Why “WE” Play the Game…Reflections in the Offseason by Jeff Burton

 This has been a very interesting “offseason” for me regarding Little League baseball. It is my family’s first offseason in which our son, Luke, is already active in McIntire Little League’s Majors division. It also happens to be the first offseason where I am a Manager in our league’s most “serious” division. Prior to the “Majors”, kids in our league play in one of several Minors divisions, levels at which kids play 1 game/week and practice 1 time/week. But the Majors is totally different. In season, kids practice 2-3 times/week and play 2 games. There are baseball workouts and clinics going on year round. The game gets bigger, faster and more expensive. Good 9-year olds are facing very mature 12-year olds. The games even begins to resemble the nostalgic game that many of us played in our youth. (Minors games are very different…few of us remember walking 4 batters/inning, or never seeing a ball legitimately hit out of the infield).

My observation is that parents become very involved at the Majors level as well. Many of us coached in the Minors. Some umpired. Some ran the scoreboard. So, at one level, we were very involved…physically involved that is. Almost all of us took our kids to practice and “stuck around” for the hour b/c, after all, it was only an hour. But once you get to the Majors, the more advanced game weeds out some parents as coaches and the 2 hour practices give many parents a valid opportunity to drop off their kid and go run errands. “Involvement”, however, has taken on an entirely new definition.  Now, we are emotionally involved.

I guess I witnessed this new level of emotional involvement last Spring, but when you are one of the dads who is always on the field, you are insulated, to a point, from all the emotions that swirl around you. During this offseason, however, the games and practices are NOT there to distract me and the drumbeat of emotionally charged parents has my ears ringing constantly. We’re worried about whether our kids are developing as ballplayers under the managers the league has assigned to our teams. We’re worried whether our kids were treated fairly in the selection of our summer All Star teams. We’re worried about whether our kids will move into the more central roles of Pitcher, Catcher or Short Stop versus getting “stuck” in some corner outfield position that our camera lens hardly reaches.

In 2009, Luke has moved into the “Majors” of each sport that he plays.  In football, he went from Flag to Tackle.  In basketball, he’s gone from YMCA’s recreational league to a citywide developmental league.  In both cases, we’ve gone from “1 practice/1 game/everything takes 1 hour” world into multiple practices and 1 longer game.  Practices are later in the evening.  The game is more advanced.  For a sport crazed father, we have “arrived”.  These games DO resemble what I remember from my own playing days.  But, you know what happened in this our “step up” year?  My mind, and obviously the minds of my peer parents in these leagues, started to relive our youth.  We saw ourselves, even felt ourselves, back on the field.  Whatever insecurities we had for ourselves back then we now impose on our children.  Whatever entitlements we expected for ourselves, we now expect for our little genetically similar star.  I’m as guilty of this as anyone.  And upon further reflection this “offseason”, it just isn’t pretty. 

So, what is this dad/manager/FORMER athlete doing about it?  Well, I find myself looking more for new ideas about building a positive culture on my teams than I do about how I can teach my pitchers to throw offspeed pitches.  I find myself reading more articles about how to talk to and relate to my 10-year old than I do about how to speed up his bat.  I think more about how to change hearts to be loving, patient and kind than I do about which kids are going to make next year’s All Star teams. 

Like every recovering addict, I go into remission occasionally.  I found myself emotionally charged after Monday’s basketball practice when Luke finished in the bottom third of every sprint the team ran.  He and I discussed this post practice to the point where he was almost in tears.  I thought my intentions were good: (1) basketball is team game and your team needs you to give effort (2) if you are practicing lazy, you’ll play lazy, and where is that going to get you in life  (3) late in games, the well conditioned athlete, the well conditioned team, normally comes out in top…blah, blah, blah.  I’ve since apologized to Luke.  While each of my points had some merit, it was certainly the wrong time, the wrong place, and perhaps the wrong messanger to give that speech.  I have found myself this week spending even more time than usual trying to figure out what place youth sports should take up in our family’s life.  I hope I am back “on the wagon”. 

