. People take sports way too seriously.

The coach of his team bought a new glove, she was saying it had been forever since she had gotten a new glove---about 10 years..... I failed to bring up I am still using the same (cheap-not a nice one) glove that my dad used when I played baseball, it's at least 25 years old haha. Why the heck does a coach need a new glove to play catch with 8 year olds? :-D

Yeah, for rec ball it is crazy to me how much people spend on stuff. When my boys were still playing rec if I spend $100 on a bat I felt like it was too much. And yeah, one of the dads on my younger son's team bought a brand new $250 glove to have to throw with the team when he needed. He doesn't play ball anywhere else. Me and the other coach on the team both have old gloves, his was from college and mine I found in a bucket of free gloves because my old college one tore the leather. Granted, it is a really nice glove, but it was free.

But little johnny is gonna grow up to be a super star. I get in to some of the most entertaining arguments when I tell parents if their kid is good enough, they'll get the attention. Coincidentally, if they're good enough, they can and should be able to use any tool handed to them to complete the task. That's not to say they shouldn't hone their skills and get exposure...but on the whole, the eye test is the main thing that matters.

I generally agree with you, but to a point. At the level my boys are at, my older son should be moving to a college development level showcase team next Fall and my younger son is on a D1 level state ranked team, stuff does get more expensive. When they are practicing two days a week and playing 4+ games every other weekend, along with not being able to keep bats and gloves out of their hands at home, you need to get good quality equipment. We used to just get them cheaper gloves but we were ending up buying them new gloves every season and a half. A cheap glove will wear out FAST when you use it a lot. I get coaches discounts though, so an expensive glove isn't terrible. My older son has a top of the line $400+ custom catchers mitt, but I only spent $160 for it. He's used it for two seasons now and it is still perfect. Should last him through college or however long he wants to play. Bats are different too at this level. You could give a kit a metal pipe and he'll hit with it, but at a competitive level the better bats are just...well....better. After a certain number of hits, these new bats just get dead. They last about two seasons. My two boys probably hit about 600-700 balls a week with their bats. Sometimes more. I don't buy the most expensive bats either, I'm not about to drop $600+ on a bat like some dads do. I do buy the best bats that I can for a price I am comfortable with though. I don't push my kids at all, if tomorrow they said they wanted to hang up their cleats, that is fine with me. I just let them do their thing. But there is so much more to the equipment at this level than people who aren't into it know. It is the same thing as talking to non car people about what we do.

 

[UTfball68]

I generally agree with you, but to a point. At the level my boys are at, my older son should be moving to a college development level showcase team next Fall and my younger son is on a D1 level state ranked team, stuff does get more expensive. When they are practicing two days a week and playing 4+ games every other weekend, along with not being able to keep bats and gloves out of their hands at home, you need to get good quality equipment. We used to just get them cheaper gloves but we were ending up buying them new gloves every season and a half. A cheap glove will wear out FAST when you use it a lot. I get coaches discounts though, so an expensive glove isn't terrible. My older son has a top of the line $400+ custom catchers mitt, but I only spent $160 for it. He's used it for two seasons now and it is still perfect. Should last him through college or however long he wants to play. Bats are different too at this level. You could give a kit a metal pipe and he'll hit with it, but at a competitive level the better bats are just...well....better. After a certain number of hits, these new bats just get dead. They last about two seasons. My two boys probably hit about 600-700 balls a week with their bats. Sometimes more. I don't buy the most expensive bats either, I'm not about to drop $600+ on a bat like some dads do. I do buy the best bats that I can for a price I am comfortable with though. I don't push my kids at all, if tomorrow they said they wanted to hang up their cleats, that is fine with me. I just let them do their thing. But there is so much more to the equipment at this level than people who aren't into it know. It is the same thing as talking to non car people about what we do.

