baseball stories

[spike]

my wife and I spent the weekend with our friends..we bbq'd and drank too much while hanging out at the pool..we got up early this morning and drove home at 7am..we turned on CBS Sunday morning and there was a story today about the Broadway actors softball league in Central Park...I hope Joey has played in it..Anyway, my friend next door has worked for CBS for years and asked me to basically be a ringer on their team..2 games a week at that same field..the one where Costanza knocked out Bette Middler...I went after a fly ball to right center and stepped into a hole and twisted my ankle..I took off a few weeks because the CBS bowling league was starting and the alleys in penn station in the fall...

Was the team named the Cronkites?

[doug rr]

my wife and I spent the weekend with our friends..we bbq'd and drank too much while hanging out at the pool..we got up early this morning and drove home at 7am..we turned on CBS Sunday morning and there was a story today about the Broadway actors softball league in Central Park...I hope Joey has played in it..Anyway, my friend next door has worked for CBS for years and asked me to basically be a ringer on their team..2 games a week at that same field..the one where Costanza knocked out Bette Middler...I went after a fly ball to right center and stepped into a hole and twisted my ankle..I took off a few weeks because the CBS bowling league was starting and the alleys in penn station in the fall...

Was the team named the Cronkites?

we were the sunshine lollipops...

[doug rr]

back in 1993 while I was living in downtown Denver I drove to the local target store to get a few things..I needed a new shower curtain/liner as mine was starting to get dirty..I stood in front of them deciding if I wanted a clear one or something whimsical with a design..standing next to me was Joe Girardi doing the same thing..We had some small talk about baseball and I welcomed him to the Rockies..

[Bammer]

8’ish years ago I was at Toys R Us and I end up in the checkout line behind Kyle Seager with his family. He was holding his infant daughter, and he leans over to smell her diaper, she had obviously just pooped because he made a stank face.

That crystalized it for me: These ballplayers, they’re people, too, just like us.

[doug rr]

8’ish years ago I was at Toys R Us and I end up in the checkout line behind Kyle Seager with his family. He was holding his infant daughter, and he leans over to smell her diaper, she had obviously just pooped because he made a stank face.

That crystalized it for me: These ballplayers, they’re people, too, just like us.

most of them these days have shitty music selections when coming up to bat though..

[Bammer]

Doug, how much baseball is too much for kids?

My boys are 9. Should I put them on a select/travel team?

[lvc]

Doug, how much baseball is too much for kids?

My boys are 9. Should I put them on a select/travel team?

I'm not doug but I do have a kid on a club team. That world is very dicey. We entered it just because he wanted to play more baseball (loves the game) and recreational leagues in our area were either good not great or abysmal. Of course, the decline in rec league quality is 100% attributable to the rise of club sports so that's tragic in itself.

I could go on at great, great length about this but I'll try to cap myself at just a few salient points:

1) The families on the sideline have the ability make or break your experience. We've been in organizations that are chill and everyone there is largely having fun and we've been in organizations with like literal factions and back stabbing and shit talking about other players (at the 11/12 y/o level for pete's sake).

2) Dad ball is pervasive. Pervasive. One team we were on had to kick a dad and his kid out because the dad ran game changer and marked a whole bunch of stuff as errors so his kid's ERA wouldn't climb. The fact that such a story is even a thing (who is honestly reviewing 10/yo game changer stats as part of their recruitment process?) is telling. Insecure dad who "totally could have made it to the show if they hadn't twisted their ankle sliding into home that one time" are only bested by the insecure dad who's brother made it to the show.

3) The higher in tier you go (A, AA, AAA, Major), the more the above intensifies. We have been happiest at AA, both our son and us as parents.

4) As far as health, as long as your kid isn't being taught and expected to throw curve balls at 10 or 11, the health risks of club baseball aren't really more than statistical. Outside of pitching, youth baseball is pretty low impact. My only advice if your kid pitches is know and monitor arm health on your own. If your coach is not tracking pitch counts and rest days and telling your kid to ice, then you do those things.

[doug rr]

good stuff there..I'll add my thoughts later

[doug rr]

this might be long and drawn out but who knows..I was never forced into playing it but loved it from a very early age..some earlier stories about cardinal games shows that..it was always my dads dream but never forced..always up to me..my older brother was a pitcher who also got injured and ended his career..side arm guy that scared most hitters..I traveled a bit in my early teens to nearby states and learned a lot.played for a national team that toured Australia and New Zealand back in the 80s....not bragging but at the age of about 13 I felt I knew more about baseball than any of my coaches growing up..I coached little league kids during the summer after my freshman year in college in the mornings while I played semi pro for a local team in Denver..washed up minor leaguers or guys that played a bit in the majors..learned a lot doing both..had two ex-expos on that team and others that went on to bigger things..Situational baseball I think is they key for kids growing up..dont just have scrimmage games..put them in situations..runners on different bases, certain counts, what is the pitcher going to throw? grab a fungo and put it their heads..I'm ok with a tl;dr...
yours truly
don mattingly

[Bammer]

This particular team is mostly kids we play rec little league with (which I coach) and I draft them to my team if I can because the kids can play but more importantly, solid crew of parents. That is KEY.

I think the actual travel (AZ, NV) is unnecessary. Good though for my kids to play for a coach that is not me. Travel within like 50 miles, OK.

I adjusted a Gamechanger play once. Shortstop just shat on a silver platter double play ball. It was not a hit. It was an error.

[spike]

once

[Bammer]

I was pleasantly surprised that my kids made the aforementioned select/travel team.

Nice that they have a payment installment plan. I am now officially sucked in.

[spike]

Fees probably non refundable if you get kicked out for fudging the numbers again.

[Bammer]

Fees probably non refundable if you get kicked out for fudging the numbers again.

It’s encouraged

[doug rr]

we used to drink at a local pub..the owner of the bar used to have a lot of theme nights and always wanted to decorate the bar..she hired the local college athletes to help her and would pay us in beer..32 oz quarts of coors light and she would keep a tab on many we were owed..I remember having a credit of about 20 once..anyway, 1 night in 1986 I'm driving home from the pub around midnight..I wouldn't say I was drunk but..anyway, I got pulled over on my 1 mile drive back to the dorm because I forgot to turn my headlights on..the cop had one of those giant 80s flashlights and shining it in my car..he asked me if I'd been drinking and I said I had a couple..he shined that giant light into the backseat and noticed all of my baseball bats and gloves in the back seat and a big bag with my name on it...he said he and his son went to a lot of games and congratulated us on being ranked in the top 5...he had me turn my lights on and I followed behind him to our parking lot...I got my ass saved from a baseball fan policeman..

[spike]

ew doug

[doug rr]

what?

[Bammer]

Putting lives at risk, that’s what

[BurtReynolds]

Local boy from my high school got drafted yesterday with a nice 7 million signing bonus. His twin brother decided to go to Mississippi State instead after not being drafted high enough.

[Buby]

Putting lives at risk, that’s what

Ew coors light dude.