This “offseason”, our Little League has researched and made the decision to begin a relationship with an organization called Positive Coaching Alliance.  The purpose of PCA is to partner with youth sports leagues to develop a proper perspective around coaching and parenting in the games that we love.   This wasn’t an easy decision for our league.  We had looked at and passed on the program a couple of years back.  Perhaps some were concerned that the cost of approximately $2500/year cost was too much.  Perhaps some were concerned that their old ways of doing things would be challenged, and who wants to have to reinvent the wheel?  I think some were concerned that the resounded drumbeat of a new central philosophy would force them to look in the mirror to assess their own philosophies.  But, to the credit of our Board, and to the credit of many of may have resisted in the past, this new iniative passed.  It may take some time, but I am convinced that this new initiative is going to help us be a better league…a better place to teach our kids the real lessons of youth sports.

I encourage all who read this to give culture some consideration.  Give some thought to what your own personal agenda is related to the sports teams on which your kids play.  Spend time with your children trying to understand why THEY play the game.  Is is because you made them?  Is it because their friends play?  Is is for the love of the game.  My guess is that all the nonsense that keeps us as parents preoccupied hardly even crosses their minds.  They play because its what kids do.  They like to play games.  Remember, one day your kids will be coaching your grandkids, and your kids baggage from 2009 will show up in what they are doing and how they relate to those future 10 year olds.  Lets go make 2010 a great year for youth sports in Charlottesville or wherever you may be. 

The Carson Raymond Legacy/Woodbrook Field

Much has been said in Charlottesville about young Carson Raymond, who died this Fall from complications of the flu.  Today, the community, including the UVA Baseball team, turned out to rebuild the T-Ball field at Woodbrook Elementary School in honor of Carson.  Similar to the Brian Korbon story that I posted about earlier this week, Carson was a 9-year old who died much too soon.  He loved the game of baseball.  Please visit the Carson Raymond Foundation website that I’ve attached to learn more about this remarkable young man and what’s been done to honor him.

The Story of Brian Korbon Field

As told by NPR

The story of how McIntire’s Korbon Field got its name was on NPR recently.  I must have spent 1,500 hours at our local baseball park over the last 5 years.  I have never even considered the story behind how our 2 original fields got their respective names.  Now I know…and what a moving story it is.  I imagine there are fascinating stories behind many ballpark names…stories of people that gave of themselves for the benefit of others…stories of lives that ended too soon.  I imagine there are far fewer fields named after the coach who won the most games…or the kid who hit the most home runs.  I hope you will take the time to hear the stories behind the names.  Thanks, John (of Kammauff Field).

Do You Step Up in Big Games?

By Patrick J. Cohn, Ph.D.

Most athletes train hard all year long to make it to the playoffs or a state level competition. It’s clear to me that “the cream always rises to the top” during big games–the top athletes raise the level of their performance when they need it the most. I’m sure you’re also aware that some athletes mentally crumble in big games–they allow the pressure to cause them to tighten up. They are overcome by a tsunami of anxiety or fear about not getting to the playoffs.

I know from my experience as a mental coach that athletes tighten up because they worry too much about the outcome, which leads to trying too hard or playing with a tentative mindset. When you’re tense about outcomes and not focused on the current play, pitch, or shot, you can’t step up your performance in big games…

Playing in a big game or the playoffs should be the most fun for athletes. It’s your season-end reward. It’s the fruit of all your hard work during the season. However, in order to enjoy the big game, you must have faith or trust in what you have practiced all season. Justin Verlander, Detroit Tigers pitcher, is a good example of this…

The Detroit Tigers played against the Minnesota Twins last week in a double header. In Game one of the double header, the Twins stunned Detroit winning 3-2. Game 2 was a different story. Verlander helped his team win a crucial game. He pitched 8 innings with a season high 129 pitches. As a result, the Twins and Tigers play a tiebreaker for the American League title this week and a chance to go to the playoffs.

Part of Verlander’s success on the field is having a consistent pregame routine. A pregame mental routine helps you mentally prepare for the upcoming game and focus your mind for peak performance.

“Verlander has been doing the same thing through the course of the season. He comes in with his headphones on, and no matter what time it is, he’s got the same physical presence. He’s just locked in, straight to his locker. He goes ahead with his business, and everybody gets out of his way,” said teammate Curtis Granderson.