I get it...I obviously played football at a high level, I have a brother that was in the same baseball boat, another brother that was a Milan runway model and a sister who turned down playing for the US Jr Olympics soccer team. Yeah, it’s nice to have the ‘stuff’, but how much ‘stuff’ do you think these inner city kids have that a good bit of coaches have made their career recruiting out of. As I noted, there absolutely comes a time to hone your craft and get the exposure, so I was primarily talking the middle school and younger crowd where mommy and daddy think their precious angel is gods gift to the sport.

 

[Ron]

Yeah, for rec ball it is crazy to me how much people spend on stuff. When my boys were still playing rec if I spend $100 on a bat I felt like it was too much. And yeah, one of the dads on my younger son's team bought a brand new $250 glove to have to throw with the team when he needed. He doesn't play ball anywhere else. Me and the other coach on the team both have old gloves, his was from college and mine I found in a bucket of free gloves because my old college one tore the leather. Granted, it is a really nice glove, but it was free.


I generally agree with you, but to a point. At the level my boys are at, my older son should be moving to a college development level showcase team next Fall and my younger son is on a D1 level state ranked team, stuff does get more expensive. When they are practicing two days a week and playing 4+ games every other weekend, along with not being able to keep bats and gloves out of their hands at home, you need to get good quality equipment. We used to just get them cheaper gloves but we were ending up buying them new gloves every season and a half. A cheap glove will wear out FAST when you use it a lot. I get coaches discounts though, so an expensive glove isn't terrible. My older son has a top of the line $400+ custom catchers mitt, but I only spent $160 for it. He's used it for two seasons now and it is still perfect. Should last him through college or however long he wants to play. Bats are different too at this level. You could give a kit a metal pipe and he'll hit with it, but at a competitive level the better bats are just...well....better. After a certain number of hits, these new bats just get dead. They last about two seasons. My two boys probably hit about 600-700 balls a week with their bats. Sometimes more. I don't buy the most expensive bats either, I'm not about to drop $600+ on a bat like some dads do. I do buy the best bats that I can for a price I am comfortable with though. I don't push my kids at all, if tomorrow they said they wanted to hang up their cleats, that is fine with me. I just let them do their thing. But there is so much more to the equipment at this level than people who aren't into it know. It is the same thing as talking to non car people about what we do.

While I get it, and agree...
There is also a kid walking around barefoot in the DR with a broom handle and palm leaves taped to his hand that will walk in front of a scout sling a rock 450ft, pick up a different rock and hit it 700 foot with the broom hanlde and run and pick both up and bring them back in under 10 seconds. And the scout doesnt care that he never played a showcase ball.


99% of these showcases are money makers.

When Ive got more time I'll type longer stories.

 

[Blaze]

While I get it, and agree...
There is also a kid walking around barefoot in the DR with a broom handle and palm leaves taped to his hand that will walk in front of a scout sling a rock 450ft, pick up a different rock and hit it 700 foot with the broom hanlde and run and pick both up and bring them back in under 10 seconds. And the scout doesnt care that he never played a showcase ball.


99% of these showcases are money makers.

When Ive got more time I'll type longer stories.

Yeah, but a kid in the States slinging rocks and swinging broom handles doesn't get shit. Different situation entirely.

I'm not doing this because I think my boys are going to play pro ball or even college ball. I'm just doing this so they can have fun and keep playing. Showcase ball is a total racket. The organization my older son is in does showcase level stuff because that's where the competition is at this age. Cost wise, their program isn't bad. Theirs includes 3 days of strength and conditioning too, which is a good deal for weight room access all year. My younger son's organization is a racket. We are hopefully moving the team over to my older son's org next season. They won't even give us a budget of where our money goes to.

Some parents are crazy, but I just do it so my boys can have fun. I have a kid on my younger son's team that has like 4 different coaches and then our team. He literally is doing something 7 days a week. It is insane. My boys played rec ball and they were the best kids in the leagues and very bored. I had to hang my cleats up in college after my arm injury (current injury is a continuation of that) so I just want to give them the opportunities to play as long as they want to.

I was recruited out of high school never really having played travel or showcase ball, but that was 22 years ago.