What if I make a mistake? What should I do? I am worried if we make the wrong choice; he will suffer.

How many times have you had these thoughts and worried yourself sick about making the right decision? When you are helping your son there is not one of us on here at one time or another whether it be youth baseball, HS, college, or the professional ranks that has not agonized over what was the right thing to do.

With that being said there are too many folks on here who have had problems and found solutions. I believe it would benefit everyone to hear those solutions. It does not mean that it was right or wrong; only that for your situation your solution worked.

Follow the format below and let's see where this goes.....

PROBLEM: Son in HS as a sophomore; beats out a senior for SS. The senior is moved to second base. Both players start in those respective positions for 1st 11 games. The father of the senior complains about sophomore playing his son's position. Son is benched; senior goes back to SS, another senior goes into second base.

SOLUTION: Never said a word; finished the season on the pine...not one inning played after that for the season. Worked very hard in off-season, came back and never looked back,

O42

Wow what a mature sophomore! Not very many older kids would have handled that situation like that.

I do have several questions. Other than the senior's father complaining, was there any other reason to make the switch? Was your son hitting and making the plays? Did the coach give your son any reason as to why he wasn't switched to second base or why he was benched? I can't believe that after eleven games the coach would just put him on the shelf and forget him? After the season or during the season did your son ever ask the coach why or what he could do get back on the field?

One of my son's best coaches told his players before the season that they needed to start fighting their own battles like young men and to tell mommy and daddy to stay out of it! He also told them that if they didn't ask him what they needed to work on to get more playing time that that told him they didn't care if they played or not. Needless to say there were very few problems and there was a bunch of kids working their tails off before and after most games.

Last question? What type of pull did the senior's father have with coach? I would lose alot of respect for a coach who would allow a parent to dictate who played where.

This should be a great topic to watch!

That's politics.

Similar situation with my brother 3 years ago.

My brother was catching over a senior. Daddy goes to the coach and complains. My brother doesn't catch the rest of the year and daddy's little puppet proceeds to hit .224 on the season.

Very innovative idea for a thread orioles42

I'll try one:

Problem: My son played centerfield as a freshman in high school, third base as a sophmore and moved to shortstop as a junior and senior. He was always good at catching the ball but when he moved over to short, he would sometimes throw them in the dirt or pull the guy off the bag. With my son being as intense as he is, I was worried he might have created a mental block with his throws ala Steve Sax which would be tough to overcome.

Solution: Time. Sounds so simple doesn't it. The more experience he gained at short, the better he became. Once his confidence took over, he became lights out. Thus, sometimes we parents worry about things that will simply take care of them selves over the due course of time.

bump on this one. There must be dozens of stories for people to tell here. Has everything gone perfectly for you or your son in baseball?

CD - I'm enjoying this thread very much. O42 - you ask some of the most thought provoking questions!

Buckeyecat,

The only reason that was explained to me was that the upper-classmen had to play. He was unaware that the father of the senior had spoken to me prior to complaining to the coach.

To answer your question was he getting it done; in 3 years at the varsity level he had 9 errors. He hit about 3 something that year and then lead the team his junior and senior year in almost every offensive catagory you can think of.

I know what you are thinking.... I must have been keeping the book. I actually wasn't there most of the time; I was coaching in college. It was difficult for me to hold my toungue, but I stayed out of it. It worked out, but it worked out the hard way.

O42

lafmom,

Thanks a bunch. I know I do not post as much as I should. But I try to put the questions forth that will not create the contests we have from time to time and hopefully the answers the great folks have out here will help us all.

Everyone on here has something to contribute. We may not like it or agree with it. But it may help someone else.

Thanks....O42

Absolutely O42! One of the great things about this forum is the acceptance of various viewpoints and opinions!

As a sophmore my son played on the JV and led the team in hitting, he was brought up to varsity at the end of the year and DH'd for the last 8 games hitting over .350 thru the regional playoffs. The team that year was made up almost entirely of very talented juniors. When practice started for his junior year it became fairly obvious to me that the coach was trying to start all seniors even though my son had shown he was a better hitter than all but a couple of the seniors. The problem was this team was so good that they really didn't need to start the best nine. The team started the season with 7 consecutive wins and was nationally ranked 15th in the country by Baseball America. My son was sitting on the bench and I was having a very hard time dealing with it. There were two seniors hitting barely over .100 but the rest of team was carrying the load. I wanted to speak to the coach but my son was adament that he didn't want me to, I was almost to the point where I was going to ignore his wishes because I was thinking this is his junior year and he deserved and needed to be playing. In the 8th game of the season we played a cross town rivalry that was the best team we had played so far that year. It was a very close game and 3 times the coach told my son to be ready to pinch hit. Each time he changes his mind and let the senior bat. He struck out all three times and we ended up losing the game in extra innings. I held my tongue. The next game my son finally got a start, he hit a home run in his first at bat and went 2-3. He started every game for the remaider of the season, hit over .400 and was tied for 2nd on the team with 4HR's. Ended up making 2nd team all-county. He did it his way and it worked out but to this day I wonder what he might have done with the games he missed.