The top athletes love to perform in the spotlight in big games and welcome crunch-time pressure. They want to throw the last strike out. They want the ball with 30 seconds left in the basketball game. Other athletes defeat themselves before they even step onto the field. The tension and anxiety causes them to under perform in the big game. If you train hard all season to earn a spot in the playoffs, you want to embrace the pressure of crucial games…

“I love it. This is what baseball is all about. We’re here at the end of September, and we’re in the driver’s seat a little bit. The Twins are playing catch-up — not the other way around. We’re where we want to be,” Verlander said.

In addition to loving big game pressure, you want to use what’s worked and what you do the best. You don’t abandon your bread and butter pitches or what’s worked in the past for a new strategy. You have confidence in your talent and embrace the adrenaline: “I didn’t try to do anything extra special, but I knew we had to win,” Verlander said. “I knew I could do it (in the eighth). It’s adrenaline and the situation and god-given talent. I don’t know how else to explain it.”

What can you learn from Verlander’s mental attitude for performing your best in important games?

1. Embrace big game pressure. You’ve worked hard all season to have a chance to get into the playoffs. Simply enjoy the fruits of your hard work. Interpret the extra adrenaline as a means to help you focus better and give you extra energy. Feel the pregame butterflies and perform your best anyway.

2. Stick to your regular pregame routine or preparation. Don’t take three hours of BP before the game if that’s not what you normally do to prepare for a mid-season game. Follow a routine that helps you deflect anxiety and boost your confidence before game time.

3. Trust your talent or skills based on your training or practice. Too many players tighten up and don’t trust their skills in the big game. They want to either try too hard or over control when it means more. The reason why you or your team trains or practices for months is so you can trust in your skills when you need to step up your game.

Eight Tips for Communicating with Adolescent Athletes Immediately after the Game: Win or Loss

Larry Lauer, PhD
Michigan State University

Major Point: Eight ways parents can communicate with their adolescent children after games to enhance their relationship.

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Youth and high school sport has the opportunity to be a tremendous experience for adolescents and for their parents. The bonding that occurs in sport can last a lifetime. Many of you can probably think back to a time where your parents were involved in your sporting activities. I would hope these are wonderful memories of spending time together, of learning life lessons, and of having fun.

Unfortunately, many parents unintentionally make the sport experience less than fulfilling for their children. These parents may have an inappropriate perspective of what sport is all about, but often it is the well meaning parent that says the wrong thing at the wrong time (and does not learn from it) that gets into trouble. It does not take much for a child to feel pressure to appease his or her parents. And, you can create pressure just by being at a competition, let alone acting negatively.

After the game is a critical time when adolescent athletes are still recovering from the intensity of the game. They may be elated, upset, indifferent, or angry. Their emotions will run the gamut just as yours would. Knowing what to say, and how to say it, will facilitate positive parent-child relations. Therefore, you should think through what you are going to say before approaching your child. Next, are eight tips for communicating in a positive manner following a tough loss or an exciting win.

1.    Be a positive source of support and encouragement.  Save the critical evaluation of player performance for your coaches, they are the experts. Be an unconditional source of support. Criticism will break down parent-child bonds.

2.    Be an attentive listener!  We all love to explain our competitive experiences to others, so allow your child to talk about the game. Listen to understand first, and then reply.

3.    Along those same lines, allow your child to start conversations about their performance. Try not to get into the details of the game as your child is still dealing with the emotions of it. If this is later that night or the next morning that is okay. They may just need time to get over it. If you do feel the need to speak to them about the game then wait a few hours and then ask “Would you like to talk about the game?”

4.    Avoid undermining the coaching staff in post-game conversations, even if you think your coaches are out to lunch. You may not always agree with the coaches, but they are the leaders of the team.  Second-guessing the coaches in front of your child can confuse him or her as to what he or she should do and ultimately may hurt performance. Also, you are undermining team chemistry and negatively affecting each person involved with that team.

5.    Following tough losses or poor performances (or riding the pine) remind your child that their worth as a person is not related to their abilities as an athlete. Helping them recognize that tomorrow is a new day and that with hard work they can overcome what is keeping them from their goals will help your child deal with the frustrations of sport.

