My Baseball Blog

We have moved to our new digs on the Interwebz. Good riddance to our old host, and many thanks to our new host, Hosting Matters, where I have never experienced such excellent customer in all my years on the web. They put our old host to shame. Seriously, it's like coming out of the ghetto and into a master-planned community! There is simply no comparison whatsoever. And now because I know I'm in such good hands, I can move forward with my plans for this website.

I admit I have not been progressing this site as aggressively I'd originally planned, mostly because I was involved in beta testing a new social software I was very excited about. I wanted to wait until it was stable and then install it here. Well, that day came in December, and I got my hands on the software all right, but didn't trust my old host with the it. But promptly installed it on a client's website. You can see it at www.clearcreekbaseball.com, and it will soon be coming over here.

The issue I'm having now is over the future of this site. What do I want to focus on? My son has moved into 5A high school baseball, which is infinitely fascinating to me. My nephews and some of my son's friends are still involved in select baseball, so I've still got interest there...

I still think it's genius to have a review website for tournaments. That hasn't changed. Yet, I'm still mulling quite a few new directions. I'll keep chewing on it over the holidays and get back to you...

 

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If you're on IE, switch to another browser, immediately. Otherwise you might just get your computer taken over by hackers and all your stored passwords stolen.

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My son, like many of yours, has a personal goal of playing baseball at the highest level - in the Majors. Millions of boys have this dream, but there is a heck of a lot of work - years and years of work - between youthful daydreams and one day stepping onto the diamond in the Bigs. The reality is that very few ever make it to the Majors and even more rare is the player that becomes a legend. Talent is one component of Big League success, but even more important is the sheer quantity of sweaty work behind the scenes. And according to one British sociologist, it'll take at least 10,000 hours of such sweaty work to reach the pinnacle of success!

It is practice, however, that makes perfect, according to the sociologist whose books have become required reading within the Conservative party. The best way to achieve international stardom is to spend 10,000 hours honing your skills, says the new book by Malcolm Gladwell, author of the best-selling The Tipping Point.

The greatest athletes, entrepreneurs, musicians and scientists emerge only after spending at least three hours a day for a decade mastering their chosen field.

...“What’s really interesting about this 10,000-hour rule is that it applies virtually everywhere,” Gladwell told a conference held by The New Yorker magazine. “You can’t become a chess grand master unless you spend 10,000 hours on practice.

“The tennis prodigy who starts playing at six is playing in Wimbledon at 16 or 17 [like] Boris Becker. The classical musician who starts playing the violin at four is debuting at Carnegie Hall at 15 or so.”

The obsessive approach is particularly evident in sporting icons. Jonny Wilkinson, the rugby player, Tiger Woods, the golfer, and the Williams sisters in tennis have all trained relentlessly since they were children.

The simple secret is that "the years spent intensively focused on their area of expertise place the world’s most successful people above their peers." That translates into approximately three hours a day for 10 years. That's it. It makes perfect sense to me. Because as I've explained to my son, it doesn't matter how much talent he has, he WILL get passed up by boys who OUT-TRAIN him. It's up to him whether he allows that to happen or not. He has since developed the mentality that he will not ever be out-worked. That mind-set alone will take him to heights his natural talent can't reach. There will always be plenty of players who can pitch as fast as he can, but there will be far fewer of them who will train relentlessly to be The Best. That is where he will shine.

How many times have you watched a truly gifted athlete skate by in his early years on sheer athleticism and coordination alone - easily out-playing lesser-developed boys the same age? I have. But guess what? Those boys never developed a work ethic, or a self-discipline that pushed them to work harder the older they got. I always told my son that if he could out-work his peers, he would out-strip their early achievements. It's just fine to be a home-run king when you're nine years old, and it's quite another to parlay 400' high-school home runs into a college scholarship or professional draft! So what's in between the Little Leaguer and the Major Leaguer? Well, only about 10,000 hours of hard work!

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Hurricane Ike is scheduled for landfall tomorrow night or early Saturday morning. We are boarded up, but do not plan to leave unless our area looks like it's going to take a direct hit (we're right on Galveston Bay, neah Kemah). A lot of our neighbors have decided the same thing.

