<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>tswoboda wrote:</div>
Must have a team full of Danny Almonte’sI had to Google who he was. All kids on the team are 5th and 6th grade. We’ll within legal age
Just having a laugh when you said the size of your boy, nothing serious. I think Danny had a full mustache and a couple child support payments when he was “12”. Pretty sure Gim was half remembering the old Baby Bronx Bombers scandal.
Just having a laugh when you said the size of your boy, nothing serious. I think Danny had a full mustache and a couple child support payments when he was “12”. Pretty sure Gim was half remembering the old Baby Bronx Bombers scandal.
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For tonight’s game I’m going to put a stck on mustache on my kid when hes pitching lol
For tonight’s game I’m going to put a stck on mustache on my kid when hes pitching lol
lol maybe have him throw on one of those fake sleeve tattoos too
Agreed 100% BC! My 5 year old just started (somewhat) organized sports and a lot of these boys do not have anyone teaching them discipline, work ethic or any of the attributes we would associate with our own successes in life. And in a lot of cases (like yours) teaching them to take the easy way out. And we need more men, like you, showing them there is another way.
He was a US college baseball coach, and a successful one. From 1946 to 1991, his teams, first at Pepperdine and then at Cal Poly Pomona, won over 1000 games. Captured three NCAA Division II championships. He was named Division II Coach of the Year three times, gained entry to the College Baseball Coaches Hall of Fame, and, as a member of the USA Baseball staff, won a silver medal in the 1984 Olympic Games.
Accolades aside, it is his work as a clinician and speaker that resonates.
It is January 1996. Five years retired, Scolinos presents at a baseball convention in Nashville, Tennessee. Some 4,000 coaches attend, many with the primary intent of listening to the great man.
He shuffles to the stage to warm applause. He is neatly dressed, other than the fact a full sized, stark white home plate dangles by a cord from his neck.
He speaks for fifteen minutes, seemingly oblivious to the rather oversized prop. A number of attendees at the event fidget restlessly, others even start snickering. Perhaps the great man, now aged 78, is having a senior moment, and has forgotten about the home plate accessory.
Yet, Scolinos, undeterred, continues with his tale. I may be old, he tells the assembled throng. But I am not crazy. Instead, I wish to share with you important lessons I have learned in my life. What I have learned about home plate.
Going around the large room, he first asks the coaches how wide home plate in Little League is. Eventually, someone responds. Seventeen inches.
Scolinos nods. Then he barks, how wide in high school? The coaches concede it is also seventeen inches. The theme continues, from high school to college baseball, from college to the minor leagues, from the minor leagues to the majors. At each level of play, home plate is seventeen inches wide.
“Seventeen inches!!” he booms out to the rafters. Then, pausing for effect, he turns back to his audience. And what do we do with a pitcher who won’t throw strikes, can’t consistently throw the ball over a seventeen-inch-wide plate?
Answering his own question, and drawing hearty laughter in the process, he says, very bluntly, we replace him with someone else. What we don’t do is give him a bigger target. Don’t make the plate eighteen or nineteen inches wide. Or twenty inches, so he has a better chance. Or, if he can’t hit that, expand to maybe twenty-five inches.
Then come more questions from Scolinos, as his message begins to sink in. What happens when players fail to reach fitness requirements, ignore team protocols, break team rules by showing up late or improperly dressed? What if players are caught drinking or using drugs? Are they held responsible? Are there consequences? Or do the rules constantly change, in a desperate pursuit of wins or to avoid difficult decisions?
The room is still. Chuckles fade into uncomfortable silence.
Pulling a sharpie from a pocket, Scolinos rotates the home plate hanging around his neck. He begins to draw. With the point of the plate now facing upwards, a door and two windows complete a house. Then he returns to his theme, noting issues that exist in many homes, the problems with relationships, parenting, discipline. He bemoans the fact that accountability is too often lacking, that there are no repercussions for failing to meet important standards. Instead, he concludes, we just widen the plate.
Another pause. To the top of the house, Scolinos then adds a small national flag. This represents education he suggests. The overall quality is slipping, teachers are stripped of the tools for success, cannot instruct or correct behaviour as they need to. Outside groups are allowed to widen the plate, with negative results.