6.    Be honest and sincere. Some parents get into trouble by saying “good game” or “you did your best.” If Billy does not think this is true you are going to get a sneer or sarcastic remark back. Be supportive in your comments but do not lie or exaggerate. Children will see through your well-intentioned attempt to support. If you attempt to hide your disapproval for your child’s performance your body language will signal the truth. Remembering that the goal of sport is to have fun and improve should help you in providing positive support and maintaining positive body language.

7.    Stick to your normal routine no matter the outcome of the game. If you go to lunch after a win, do the same after a loss. Otherwise, your child might relate the activities after the game with winning and losing.

8.    Avoid comparing your child to other children even as it relates to training methods or skills. It can create hurt feelings and pressure.

Ultimately, you want to have a plan of attack for post-game. Get your emotions under control and check your body language. Remind yourself of what matters – being a good sport and giving your best effort. And, if you are in a tough situation you can always just give them a hug or a pat on the back and wait until emotions subside.

Best of luck in the emotional world of sport!

‘Positivity Reconsidered’ by Jim Thompson

 

I recently returned from a family canoe trip in one of my favorite places in the world, the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in northern Minnesota. After paddling the length of three lakes and handling the first portage (a trail between lakes over which we carried our canoes and packs), we were away from buildings, motors, cell phones and e-mail for seven glorious days.

 

When I wasn’t paddling, portaging, making fires, listening to loons, and helping my son tie “bear bags” high in trees where bears theoretically couldn’t reach them, I devoured a wonderful biography – Pistol by Mark Kriegel — about Pete Maravich and his dad, Press.

One of the things that jumped out at me was how much negativity there was in college and professional coaching in Pistol Pete’s time. The norm seemed to be to spew nastiness at players and assume that it would make them better against all the evidence.

Perhaps this was so striking to me because there were many opportunities for negativity in our canoe trip. Right out of the gate, Sandra got our entry date into the wilderness wrong so we spent the first night of our trip in the last unbooked hotel room in Ely, Minnesota rather than under the stars.

More seriously, early in the trip I misread the map and we ended up at 6 pm exhausted, circling a lake trying to find a campsite. With darkness coming, I eventually realized we were on the wrong lake, one that did not have a campsite! We were two portages away from the correct lake and not likely to be able to make it before dark.

What was remarkable about these episodes is the total lack of expressed negativity. None of our party of four — which included our son, Gabriel, and his wife, Daniella — expressed any upset-ness at these bone-headed moves. In our daily log of the trip, Gabriel wrote, “Jim (yes, he often calls me Jim) misread a map but created a memory.”

Returning to civilization I was greeted by a spate of incidences of negativity –  a college football player taunting a vanquished opponent, the taunted player (from my alma mater, no less) punching the taunter, the top women’s tennis player in the world threatening bodily violence to a line judge and the top men’s player in the world going negative in defeat, to name just a few of the more prominent examples.

I thought a lot about the loss of composure by these elite athletes and how our “team” of canoeists dealt with setbacks. And it’s not as if our screw-ups didn’t have consequences. When you are bone tired and you don’t know where you are going to sleep for the night in the middle of a wilderness with the darkness about to descend on you, there definitely is the temptation to go negative!

I thought about how poisonous negativity can be to a team or organization, yet how prevalent it is in our world of sports. The very name of our organization and movement – Positive Coaching Alliance — came from my observing the harmful effects of unrestrained negativity by coaches and parents on youth athletes. My experience working with troubled kids in the Behavioral Learning Center (BLC) in St. Paul was formative in my thinking about PCA.

BLC Principal Shirley Pearl and social worker Don Challman drilled into me the power of “relentless positivity” in transforming the behavior of these troubled kids. My exposure to Grace Pilon’s “Workshop Way” (www.workshopway.org) method of welcoming rather than fearing mistakes as a normal and healthy part of the learning process further influenced me.

It seemed to me then that the test of a great leader is the ability, the discipline really, to stay positive in the face of adversity, even boneheaded mistakes by members of one’s team.