During Hurricane Rita, there was mass panic, stoked by the news channels and local authorities. One and a half millions residents took to the roads under mandatory evacuations and faced horrendous conditions for 36 hours on gridlocked freeways. We waited until the last minute to leave after boarding up our house and moving everything up to the second floor (that nasty storm surge, you see). And it turned out to be a big non-event for the Houston area, as Rita turned sharply north on the day before landfall.

Not so for the Beaumont area, where Elizabeth and her family were displaced for a month due to a ton of wind damage and lack of utilities. They headed up to stay with family in Wisconsin, and and on their way again now ahead of Ike.

We have family on the west side of Houston, and will head out about 12 hours ahead of Ike if it looks like we'll take a direct hit. If Ike jogs north, like Rita did, then we'll stay put.

Needless to say...baseball practice was cancelled for tonight and Saturday. Bummer, huh?

Here are some photos of Jonathan helping his dad board up the house. It sure is convenient having two full-grown men in the house to do the heavy lfiting - now I don't have to do it. During Rita Jonathan was still a little too young to be of much help, but today he can do everything his dad can do. Very helpful!

 

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Hurricane Ike is scheduled for landfall tomorrow night or early Saturday morning.  We are boarded up, but do not plan to leave unless our area looks like it's going to take a direct hit (we're right on Galveston Bay, neah Kemah).  A lot of our neighbors have decided the same thing.

During Hurricane Rita, there was mass panic, stoked by the news channels and local authorities.  One and a half

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It's almost no more baseaball for me yeah sad:) I know!! I just started BATAVA (bay area theatre and voice academy) I have done School House Rock and Cinderella and now I'm in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. All three times I've been an ensemble. Wonderful right :( , but since I have started BATAVA I can't go to J-man's baseball game. A life without baseball can ruin a person's life, just

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Heads up on a deal from Eastbay. I was forwarded this email from my son's coach this morning, who got it from one of the dads on our team:

Eastbay.com has Nike Monster metal cleats for 29.99 in their "Outlet". I purchased a pair this week and just received them and it is the real deal. This is a very good price so you might want to pass this on to the other parents. At this price you can purchase a larger pair for future growth.

Even though Eastbay is one of our advertisers, I didn't know about the sale and am happy to pass along the info. Click here to go to Eastbay, and then click on the red "Outlet" tab in the top right corner of the main menu.

My son uses the Nike Air Zoom 5-Tool metal cleats, which are also on sale for $29.00 (down from $104). He wears a size 15 1/2, so I have to buy the cleats when and where I can find them. $29 is an unbeatable deal.

Great off-season deals! I think I'll do a little shoppin' tonight.

Thanks Kevin and Robert for the tip!

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So...we decided Noelle/Nelly (our 9yr old daughter) has been so cooperative and patient with her brothers' baseball schedules, that it was time for her to get to do something for HER. For the last 5 years, she has gone from field to field for both of her brothers' practices or games. She usually finds a friend/sibling of another player and will keep herself busy. Until recently, when she made it known to everyone that, "BASEBALL IS RUINING HER LIFE!!!" She said it as loudly and obnoxiously (as do most 9 year old girls) as she could which absolutely horrified me. How could my daughter speak such profanity?? I thought we raised her better than that How could she NOT love the beautiful landscapes of the fields, the hot blistering sun that makes us the beautiful tan that we are, the kinda crisp uniforms of the players, watching her brothers' teams come from behind and play with all they had to pull out a win, the uber comfortable seating usually NOT provided, or the awful sweaty, dirty, stinky boys that usually got in the car with us afterward. I mean come on.....who doesn't LOVE all that???

She hasn't quite figured out what SHE wants to do extracurricular-ly so until she did, she's just had to tag along. Now, she has said in the past that she would like to try dance and I put the kibosh on it as long as I could. I just can't do it any longer though.

