Astros moving to American League

[OleMissCub]

chasing a tennis ball down the street hoping to catch it before going into the gutter is quite the fond memory of my youth.

[XZero771679666304]

I grew up in a fairly small town that was very sports oriented. Just about every kid played baseball or softball in the spring and summer, and there were plenty of municipal leagues for all ages, and all you really needed was a glove, spikes and money for a uni. Unless you played in one of the Babe Ruth leagues you didn't need your own bats or anything until high school.

 

When we weren't playing organized ball, my friends and I (often as few as three of us) would play on the street and pepper the neighborhood with tennis balls (one hitter, one pitcher, 1-3 fielders rotating after three balls caught on the fly).

 

Of course such friendly scenarios are the exception.

[Sammys Boombox]

Even middle class kids in rural areas with easy access to ballfields whose parents either can't or won't spend the time and money on them developing their baseball skills are at a disadvantage. The municipal leagues are a joke because all of the serious kids (read: their parents think they're serious) are playing travel ball. Traveling costs literally thousands of dollars a year per kid. Unless their old man can teach them the game (and most of them can't, even if they think they can), these kids are at a huge disadvantage by the time they begin trying out for high school.

 

This isn't a knock on parents who put their kids in travel ball. It's the only chance those kids have. But, it does suck how it has changed the climate of youth baseball.

 

I'm 23. There was not a travel team in my area. Everybody played Little League until they were old enough for high school and Legion. It is totally different now with my younger brothers. My parents are dishing out money like crazy on my 11-year-old brother. I'm glad they can afford it now, because there is no way they could have done it when my brother and I (15 months apart) were younger. Trying to get us to all of our games, on two different teams, and paying for all of those hotel rooms would have been a nightmare. The only reason they're willing to do it for my 11-year-old brother is because the 10-year-old Little League is like watching T-ball when I was a kid.

[Bull]

Baseball is a difficult game to just be jumping into when you are 15 or 16. I'm sure it goes a long way to have been playing a sport like basketball in your youth if you want to be a good basketball player, but there is something about baseball that sets it apart. I suppose it has something to do with what a mental game it is. I'm having a hard time clarifying exactly what "that" difference is, but I'm sure most of you get what I'm referring to. Although maybe that is just me showing my baseball prejudice since it's the only game I've ever really played, but baseball is just a hard game to pick up when you are older.

 

It pretty clearly involves more skill. You can get your foot in the door (so to speak) with raw athleticism in sports like football and basketball, but baseball requires a strong skill base that has to be built up over age (with rare exception).

 

What's the saying? The hardest thing in sports is to hit a 95 MPH fastball or something? Don't know if it's true, but wouldn't surprise me in the slightest if it was.

 

Hitting a round ball with a round bat solidly I think is absolutely the hardest "basic element" of any major pro sport. People across the world can make the same shot Kobe makes using the same size ball and the same size hoop.* But how many can hit an 85mph pitch? Very few.

 

 

 

 

*I get why the comparison to what Kobe does on an NBA court and what we do in pickup games is faulty...

 

"The hardest thing to do in all of sports is to hit a round ball with a round bat, squarely." - Ted Williams

[bhogg]

Amen on the travel ball thing. I'll take it one step further --- putting your kid in travel-ball only is hurting local leagues.

 

My son was 7 last year and he played a couple tournaments on a travel team -- 3, maybe 4 tournaments for a total of 10 games. They were great learning experiences for him and it helped him understand that he's a fairly talented player. However, under no circumstance did my wife and I consider taking him out of the city league. Each of the past two seasons, about 15-20% of our 8 year olds have been taken out of the league by their dads who insist that travel ball is the way to go. $300 uniforms, traveling all of the state (and region), getting the holy hell beat out of you half the time, and calling it fun.

 

The city league serves a purpose far greater than being a major league baseball training ground for 8-12 year olds. And let's be honest -- it's not like the good ol' USA is pumping out a higher percentage of major league players. Face it -- if your kid has the talent to play pro ball, playing him in 100+ games at an 8 year old isn't going to make a difference. Heck, it might actually burn a kid out long before they have the chance to develop into a legitimate talent.

 

So, basically, there is a small group of dads who are causing their kids to miss out on the fun and social positives of playing city ball.

 

I read an article not long ago that suggested that travel ball is ruining baseball in America. In it, the writer's research suggest that age 11 or 12 is the time in which a kid could seriously consider a travel team. By that time, some (not all) kids have developed such where you know if they have a special talent that might allow them to pursue a college scholarship or a chance at the pros. I'd argue that the age for spotting serious talent is probably a little bit older, maybe 12-13, but I liked the basics of the article. Bottom line is that little Johnny is only 8 years old once and playing 100 baseball games may seem like a great idea on the surface, but missing out on the kick ass things about growing up really isn't worth the money or the risk that one day little Johnny will grow up and not give a flying fart about baseball.

 

 

 

 

As long as there are booger-eating, nose picking, fun loving kids in my community; I will fight like hell to keep the local leagues going.

[J.R.]

Many youth leagues in rural areas are run for the sole purpose of prepping the "good" kids for the travel season. Very few youth coaches are actually out there to teach the game to raw kids.

 

Back on topic, the "Astros" nickname hasn't fit with their marketing since they left the dome. The current uniforms would make more sense with "Colt .45s" across the front.

[illiniguy]

Travel ball the best way for rich parents to pretend their kid is a baseball prodigy, kind of like club soccer.

[davearm2]

Many youth leagues in rural areas are run for the sole purpose of prepping the "good" kids for the travel season. Very few youth coaches are actually out there to teach the game to raw kids.