Because so often what seems like an awful outcome can turn into something quite positive. I believe that Sandra, Gabriel, Daniella and I will always remember fondly how we dealt with not having a campsite that night at the aptly named “Explorer Lake.” What could have been a real downer turned into something memorable because everyone stayed positive.

By that measure many elite coaches fall down because they are not able to remain positive in the face of adversity. And while it could be argued that this characteristic may not be so important when working with elite athletes (although I deeply question this), youth are an entirely different matter.

Negativity poisons the atmosphere of a youth team, just as it poisons families, organizations, and individual relationships.

 

A coach who can remain positive with players through rain or shine will get more from them. A coach who can have hard conversations with kids while remaining positive and optimistic will be more likely to get them to change their behavior. A coach who establishes a positive team culture (culture being “the way we do things here”) will be remembered by players long after they have moved on to other things.

It takes discipline to remain positive no matter what happens. It’s not easy but it leads to a legacy I think every coach wants to create – to be remembered as someone who made players better. And it begins with a commitment to being positive.

Discussion on Playing Time & Parents from PCA

“I coach an 11-year-old travel team. Before the season, I told parents that players would not necessarily receive equal playing time the way they do in our house league. The parents say OK to my face or in e-mail, but mid-season, some parents are complaining about their children’s playing time.
 
“One parent asked why his son sat out 2 of the 6 innings, while another player didn’t sit out at all, and I explained the only player who did not sit out was the catcher because our other catcher was injured. One player’s parents cause a scene, asking their son from behind the bench, ‘Why are you sitting out again? If you’re sitting out again, we’re going home.’ I don’t have any problems with the kids. How do I deal with the parents?”
 
PCA Response by Joe Scally, Director of Training and Evaluation
 
When setting expectations with the team in your pre-season meeting, it’s important to make sure that your criteria for playing time apply to everyone. It is easy for parents to smile and nod about limited playing time when they believe the rules do not apply to their children. Your written parent pledge (click here for PCA’s sample) could include a section on playing time.
 
Nearing the end of an intense tournament game I was coaching a few years ago, I was talking to a player on the bench when her father approached and said, “If they don’t want to play you we’re going home.”  He walked away, and before I could say anything further, his daughter followed.
 
She was a starter on a lower level team whom we had invited to play with us, but she was used to playing whole games. While she had been on the bench for about 15 minutes at the point when her father came over, she already had played about half of the game…as much time as most of our regular players.  I was about to send her back in and was telling her what to expect in the closing minutes.  She had played well in a game that was exciting and a lot of fun.
 
At the time I was angry with her father for acting inappropriately by coming to the bench to take his daughter away.  He gave her the wrong message by encouraging her to disrespect her coach and teammates.  He embarrassed her and soured a good experience. 
 
Your situation got me reflecting on how I could have better handled mine. Most importantly, in the course of elevating that player to our team, I could have taken more time to tell the dad why I asked his daughter to play and what to expect. I could have told him that this was an opportunity for his daughter to learn by practicing and playing with committed players of equal or greater talent.  That different coaches would give her some valuable new perspectives.  That on our team, everyone played significant minutes, but very few played the whole game.  That many factors determined playing time, including effort, attitude, skill, and the needs of the team, and that those criteria would apply to his daughter.  That we wanted to teach some life lessons along with soccer skills.  We coaches had told the player these things, and she understood, but we assumed incorrectly that her father also understood. 
 
I should also have told him that parents may not approach the bench during games.  That it’s best to discuss matters with the coach at a scheduled time, in private, away from the field. That as a coach, I’m open to discussing any issues, but would prefer that players, not parents, raise issues about playing time, because a player learning how to ask a coach about playing time learns a great life lesson.  That a parent shouldn’t put a child in the middle by openly criticizing the coach’s decisions.  Some parents need to hear these messages over and over.  It’s the coach’s job to educate the parents for the benefit of the players.

