Little League Baseball

[Stuie]

Hahahahaha. This is the sports forum, right?

I'm managing my oldest son's baseball team this year, so I'm going to bore all of you by bragging/ranting/whatevering about it here. 9 and 10 year olds. Totally Bad News Bears.

Draft is tonight. I've been told that "pitching is important at this level. You need four or five kids that can get the ball over the plate." Really!?

Great, I'll try to pick some pitchers.

For what it's worth, after the tryouts last month, my son said "I suck at pitching" (and he was correct). The assistant coach I picked was partly for the help he'll provide, and partly because his kid rocks at almost every aspect of the game.

Now feel free to ignore this thread is you're not interested (which probably goes for everyone but me - maybe I should start a blog that will be ignored instead of a thread at poly. Whatever.)

[KrazyHorse]

I'm interested. Can we base a fantasy league around your kid's team?

[Stuie]

Don't pick my son! I'll probably pick him since he's number 11.

Edit: He's almost as tall as a certain shortstop as well.

[Ninot]

I'm interested too. Pics?

[b etor]

is there a 19?

[Stuie]

Originally posted by Ninot
I'm interested too. Pics?

Picture day isn't until May.

And there is no #19 b etor. Sorry.

So I got some pretty good kids - I know a lot of them from prior years being an assistant or coaching at lower levels. It's amazing how you get to know all these kids.

I had two goals for the draft: Get my son's friend Joe (which was totally luck of the draw) and be the Storm if at all possible. Check and check! I got Joe and we are the Storm - I was assigned the Storm because I picked the kids whose parents sponsored the team (the shirts are already printed apparently). I love the Storm's logo:





The one coach I know pretty well got the Grasshoppers! Grasshoppers. I can't wait to kick their ass.

Anyway, I got 13 Players. First practice is Thursday so we'll see if they're as good as I hope then.

[Ming]

Good luck... and try to remember that it's just a game

[Stuie]

Originally posted by Ming
Good luck... and try to remember that it's just a game

One of the reasons I decided to manage this year (besides being a control freak) is that I had BIG issues with a couple of the managers last year; they took the games all too seriously. One manager was literally screaming at his own kid in the dugout for not swinging at strike three. Wow - nice father/son moment.

My philosophy is that the kids are there to have fun, and I'm there to help engender that. Winning and losing are immaterial.

Except when we play the Grasshoppers of course. Then we need to seriously kick ass.

[b etor]

it's really not just a game.

[Ming]

Originally posted by Stuie
My philosophy is that the kids are there to have fun, and I'm there to help engender that. Winning and losing are immaterial.

Make sure all the kids get a chance to play...

And while it's ok to instill a winning attitude, it's also key to ensure fun

[Stuie]

Ok - so we had our first practice last night. The baseball gods gave us excellent weather: 70F and sunny. Beautiful evening.

My initial impression of the team: WOW. I think I might have a really good team!

We focused mostly on throwing and fielding last night (pitching, hitting and baserunning on are tap for Saturday). I have already identified at least four good pitchers, plus a couple kids that can pitch well enough. The fielding looks pretty sharp except for maybe three kids who just need some work. The most pleasant surprise was how well the 8-year-olds played; I have three of them, and while they are technically below league age, these guys are good - they belong at this level.

Best part of the evening was walking back to my car after practice and my son saying "That was fun!". Awesome!

[Ming]

Originally posted by Stuie
Best part of the evening was walking back to my car after practice and my son saying "That was fun!". Awesome!

[Asher]

I loved little league when I was in California.

[Asher]

We want a pitcher, not a belly itcher!

Hey, it was funny at the time.

[KrazyHorse]

Little league was awesome.

It helped that baseball was the one sport I was really good at. I was the star pitcher (I didn't walk people as much as other kids).