I don't know if my silence early was a mistake but at least my son knows he made the best of his opportunity when he got it and he did it on his own.

jme - great story. I believe the keep your mouth shut philosophy should almost be like the golden rule in sports. As soon as you open it, other bad things tend to happen. It is much better to have the last SILENT laugh on things.

quote:

Originally posted by ClevelandDad:
I believe the keep your mouth shut philosophy should almost be like the golden rule in sports. As soon as you open it, other bad things tend to happen. It is much better to have the last SILENT laugh on things.

I agree completely!

Son made JV as an eighth grader and spent a lot of time on the bench, while dad and I bit our tongues and kept quiet; figured it was part of "paying your dues". Because he had not had much playing time, I wasn't sure if the coach really knew his true level of ability. During a practice toward the end of the season, coach hits a ball to right field and son makes an awesome catch (which is generally quite natural for him). JV Coach comments, "Where has that been all season?" to which the catcher replies, "On the bench!" Brings a smile to my face.


jme - loved the story.

Son starts as freshmen on Varsity in right field. He was being used primarily for that position and occassional pinch runner. Upperclassmen are doing nothing with the bats, and we wondered why son doesn't get a chance. About 8 games or so into the season, coach puts him in as lead-off batter and he does fine; 2 for 2 with a walk. Coach comments after the game that he couldn't have done any worse than any of the boys in the lineup, which had been my exact sentiments. Funny, how when we are patient, seems like everything works out in its own time frame.

Son knew when to make the most of the opportuity.

quote:

Originally posted by lafmom:

O42 - you ask some of the most thought provoking questions!

quote:

Originally posted by orioles42:

But I try to put the questions forth that will not create the contests we have from time to time and hopefully the answers the great folks have out here will help us all.

Everyone on here has something to contribute. We may not like it or agree with it. But it may help someone else.

Thanks....O42

Thank you O42

I have been sitting abck and reading everones stories and I have come to the conclusion that it isn't about making mistakes or any of the other issues. It is about charachter, of both the player and the parents. The players usually take on the character of their parents. Whinners...whine, complainers...complain, hard workers, ...work hard and in the end get their rewards. My son has been tested time and time again with being over looked or pushed aside...yet he never loses focus of his goals and leaves "nothing on the table"
Last year in JUCO ball he started 5 of the first 8 games over a sophomore, was hitting about .350 in those games using a wood bat. I had conversation with a DI coach that had interest in my sone a week or so before the season had started, this DI coach called my son's JUCO coach arouind the 8th game because he had a need for a 3rd baseman for this year...low and behold my son sat for the next 22 games. No at bats, only guy not to get in games. He asked the coach what he needed to do to get back on the field and hhe was told.."just keep doing what you've been doing". The coaches stopped talking to him all together. He only ended up playing in 16 games and most of thse were as a pitch hitter with 1 or 2 innnings on the field. They finally game him a start around their 40th games, of course it was one of the very few games I missed, but he went 3-4 with 4 rbi. The coach pulled him when it went into extra innings and the replacement made 2 errors and was 0-2 with 2 k's with go ahead runners in scoring position. He again didn't play for 8 games. Never really found out why all this happened. Could only assume that they didn't like the fact that he was talkiing to a DI for this year, instead of wasting a year academically at JUCO ball, he was a red-shirted freshamn who earned his AAS at the end of the season. He was one of 3 players that they didn't do "exit interviews" with at the end of the year.
One would have thought that a coach would be happy that a DI would be interested in one of his players...and that would help with his recruiting, but I guess I think differently.

Oh and that DI, made a call to the JUCO coach later in the season and all of a sudden lost interest. One can only wonder how that conversation went.

CHARACHTER....that's what is all about...in IMHO

I apologize for all they typos...

Mde5,

A tough situation / problem for sure. I certainly hope your son has moved into a situation that is better for him. I am curious.....what was the solution???? Where did he go? How did he handle it?

O42

It's too bad some of the coaches in these stories did't have the character that the kids did.

Miss-BB-Dad,

Well said......

O42

M - Appreciate that story, especially as the mom of a JUCO kid.

I just had a conversation with son two days ago that he needs to go to coaches and discuss what he should be doing on the recruiting trail right now. He doesn't want to disuade any conversations between he and 4 year coaches, but doesn't want his JUCO coaches to think he's doing something behind their back. He also has no intention at this point of transferring after one year. Hearing stories like you've shared makes me a bit nervous and I will remind him of what we just talked about. They've mentioned where they see him fitting in next year - and he needs to make sure they know that he plans on being there, but wants to continue to build those 4 year relationships. Can be a tricky situation.

I would be curious as to the solution too. Did the coach and son ever sit down and discuss plans, feelings, or concerns about the 4 year and your sons wishes or plans? I mean, your son had his degree and was going to have to transfer, correct? Seems like the coach would have welcomed the call?!?!?!