Predicting Long-Term Athletic Success

from our friends @ Total Performance Sports & Fitness

 Predicting Long-Term Athletic Success

“Everybody wants to predict future athletic success based on present achievement or physical makeup,” says Robert Singer, Ph.D., chair of the Department of Exercise and Sport Sciences at the University of Florida. “But predicting success is much more difficult than most people think. There are too many variables, even if certain athletes have a combination of genes that favors long-range talent. A person’s genetic makeup can be expressed in many different ways, depending on environmental and situational opportunities. Variables such as motivation, coachability, and opportunity can’t be predicted.”
“If one wants to say that you are much more favored than I am to be a world-class champion due to genetic composition at birth, I can’t argue the point. You can determine that one eight-year-old gymnast is more advanced than another,” continues Singer. “But to project that talent ten years forward and say that the child will be a world-class gymnast is impossible.”

Little or no research correlates gifted status as a child with gifted status as an adult. However, a study in Sweden tracked two groups of elite junior tennis players from the time they were in the 12-14 age group until they were in their 20s. Some because successful adult players; other did not. The successful group had three things in common:
1) They seemed to enjoy playing tennis more than the less successful players.
2) They were less pressured by their parents.
3) They played other sports in addition to tennis.

The message for parents and coaches of developing athletes is to enjoy the moment and help the children prepare for the future, but do not demand or expect equal success at each level during the children’s development. If it happens, consider it a bonus.
Does a child have to be a star at 8 to be a star at 18? No. Does a child have to be involved in competition at 8 to be outstanding at 18? No. Earlier is not better in terms of sport-specific training. Sooner or later, lasting sports talent shows up.

Former UVA Pitcher Michael Schwimer on Life in the Minors

Former UVA Pitcher Michael Schwimer recently wrote this blog entry for a blog entitled Phuture Phillies.  I thought his account of the life of Minor League baseball player would be of interest to you, so I asked Michael for permission to publish his comments on my blog.  He was happy to share it.  I hope you enjoy.

The Daily Life

July 14, 2009 — mschwimer

Before I get started, I would like to thank Phuture Phillies for giving me this opportunity to write this column. I have three reasons for creating this blog. First, I feel like very few people understand the life of a minor league ballplayer, and I wish to shed some light on the excitement and rigors this profession provides. Second, I believe the reason baseball thrives is because of its loyal fan base. I receive many emails, txts, etc from baseball fans. Unfortunately, they’re only so many hours in a day, and I believe this column will allow me to answer even more of your questions. Lastly, when people come up to me and ask me about life as a professional baseball player, in addition to answering their question, I can share with them this link to the column so they can learn even more about this life.

 

I am a very opinionated person and I am excited to share my views. For the inaugural entry, I will describe my average day as a minor league pitcher, and then answer some questions that I have already received. (Note: This section is 847 words so if you want to know exactly what happens every day, this is it)

My day starts by waking up somewhere in between 11am-noon. I take a shower, then eat breakfast while watching Sportscenter. I then proceed to go online where I check 5 sites: espn.com for the Phillies recap, and to see if Bill Simmons has a new article, the stock market to see how much money I have lost so far that day, virginiasports.com to see how my alma mater is doing, milb.com to see how my friends did the night before, and finally, Facebook.

I get to the field at 1:45 every day; people get there any time from 1 to 2:30, and get an arm stretch from our trainer. In addition to this being a requirement at least 3 times a week, it’s a great way to get loose. After that I get dressed in practice gear and get ready for pitchers stretch at 3pm. Every day we go through an active stretch routine that takes 15 minutes before we long toss. We long toss every single day to at least 120 feet, some days more depending upon our individual throwing schedule. Each long toss session concludes with a 10 pitch flat ground with our throwing partner being the catcher. (Note; this is my least favorite part of the day, as I have taken more than one ball off the shins during this time) After the flat ground concludes, we get our conditioning in. The type of running changes every day, as we usually do 4 days of sprint type stuff, 2 days of longer jogs, and one off day. During this time the position players, who stretch at 3:30, are now ready to take infield and outfield practice.