From the coaches, not a word. Just an eerie hush.
The flag is then replaced by a cross. This symbol stands for the Church, an institution whose leaders and authority figures have too often taken advantage of children, with resulting atrocities swept under the rug. Moving on from religion, Scolinos targets government, the elected officials who set rules and policy that do not apply to themselves or their cronies. Add in bribes from lobbyists and foreign countries and it is clear many politicians widen the plate for personal or party benefit.
The address then reaches a powerful conclusion. Scolinos flips over the home plate that rests upon his chest. Revealing the jet-black side.
Remember this, he says. Remember this one thing. We must hold ourselves to higher standards, each of us, as well as our loved ones, our friends, our schools, our businesses, our churches and our governments. Failure to do so will guarantee dark days ahead.
The old coach’s words of wisdom are equally appropriate in 2020. Perhaps even more so. Absolutely there are positives to celebrate, countless examples worldwide of integrity, heroism, love and care. Yet, this year and beyond project to be wildly uncertain and shifting times.
We must deal with the twin perils of climate change and a global pandemic. Must properly confront racism, extremism, famine, political polarization and chicanery. Must account for gross health, social and economic inequalities. We will need to overcome many obstacles, be fully accountable, take decisive ownership of those areas in our lives we can control, set clear boundaries and not compromise standards. And do it together. We cannot stand idly by while the world falls into the abyss.
John Scolinos is no longer with us. But he leaves us much to ponder.
After all, seventeen inches is seventeen inches. Don’t widen the plate!
Ron as a team they should vote to play in the participation tournament or not. They got this far together, they should finish together or not at all. The governing body allowed the boys to play and to now change the game is insane. You and the other parents have a hard decision to make but no way would my kid not understand they were singling him out.
In a perfect world they take the field for the first game and as a team walk off the field.
I feel sorry for the kids and embarrassed that the parents allow this.
BC good job with your boy and the effort you put into helping out.
I would try and keep the tournament as was ment to be.It annoy’s the he!! out of me when some parents don’t like to see Little Johnny get his butt handed to him,part of life get used to it.This all part of the pussifacation of America.
Better yet teach Little Johnny to hit the pitch. See ball… hit ball … simple game.
Amazing how the parents believe their kids will fail.
Losing and being dominated is a part of sports.
Better yet teach Little Johnny to hit the pitch. See ball… hit ball … simple game.
Amazing how the parents believe their kids will fail.
Most parents don’t take the time to work with them and make them become better. Hell half of them don’t even show up to the games. I think they look at it as a place to drop the kids off and have somebody else babysit them for a couple hours
<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>joe-winter wrote:</div>
Better yet teach Little Johnny to hit the pitch. See ball… hit ball … simple game.Amazing how the parents believe their kids will fail.
Most parents don’t take the time to work with them and make them become better. Hell half of them don’t even show up to the games. I think they look at it as a place to drop the kids off and have somebody else babysit them for a couple hours
I honestly think this is 100 percent correct. I see this happen week in and week out.
Last couple nights at practice the goal was not to watch the ball it’s self but to try and break down the laces. Between that and teaching to throw at a kids button instead of a kid himself we seen alot of improvements.
I’m with Bearcat on this. I coached for 14 years, ran in-house, travel and legion for 6 years in a large suburban district.
Many of the kids DON’T have access to the early coaching they need.
Not everybody gets a trophy – wrong message.
5 and 6 year olds should be hitting off a tee so they can put the ball in play for the infield and outfield instead of coaches throwing 20 pitches tryin to hit the bat while the rest of the kids pick their noses. Coaches should then be helping with swings as well.
A million other reasons.
The right coach can make the lost ballgame a learning experience FOR ALL.
One of the worst jobs running the program was interviewing prospective coaches.
Stick to your guns Bearcat – you are correct
I agree a lot of parents are looking for a sitter……
But those parents better not be the ones with an opinion on how the game goes then.
its really bad out there in the “fair” world.