 

Back on topic, the "Astros" nickname hasn't fit with their marketing since they left the dome. The current uniforms would make more sense with "Colt .45s" across the front.

I think the Astros nickname fits fine, with NASA being in Houston.

[Sammys Boombox]

In an email sent to season-ticket holders on Monday, new owner Jim Crane informed fans that Houston's baseball team will continue to be known as the Astros.

 

http://houston.astros.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20120130&content_id=26519712&vkey=news_hou&c_id=hou

[NewUserName]

As a parent of a child who plays travel ball, I do not think you guys fully understand all the motivations that go along with playing travel ball. I understand that my son is not a baseball prodigy. I really wish just playing in our local town league was a good option. Travel ball is expensive and it involves a lot of adults who are over estimating their sons ability to play.

 

My son is probably the best hitter in his class at school. He is a solid defensive player at almost every position except pitcher. He has no movement on his fastball so he is a limited pitcher. There will only be 7 spots available on the Junior High team this fall because the class ahead of my sons is deep and talented. Since he is limited as a pitcher he will have to be really impressive hitting. The coach values pitching and feels that as long as a kid can pitch he can teach hitting. Our local town league has been gutted for several years because the better kids are playing travel ball. So if my son was to play local he would probably not get any better as a hitter, though he would probably tear the league up. So basically to give my son the best chance to make the junior high team, he probably needs to play a higher level of ball than our local town provides. Also, most to the better players in his class are also doing travel ball. Many of these kids are his good friends. As a social thing, he would rather play with his friends. I know this could be me rationalizing it more, but my son was invited to play on a better team but chose the team that had more of his friends on it.

[jersey cubs fan]

As a parent of a child who plays travel ball, I do not think you guys fully understand all the motivations that go along with playing travel ball. I understand that my son is not a baseball prodigy. I really wish just playing in our local town league was a good option. Travel ball is expensive and it involves a lot of adults who are over estimating their sons ability to play.

 

My son is probably the best hitter in his class at school. He is a solid defensive player at almost every position except pitcher. He has no movement on his fastball so he is a limited pitcher. There will only be 7 spots available on the Junior High team this fall because the class ahead of my sons is deep and talented. Since he is limited as a pitcher he will have to be really impressive hitting. The coach values pitching and feels that as long as a kid can pitch he can teach hitting. Our local town league has been gutted for several years because the better kids are playing travel ball. So if my son was to play local he would probably not get any better as a hitter, though he would probably tear the league up. So basically to give my son the best chance to make the junior high team, he probably needs to play a higher level of ball than our local town provides. Also, most to the better players in his class are also doing travel ball. Many of these kids are his good friends. As a social thing, he would rather play with his friends. I know this could be me rationalizing it more, but my son was invited to play on a better team but chose the team that had more of his friends on it.

 

Wait, he's probably the best hitter in his class at school but you are worried about his ability to make the junior high team?

[davearm2]

As a parent of a child who plays travel ball, I do not think you guys fully understand all the motivations that go along with playing travel ball. I understand that my son is not a baseball prodigy. I really wish just playing in our local town league was a good option. Travel ball is expensive and it involves a lot of adults who are over estimating their sons ability to play.

 

My son is probably the best hitter in his class at school. He is a solid defensive player at almost every position except pitcher. He has no movement on his fastball so he is a limited pitcher. There will only be 7 spots available on the Junior High team this fall because the class ahead of my sons is deep and talented. Since he is limited as a pitcher he will have to be really impressive hitting. The coach values pitching and feels that as long as a kid can pitch he can teach hitting. Our local town league has been gutted for several years because the better kids are playing travel ball. So if my son was to play local he would probably not get any better as a hitter, though he would probably tear the league up. So basically to give my son the best chance to make the junior high team, he probably needs to play a higher level of ball than our local town provides. Also, most to the better players in his class are also doing travel ball. Many of these kids are his good friends. As a social thing, he would rather play with his friends. I know this could be me rationalizing it more, but my son was invited to play on a better team but chose the team that had more of his friends on it.

 

Wait, he's probably the best hitter in his class at school but you are worried about his ability to make the junior high team?

He stated pretty clearly the reasons why.

[Sammy Sofa]

Ooooh, what's he going to do now?

[Sammys Boombox]

As a parent of a child who plays travel ball, I do not think you guys fully understand all the motivations that go along with playing travel ball. I understand that my son is not a baseball prodigy. I really wish just playing in our local town league was a good option. Travel ball is expensive and it involves a lot of adults who are over estimating their sons ability to play.

 

My son is probably the best hitter in his class at school. He is a solid defensive player at almost every position except pitcher. He has no movement on his fastball so he is a limited pitcher. There will only be 7 spots available on the Junior High team this fall because the class ahead of my sons is deep and talented. Since he is limited as a pitcher he will have to be really impressive hitting. The coach values pitching and feels that as long as a kid can pitch he can teach hitting. Our local town league has been gutted for several years because the better kids are playing travel ball. So if my son was to play local he would probably not get any better as a hitter, though he would probably tear the league up. So basically to give my son the best chance to make the junior high team, he probably needs to play a higher level of ball than our local town provides. Also, most to the better players in his class are also doing travel ball. Many of these kids are his good friends. As a social thing, he would rather play with his friends. I know this could be me rationalizing it more, but my son was invited to play on a better team but chose the team that had more of his friends on it.

 

I think I'm right on par with you. This is the exact dilemma that parents face and the reason my youngest brother is playing on a travel team instead of the city league. I completely understand your position and would definitely make the same decision in that situation. People like you are not the problem. Not that you needed my approval...