Fields of Screams: 2017 youth baseball/softball thread

Just got word my lefty catcher of 3 years quit the 7th-grade team because of grades. Her mom (one of my assistants) has been going thru a nasty divorce and it is affecting lefty catcher in bad ways so I may not see her at all. My back-up who's also on the 7th-grade team said she doesn't want to play catcher for me so that she can focus on first base. So as of today I don't have a catcher. Season starts in 18 days.

 

Just tell her: 'You're playing catcher, so dummy up!'

 

Hang on ... which team did lefty catcher quit, yours or the 7th grade team?

The school team of course is going to have academic eligibility standards so whether she quit or has been declared ineligible may be two separate things.

It may be putting too much on a kid to play on two teams simultaneously while trying to keep grades up, but OTOH some kids focus better on school work during their sports seasons -- they get into a more organized state of mind, set apart specific times for study/homework, etc etc. -- if they're ripped away from sports completely it's possible they may just say "screw it" as a rebellion.

Obviously mom has to come to a decision of what course will make the kid most likely to keep at the schoolwork. Ripping softball away completely due to a situation beyond her control (the divorce) may be even more demoralizing and crush her motivation to improve grades.

It does sound at a minimum her availability is probably going to be limited/reduced, so the next couple practices need to be devoted to digging up somebody who can catch part-time and platoon/alternate with Backup C/1B.

Since Backup C/1B has the alternative of the 7th grade team, you can't say "my way or the highway," because she'll say, "fine, hasta la vista."

But unless she's so unmistakably brilliant at 1B that she should play full-time there, I'd use the approach that playing catcher is probably a better eventual ticket to a spot on the HS roster.

 

She quit the 7th-grade team to avoid the embarrassment of being booted for ineligibility. She's smart but is better with her hands. She jumps horses. She also has terrible self-esteem issues.

As for this one, she flat-out doesn't want to play catcher even though she's very good at it and has played the position for me several times. Her dad (one of my assistants) was a stud high school catcher, so she obviously has it in her blood. But she's hellbent on playing first because that's her focus on the 7th-grade team. She said something the other day that stung a little. She's really theatrical -- born thespian, lead in all of the school plays -- and sometimes that carries over into practice. She's had this issue where she'll throw sidearm and flick her wrist for the hell of it and you never quite know where the ball is going. Her dad and I have implored her to throw the ball properly -- like she knows how to -- but she hardly ever listens and does it her way just because. ... The other day, out of desperation, I have her climb into catcher's gear to catch my pitcher, who's going through her routine for the first time this spring. I stand next to catcher and ask how the 7th-grade team is going. She says good. The 7th-grade coach also is an ump in my league so I ask how she likes playing for him. She raves about him by saying how he's taught her to throw the ball properly and do a few other things that I've been trying to get her to do, that she already knows how to do really well ... and so all of a sudden this new coach is the greatest thing since sliced bread and I'm standing there biting my tongue. Whatever.

Things balanced out later that night when the mother of the lefty shortstop said she's been throwing a bit erratically during 7th-grade practice. I ask the mother if she thinks playing for both teams is too much pressure and she assures me that daughter WANTS to play for me. So that was nice. But I still feel like I need to talk to shortstop and tell her that it's OK to dedicate all of her energy to the 7th-grade team.

 

It's funny really. All the other coaches agree that I have the best pitcher, catcher, and shortstop (plus the all-around C/1B player) coming back.

Lefty catcher probably won't play for me. Lefty shortstop probably has to focus on the 7th-grade team to be most effective, and blue-haired pitcher's back is giving her fits lately.

Don't count your chickens before they hatch came screaming out of nowhere this season.

 

I dunno, as for Backup C/1B, if her dad was a former stud catcher I would think he could advise her that being a good catcher is about the fastest ticket to a varsity roster spot short of a D-1 level fastball.

When you get to HS, pretty much anybody decent who goes out for HS softball has played first base at times in youth ball. Saying "I've played first base for three years" doesn't impress many varsity coaches, but if you've been catching for 3-4 seasons, they tend to take a bit more notice.