It is now about 4:15 and time to start batting practice aka a pitchers worst nightmare. We stand in the outfield for 45 minutes in the 95 degree humid Floridian sun shagging all the batted balls. Every day we hope it rains during this portion of the day so the hitters take batting practice in the cages and we can relax in air conditioning. At 5 o clock we go in to the club house and have our pregame meal. Our clubbie (club house assistant) prepares meals ranging from sloppy joes and watermelon to chicken, rice, and beans. We relax in the clubhouse by either listening to music, watching tv, reading, studying for the GMAT, (Daniel Brauer) or playing cards. The position players go out, stretch, and get ready for the game at 6:15, while the pitchers have to be out by 6:35. Some pitchers play pepper, but others, like myself, enjoy signing autographs and talking to fans. The game starts at 7. While we keep track of what’s going on in the game, me and my other bullpen mates also talk about baseball and other matters that will not be discussed on this site. (Note: HBO could have a field day on a television series entitled “The Bullpen”) At the end of the 4th inning I go inside and get a 10 minute leg stretch to get ready to pitch the end of the game. Relievers are generally notified that they are in the game the half inning before they are in the game. This gives us 3 outs to get ready, which can take 2-25 minutes depending on the inning. Learning how to get your body in its best position to pitch in warm ups is definitely an acquired skill, and one that I work every day on improving. As the closer I am ready to pitch in every game and genuinely love doing so. The game ends at roughly 10pm. I shower and leave by 10:30, get some dinner by 11, and watch tv till about 12-1. I try to get 10 hours of sleep before the next day’s cycle begins.

For those of you keeping track, we are at the field for 9 hours every day for six straight months. We get a grand total of 12 scheduled off days during that period. After paying taxes and club dues I make $4,350 during that period, or $2.68 per hour. (Note: in another entry I would love to discuss the necessity of a union for minor league players) I go through this because my passion is pitching. I love the feeling of being in control on the mound ready to compete against my peers. My dream is to be able to do this at the major league level so I get to turn my passion into my career and get paid more than $2.86 per hour.

Now for some questions.
1) What are the differences between the New York-Penn league and the FSL, both in terms of competition and atmosphere?
2) What was the transition like going from big-time college ball to being a pro? Is it like a job for you?
Thanks again,
Tom (Boston, MA)

In terms of talent level both leagues are very similar, but in terms of consistency, and ability to capitalize on mistakes the leagues are vastly different. If I made a mistake with a pitch in the NYPL I would pay for it about 20% of the time. In the FSL I would estimate about 40% of the time (By pay for it I mean give up a hard hit) On the contrary, when I am on my game and hitting spots with the correct pitches both leagues are identical in terms of competition. The crowds are very similar as the majority of our games are being played in front of less than 1,000 people. The weather is a big factor in coming to the FSL. Adjusting to the blistering heat and humidity is easier said than done.

ACC college baseball and minor league baseball are so incredibly different, and it goes way beyond the metal vs. wood bats. It is all about mentality. In college everyone is pulling together for the common goal of winning the game. In the minor leagues everyone is more concerned with how they are doing individually then the success of the team. It was plainly stated the first day I showed up to spring training when they told us the number one objective is developing players to be able to play in the major leagues. This idea is completely understandable as baseball is a business with the goal being to get to the big leagues so we can produce revenue for the owners. The irony of this situation is when you make it to the big leagues the mentality is supposed to switch to team oriented goals. To answer your question, “Is it like a job for you” the simple answer is yes, but it’s a job that I love with all my heart and soul. Baseball feels like a job in college, as we were at the field for 7 hours a day plus we had to manage a full class schedule, and fit in a social life. You can say a lot of things about baseball players, but those of us that make it to the next levels have learned to manage our time.

I know you and your teammates # 1 goal is to make it to the big leagues, but what do you do or maybe as a team to deal with distractions . I have been to Clearwater in the summer and I know there are a lot of distractions for a 23 year old male in Clearwater, it has to be hard to eat, breathe and sleep baseball.
-Robert

First of all, you are right. There are a lot of potential distractions in this area, but to be honest with you, we are usually so drained by 11pm that we would rather relax on our couch then go out. When we do go out, we go out together, and there is almost always an off day the next day. The majority of the team has girl friends so the need to pick up women is not as high as you might think.