So...we've signed her up for three different classes. She THINKS she wants to do Jazz, Hip Hop and Tap. Well....let me start off by saying that I am a dance virgin!! I have NO clue as to what all is involved with dance. All I've known, is that I didn't want to be a part of it. I've heard other moms complain about having to sew on sequins to recital costumes, the cost of dance recital costumes, find the right shoes and so on and so on. Ok...first off, if I have to sew anything, poor Nelly is probably going to have a wardrobe malfunction. I'm hoping hot glue will work just the same You see...just putting all this down on "paper or screen" is making me NOT look forward to it even more. I'm trying to act interested in it for Noelle's sake though.

Her first day of dance was to be Tap. It all started off on the wrong foot though when I had to race her over there after work only to be there in the knick of time. She still had to try on dance shoes which is where this all started to down hill. Ok, I had NO idea that Jazz & Tap were each going to need their own type of shoes at $65 a pop. I'm not even sure she's going to like these styles of dance so I'm hesitant to buy them right off the bat. (BTW...I LOVE bats...baseball bats that is!!) So I inform the lady behind the desk that I have no clue what the differences are or really even what class Noelle was scheduled for this particular day at this exact moment. I'm just standing there dumbfounded in silence with my eyes I'm sure bulging out. I'm HATING it already!! Other moms, who are obviously seasoned in dance, kept coming in and distracting the lady who was trying to help us, so we weren't getting anything accomplished. I finally told Noelle to just go to class in her socks, see if this is something she thinks she might like and we'll pick it back up after class. I'm trying to rush since Noelle's class is starting and I didn't want her to be late on her first day AND I still had to go pick up the boys from school and football practice. So she goes into the dance auditorium and I race out to my car. I feel like I can't get out of there fast enough.

I race over to the school to pick up the boys. As I pull up to the football field I just felt a huge sigh of relief. NOW......I'm not totally crazy about football either, but G plays it through the school. I realized that I am SOOOOO more relaxed with "boy activities" than "girls". I was sitting in my car watching the practice next to all the usual dads that I'm usually with out at the ball fields. I am SO more in my comfort zone!! I just don't seem to fit in with "dance moms". EEWWWWW......They all are dressed to the nines, most of them have a baby dressed to the nines in a stroller and they are just, "Eeek...HI so and so....awwww.... she just looks adorable or what did you and so and so decide on your remodel or whatever?!" I'm making some of that stuff up but it wasn't the banter I was used to. I'm used to talking about how a boys "form" is when pitching or how his batting stance or swing looks. What they're doing right or wrong. Of course, now that I'm watching football it's watching the plays be played out. Again, I have NO clue as to what position my son plays or what his number on his jersey means position wise, or what they did or didn't do right with a certain play. All I DO know, is that I was WAY more comfortable "on a field".

So, I race back to pick up Nelly after a meesly 45 minute class (I'm used to 2-3 hour baseball practices) and go back in to try to figure out the whole shoe ordeal. I asked what color they will need for recital and the lady said, "Oh, I have no idea. It will depend on what costumes she'll have". WHAT???? So you mean to tell me that I might have to buy a tan pair if I decide to buy black right now?? UGH!!! Of course they don't take credit cards or debit cards and I never carry the checkbook so I have her hold the one pair that I could find that fit until next week. The other thing that I discover is that recital is in June!!! Umm....Yea, that might not work for me considering that State tournaments are usually during that time!! I sure hope Nathan enjoys dance recitals I'm kinda kidding...I'll go watch her little 3-5 minute dance or whatever it is they do and will have her little flowers for her. That's one of the things you do for dance right?!?! I DUNNO, I think it is though!

Anyways....I get home and I'm complaining about having to buy all these shoes when Nathan reminds me of how much we have spent on baseball. I have no problem dropping $200-$400 on a bat or $100 on cleats so I immediately am told to suck it up for Nelly's sake. I'm reminded of how she deserves this, seems very excited about it and at least has to TRY it first. She might get into it and decide it's not for her either. I can only hope right??

p.s. I DO love my daughter very much and I am excited for her since she seems to be very excited! Just say a prayer for me though so I don't have a rotten attitude for her sake. I want her to find something that she enjoys and I'll enjoy it with her!! But it's safe to say that I just can't wait for 7th grade to roll around and she can try volleyball!!!! Until then....dance it may be!!!

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From an AP news story this morning:

NEW HAVEN, Conn. – Nine-year-old Jericho Scott is a good baseball player — too good, it turns out.