 

As far as Starrville Softball Club preseason drama, I talked to the club president yesterday as the signup deadline looms tomorrow, and:

1) He has enough signups for two 12U teams. He made some comment to the effect he may have enough for three -- he said he had 27-28 signups as of Tuesday night. That could create some headaches as in summer leagues you almost always have somebody away for the weekend at granny's cottage, etc etc. so as a practical matter you almost have to have a roster of 11-12 players per team. You can legally play with nine players but in real life you want a couple extras on the roster to cope with absentees. BUT NOT TOO MANY -- this league has the 'everybody bats' rule which means if you have 14-15-16 players on the team, you have to field a 16-player batting order, which means in a lot of games you'll have players getting one or two at-bats per game. So 28-30 is right on the borderline between two bloated overstuffed rosters which will cut down on PT for every player or three bare-minimum 9-10 player rosters. What would be ideal would probably be to get up to 33-36 total signups. He said it's normal to pick up a couple last-day signups and one or two late additions.

2) He says he has four potential coaches as of the moment (including both me and StarSis). He then veered off into a tangent which indicated his current plan is for StarSis to head coach BOTH a 12U team and an 8U team. This is pretty much opposite to what she's said to me in various discussions; she has said flat out she does NOT have enough time to head coach both teams, and in fact is pretty doubtful if she can HC the 12U team at all (the 12U job entails more practices, doubleheaders, working out a pitching rotation, more extensive travel, possible additional tourney games) and would strongly prefer to head-coach 8U and only assist at 12U. (Frankly she has said she would be OK only assisting on both teams.) He seemed somewhat surprised to hear this; I didn't want to start issuing statements on her behalf, so I said, "I think you better check out with her what she wants to do."

3) Then he veered off into ANOTHER tangent in which he mused that among the ideas he was toying around in dividing the teams was to assign Twin A and Twin B to different teams. I do know that StarSis has always expressed joking horror at this idea; trucking kids to practices and games for one team was enough of a scheduling and transportation nightmare in itself; she's repeatedly said she would never stand for the twins being put on different teams. I expressed some real reservations at this idea and he said, "well, you're their uncle, maybe you could coach one team with one twin and Sis could coach the other one," to which I responded with cold water and once again urged him to call her directly. That brainstorm, I can pretty much guarantee, is going nowhere.

Aside from the transportation and schedule headaches which would be monumental, Sis would be walking straight into the kind of favoritism soap opera she has always avoided with the twins: if one was on her team and one was on my team, does it mean she likes one better? Does it mean we think one is a better player, or one is a worse player and needs more "coaching help"?? Etc etc yadda yadda. No way in hell Sis (or i) want to march into that mine field.

 

Yeesh. Just got a text from Larry the league/club prez who now says one of his potential 12U coaches (a player mom) specifically said she wants to serve as assistant to Sis, but not a HC herself.

This kind of creates a problem given that Sis does not want to HC a 12U team.

No word if this mom has any particular objection to serving as an assistant to ME. She's not one of our basketball parents; she knows Sis from another neighborhood group. (As far as we know most of the basketball parents think I'm OK.) But it's a possible complication if they end up wanting to split into three teams.

Sis says this mom is "basically OK but a little ditzy; she tends to lose interest in stuff," so her own assessment that she might not be HC material might be a good call. "She'd probably be fine coaching third base or helping at practice," Sis said, "but she's the kind of person who would mess up the grunt work, the between-games planning stuff."

So basically Larry needs to scare up two other people besides me willing to be a HC of a 12U team. Not including Sis. We think he's got one but that's still a little nebulous.

Larry seems not to be getting the message that Sis does not want to HC the 12U team. Sis has indicated informally as much to him several times (and she told me today she said so specifically in a text yesterday) but he still continues to ramble forward on the premise she might do it.

 

Catcher update: Before yesterday's practice I asked the 3-year back-up/1B if she'd play catcher and she defiantly said no. Her dad (an assistant) told me it ain't happening even against his constant persuasions. Really pissed me off. I should probably just tell her to put her full focus on the 7th-grade team. But whatever.

That said, it turns out the new girl who was dispersed to my team last week is more than capable of playing the position. I asked if she's interested in playing catcher and she smiled and says sure, no problem, I'll try anything. She's more than serviceable with tons of potential. Above all else, she has a great attitude.

So then ... the lefty shortstop who insists she WANTS to play for me as much as she wants to play for the 7th-grade team didn't show to practice yesterday ... so she could go to a birthday party. Super.

Also got awful news yesterday about one of the other newbies -- tough little nut who wrestles and played baseball -- that could limit how much time she spends with us.

 

My dad played semi-pro ball in Georgia. When I played catcher, he referred to putting the gear on as "donning the tools of ignorance". He thought that was real funny. Me, not so much.

 

When I see Twitter posts in the politics thread, I refer to that as "donning the tools of ignorance."

 

You think you're funny too. Me, not so much.