7/8/09 Game Recap: McIntire 3, Culpeper American 16

9-10 McIntire All Star Family,
 
It has come to an end.  While the game was probably a little closer than the score indicates, fact is that we have now been beaten twice by a better team.  Culpeper, like us, did not have their best arms available for this game, but the arms they threw at us were good enough to limit our hits and they utitlized their solid defensive team effectively to prevent our scoring more when we did get guys on base.  I’ve seen very little of Louisa, the team that awaits Culpeper American in the Championship Game, but from what I’ve heard, they will be 2 fairly evenly matched teams, playing for the District Championship and the right to represent District 14 at the State Tournament. 
 
As for our team in this game, I thought each of Braxton, Ward, Jack and Luke did an admirable job when they took the mound.  We walked a few too many batters, and they did hit us, but we worked around some trouble to prevent the really big inning.  Culpeper uses their depth of hitters well and simply puts pressure on a defense almost every inning.  They hit some balls very hard again, much like they did against us last weekend. 
 
Offensively, we didn’t have a lot of hits, but I seem to recall that Tats had a big double to the outfield fence.  Tats never gets cheated at the plate and that big swing paid off this time.  I know that Cooper had at least 1 more hit.  (I’ve learned that writing these summaries is much easier when I have the scorebook in front of me like I did t/o the regular season).  I seem to recall that the majority of our baserunners came on walks.
 
Defensively, we were better that the other day in our win against Gordonsville.  We had the occasionally misplayed ball, but it seems that rarely did our misplays turn into additional bases for Culpeper.  Braxton made a couple of nice plays fielding his position of Pitcher in the first inning.  Our errors were less physical today and more mental.  Perhaps that was the result of being mentally fatigued!
 
Let’s give Culpeper the credit they deserve though.  Having seen this team twice, I’m impressed by their fundamentals.  They run the bases aggresively and with a purpose.  It seems as if their kids have great insticts, which I would argue is the most important attribute if you want to truly be great on the basepaths.  They hit the ball solidly t/o the whole lineup.  When a team hits the ball consistently like that, it constantly puts pressure on a defensive club.  We have shown moments of being competent defensively, but we are not consistent enough there.  Eventually, that catches up with you.  In our 3 losses plus the first win against Gordonsville, we averaged allowing 14 runs/game.  It’s tough to score that many runs and keep up.  Better defense and a few less free passes via walks would probably have cut that runs/game average in half. 
 
As Coach Miller told our team postgame, our team is a more talented group than many folks were saying prior to the start of this tournament.  Finishing 3rd out of 8 teams is nothing to hang our heads about.  To advance out of this District Tournament in future years, when their are a couple of teams as good as Louisa and Culpeper American, we will need stronger pitching, better defense, more consistency at the plate, and perhaps a little more fire in our bellies.  Our team showed resiliancy in winning the games we did win, but in our 3 losses, we never really mounted much of a surge against our opponent.  Our 10-year olds will improve as they always do and there will be more opportunities in future All Star competitions to impress.  There is some talent there and I thought each of Cooper, Sam, Braxton, Ward, Austin, Joseph and Tats exceeded my expectations for them coming into this competition.  They should be proud of what they accomplished.
 
Our 9-year olds will get another shot at this 9-10 District prize.  As long as I’ve been at McIntire, I don’t remember when we’ve ever had 6 league age 9-year olds playing on the 9-10 team.  For Nic, Reed, Matthew, Juwan, Jack and Luke, playing in this tournament this year will prove to be an invaluable experience.  Hopefully, they will all be back.  5 of the 6 pitched in this tournament, and they will all be stronger next year.  All 6 are good athletes that can play a number of positions.  With another Majors regular season playing a more significant role on their respective teams, they will enter next year’s All Star competition with much more experience, and with much higher expectations.  I imagine they will be strong enough to go as far as their passion for the game, and each other, can take them.  While your position on the team next year is not guaranteed, you will be at a decisive advantage having experienced what you’ve just experienced.  Use it to your advantage; keep working hard; stay friends with one another t/o the year as teams that care about each other indivdually almost always perform better than groups of individuals that are in it for themselves. 
 
I’ll probably have more to say at some point in the future on all this.  For now, it was my pleasure to coach your kids, along with Coaches Miller, Seidel and Vettel, over these last few weeks.  Enjoy the rest of your summer. 
 
Coach Jeff