The right-hander has a fastball that tops out at about 40 mph. He throws so hard that the Youth Baseball League of New Haven told his coach that the boy could not pitch any more. When Jericho took the mound anyway last week, the opposing team forfeited the game, packed its gear and left, his coach said.

Officials for the three-year-old league, which has eight teams and about 100 players, said they will disband Jericho's team, redistributing its players among other squads, and offered to refund $50 sign-up fees to anyone who asks for it. They say Jericho's coach, Wilfred Vidro, has resigned.

But Vidro says he didn't quit and the team refuses to disband. Players and parents held a protest at the league's field on Saturday urging the league to let Jericho pitch.

"He's never hurt any one," Vidro said. "He's on target all the time. How can you punish a kid for being too good?"

The controversy bothers Jericho, who says he misses pitching.

Read the rest of the story...

 

Hmmmm...I think I'll forward this article to a few select coaches in the Connecticut area. I'm sure they would be interested in picking up another pitcher.

Frankly, this article indicates to me a level of FAIL for every single adult involved - coaches, league officials, and parents.

The best players have left league play (because the competition level has declined) and are now playing for USSSA, Super Series, AAU, Nations Baseball, etc. And in fact, this kid would fit right in, because 40 mph would be about normal if he played Select - perhaps a little slow even.

My son’s pitching coach has a ten year old son (almost 11) who pitches 69 mph. My son and his contemporaries are 13 and pitching 80. Select is much more competitive and that’s where the best players go. A nine year old pitching at 40 mph is not exactly scary-good at the Select level.

The fact that the boy is still in a “developmental” league indicates to me that he’s a ringer. So what? We've ALL seen that - the coach wants the very best player for his team and the parents want their son to be a SUPERSTAR. But what good does it do for Jericho's development as a player if he's the most dominant player of a bunch of beginners? I say "Big whoop."

How many of us have seen reputed league superstars come to Select and just get creamed? Uh-huh, we all have. His parents should quit acting like they are victims and let him play amongst kids who are just as good - perhaps better - than he is. But wait... in Select there are try-outs and the kid will have to make it on his own merit. There's no reason for them to avoid that, is there?

Maybe there is. I can see one reason already why a Select team might pass over young Jericho Scott - his mother! Plenty of Select coaches audition the parents as well, and will pass over a decent player because the parents are notoriously difficult. And Jericho's mom sounds overly obnoxious. She called the police when the other team forfeited?! C'mon, lady! Get a grip and get some perspective. The police have better things to do than answer a call from a hysterical baseball mom! Pitiful.

As for the other teams who forfeit rather than play him, they are doing a huge disservice to their beginner athletes. HUGE. Any player should want to be challenged to play his best - to play up. The coaches and parents of the opposing teams are teaching those kids to be victims and losers. Pitiful.

As I said above, this situation is an all-around FAIL for every single adult involved - coaches, league officials, and parents. Only the kid is a winner here.

 

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How will the best team in Little League stack up against the best team in Select? I'm looking forward to finding out! I've always held an opinion that Select baseball was more competitive and therefore produced better ballplayers. I felt like my son should make it on his own merit as an athlete, and not on whose dad was coaching the team. I also liked that in Select, my son was playing open bases, with longer baselines and greater pitching distances. I felt like Jonathan was more challenged and that could only make him better.

So just to test my homegrown theory, I went and watched a few Little League and Pony games. My intent was to try and honestly gauge whether my son was better off staying in Select or perhaps we should consider returning to Pony. After all, everyone (and I do mean everyone) was telling us that Pony was the place to be in the years before high school. I watched and weighed and considered...

And all things considered, we decided that Select would be best for our son - and we never looked back. Now this weekend, thanks to the first ever inter-association National Championship, we will have a chance to observe Little Leaguers, Pony players, and various Select organizations in direct compeition with each other. Which truly produces the more disciplined, competitve, and skilled ballplayers? I don't know, but I'm excited to find out!

 

Here's the NYBC Preview video. I've got all the pertinent info, such as schedules and results, posted up in the main menu under Big Events. It all starts today. Check it out!

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