BC ….. this sounds like the local “rec” league? if so then all the “we’re playing for fun” crowd will always be the voice the association listens to.
local association travel ball is your way around it because it is suppose to be teaching the competitive side better…. meaning coaches put kids where they are strongest and where it makes the team stronger… you play to win the game.. of course you run into parents who still think it should be the “fun” rec style.
for example
in travel you need to prove you can pitch strikes in practice before you step on the mound in the game….. in ‘rec’ everyone gets to pitch regardless of proven play.
parents should all know this before they decide where they want their kid to play each season.
We have this going on now. We are AA travel ball in a small town. 13 kids signed up so there was no tryout. All made the team. At the very beginning us three coaches made it clear we are required to play kids 2 innings, but after that playing time is earned performance based. We had three parents jump us coaches and two jump head coaches wife at a softball game about playing time. I gave kudos to the head coach for sticking to his guns on this one. It’s tough because most teams we are playing had 20 or more kids tryout, and they only take 10-13 of the best. We are struggling this year to say the least. My son lives and breathes baseball and is very good at it. He is currently rostered on three different teams. In 2 1/2 years, the longest he has went without a game or practice was 2 weeks. That’s year round baseball. I know he needs to learn losing, but it is tough when I know how hard he works at it. He is learning to be a good teammate this season, but if they decide to go Rec league next year we will go elsewhere.
As far as the round Robin thing and not being able to play certain kids in certain positions, that’s BS. I’d look at a different league for next year if that happened.
instead of coaches throwing 20 pitches tryin to hit the bat while the rest of the kids pick their noses
In my stepsons 9-10 year old league I wish the coaches would pitch so the kids can learn how to hit and especially play defense. Its basically everyone stand at second base and talk til we walk in 5 runs and switch sides. Repeat. Maybe a pitching machine til they can learn to pitch.
<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Umy wrote:</div>
instead of coaches throwing 20 pitches tryin to hit the bat while the rest of the kids pick their nosesIn my stepsons 9-10 year old league I wish the coaches would pitch so the kids can learn how to hit and especially play defense. Its basically everyone stand at second base and talk til we walk in 5 runs and switch sides. Repeat. Maybe a pitching machine til they can learn to pitch.
When they were 8 years old we used pitching machines, 9years old the coaches pitched now the kids pitch full time at 10 years. They are plenty good to pitch at 10 years old in our league I guess. we are not in a traveling or tryout team, just the youth baseball league.
I think in like his last 3 games he has swung once, otherwise 4 pitch walks. Maybe its not 9 & 10 years old but 3rd and 4th grade. Either way they cant pitch.
I think in like his last 3 games he has swung once, otherwise 4 pitch walks. Maybe its not 9 & 10 years old but 3rd and 4th grade. Either way they cant pitch.
In our 3rd grade league the kids pitch but they don’t allow walks. If the kid throws 4 balls, then the coach comes out for 3 soft toss pitches. If the kid can’t hit the soft toss, he is out. No free passes.
Our team is undefeated similar to Bearcat and the other coaches suggested to stop keeping score. Unbelievable!
My kids league is kids fast pitch and most the pitchers can really throw.
I think in like his last 3 games he has swung once, otherwise 4 pitch walks. Maybe its not 9 & 10 years old but 3rd and 4th grade. Either way they cant pitch.
My 11 yo has been on the mound since 8. He got robbed of a season at 9 because of covid. He used that season to perfect his craft. This video was this February, by march he was averaging 62mph. Been clocked up to 67.
Order of importance in pitching….
Location, movement, velocity
Lots of parents/kids get too caught up in velocity….
Mn drifter…… consistent location of your kids pitches is way more impressive then his velocity. Looks great!
Order of importance in pitching….
Location, movement, velocity
Lots of parents/kids get too caught up in velocity….
Mn drifter…… consistent location of your kids pitches is way more impressive then his velocity. Looks great!
EXACTTLY! i try to tell all the kids on our team the exact same thing. most of them when they pitch all they worry about is throwing hard and then they are all over the place. i tell them just to play catch with each other and they are much more accurate.
drifter your kid has a good arm and is accurate 
EXACTTLY! i try to tell all the kids on our team the exact same thing. most of them when they pitch all they worry about is throwing hard and then they are all over the place. i tell them just to play catch with each other and they are much more accurate.
drifter your kid has a good arm and is accurate
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My rule is 80 percent power. Mason can throw like no other but when he pushes past 80 percent they get wild. And I’ve beat it in to his head, if its 100 mph and out side the plate it does no good.
Drifter I love it. Mason works with a pitching coach at here’s the pitch baseball facility. He’s very consistent in the mid 50s. Can touch 70 but they are wild
Order of importance in pitching….
Location, movement, velocity
Lots of parents/kids get too caught up in velocity….
Mn drifter…… consistent location of your kids pitches is way more impressive then his velocity. Looks great!
100 percent
Order of importance in pitching….
Location, movement, velocity
Lots of parents/kids get too caught up in velocity….
Mn drifter…… consistent location of your kids pitches is way more impressive then his velocity. Looks great!
Thanks. He puts them where they need to be and fast. He’s also got a change up that is absolutely nasty. Gets guys who are swinging every time on 0-2,1-2 count. Couple weeks ago we were in losers bracket for our league tournament. One more loss and we were out. He pitched 5 full innings on 75 pitches. 5 innings, only two hits, 2 walks, 0 scored, all strikes. Up until 5th inning the most pitches he had was 13 pitches. Won the game 0-7.
Thanks. He puts them where they need to be and fast. He’s also got a change up that is absolutely nasty.
That is awesome Drifter, keep him working on that changeup and he won’t need a slider or curve until his arm is closer to fully developed in High School. Way too many kids start throwing curves/sliders WAY too early.
Fastball (4-seam and 2-seam) and change-up is all any kid should be throwing until HS level or better yet 2nd half of HS BB. If you can master where the ball is crossing the plate the pitcher will be effective with speed and location.
Be careful with year around baseball (pitching-wise). The only real person that has any control over that is the parents and most often that is dad.
Traveling baseball and traveling soccer are both a complete grind and you can pretty much say goodbye to much fishing (or turkey hunting) in May and June. If your team is good and you qualify for the post-season … you can extend the season deep into July.
Add in some higher-level summer hockey and multiple children playing … well
Lived it, and would not trade it (even in hindsight) … but balance is not something that is readily available. Years ago it was pretty much just Memorial weekend and July 4th holiday time that we were on the lake between May 1 – July 20th.
<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Umy wrote:</div>
instead of coaches throwing 20 pitches tryin to hit the bat while the rest of the kids pick their nosesIn my stepsons 9-10 year old league I wish the coaches would pitch so the kids can learn how to hit and especially play defense. Its basically everyone stand at second base and talk til we walk in 5 runs and switch sides. Repeat. Maybe a pitching machine til they can learn to pitch.
Jeremy – in your age case yes. I may have understated my point. At the 4-5 year old level I would rather they work on swing mechanics at a tee and put the ball in play for the reasons I suggested. Keeps everyone engaged with a Live ball. 7, 8, 9 and up can be some coach pitch but there is always a “gulf” between batters and pitchers regarding maturity. I practices ALL KIDS, every practice to [pitch. Concentrate on throwing strikes first and foremost. With each passing year add on location and velocity.
Fastball (4-seam and 2-seam) and change-up is all any kid should be throwing until HS level or better yet 2nd half of HS BB. If you can master where the ball is crossing the plate the pitcher will be effective with speed and location.
Be careful with year around baseball (pitching-wise). The only real person that has any control over that is the parents and most often that is dad.
I keep a close eye on pitch counts. He plays on a club team spring/fall where he is designated pitcher who has a legit pitching coach. During summer travel I am an assistant coach and other than tournaments (which we only play a couple) he is restricted to 2 innings/game unless we go into 7th inning, then he can pitch a 3rd. We only pitch him if needed. He never goes more than 20 pitches/inning. So he is usually well below 100 pitches/week. Winter he trains with the club balls pitching coach who knows his stuff. They work on strength, mechanics, stretching, velocity and mental aspects. He loves every minute of it. Trust me, I’d much rather him be into fishing instead. But at least it ain’t hockey! Lol.
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