From Rec to Cal Ripken-need advice

You have to understand that when I make a statement like that I don't necessarily mean its absolute, one way or the other. There is some bonding that occurs in the sense that there are always new players on every team and how those players "fit in" can affect the "chemistry" of the team.

But ask yourself this. Even if the chemistry were rotten, does that mean the team can't play well together? Of course that's not true in every case, but one of the most famous baseball dynasties was the Oakland A's of the Joe Rudi, Reggie Jackson, Ricky Henderson, etc. era, and I went to enough of those game to tell you, those guys were like watching someone walking through an oil field with a cutting torch!

One of the main jobs of the head coach or manager is to figure out how to make the players out on the field perform together not to teach the guys to play! I know you're talking about a different level of ball where the coach is much more of a teacher than in the ML, but he still has to figure out what moves to make to get the maximum performance out of the players.

I'm more than willing to entertain any ideas on this subject, but before you rely too much on the bonding thing, remember what age group you're talking about. Kids are like sponges, and the younger they are, the more fun their having and the more recognition they're getting, the harder they'll work and the faster they'll absorb new information.

So, if someone take a group of 9 YOs who aren't very good and can motivate them to start learning, of course by the end off the season they will be much improved! Their skills will have increased more than probably any other time in their baseball lives.

I'm afraid I respectfully disagree with your assessment of the teams that make it to Williamsport having been together for years. those are All Star teams made up of players from different teams in a league. A core group of them may play together for a few weeks each year, but for the most part, players are moving on and off the AS teams at a pretty rapid rate. Add to that the fact that the players are all 11 and 12 and half of them are being replaced every year and your argument just doesn't hold water.

There are very few select or traveling teams that I've ever heard of or seen that have an age spread of more than 2 years until you start dealing with 16, 17 and 18U's. Yeah, every once in awhile a freak will show up and be 12 on a14U team or 13 on a 16U team, but that's an extremely rare event.

Now I will agree that those players have probably been in the same programs and leagues for years and that's different. Now we're talking about a philosophy that has been proven a winner over a very long time. We have one of those leagues in our LL district. A few years ago they went to Williamsport, and every year that league is always the favorite to take the district which they regularly do.

But they have a strange league. Out of the 8 teams, 5 have been coached by the same coaches for almost 15 years! Not one of those guys has had a kid on a LL team for many years and they are there for no other reason than to teach the kids to play baseball, which they do exceedingly well!

Those coaches start looking at the players when they go into the Minors and watch them like hawks! The better minor players are invited to non-league "voluntary" practices where they get to play with the older kids all during the season too.

"By the way , what is a good position for a kid to play if he's only there because he has to be, has no skills , no work ethic, never comes to practice, but you must play him, Rec rules. Even if it's minimum time, where is he best suited for?"

Here's another one I'll probably get flack on, but here goes. If those are really the conditions he's in the league under, you can bet his parents are at fault! That's generally the case of using the local LL as a baby sitting service for parents who either don't have the time or inclination to work with their children, or a case of a parent living vicariously through that child.

But does that really matter? If a coach really wants to take on the role of the kids parents, there are things that can be done. It doesn't always work, but sometimes something as simple as allowing the kid to play any position he wants will help his attitude tremendously. If he's as rancid a player as you make out, what's the difference where you put him? He's gonna be a liability anywhere, so you may as well let him have as good a time as possible while he's doing it.

Maybe you have to spend twice as much time helping that kid as all of the others, so what? If he enjoys it enough, you may see him showing up more and trying harder, and isn't that what you're really after? If you're in LL Inc, go to the rulebook and look at the purpose. You won't see winning mentioned one time, bu you will see that it is supposed to be a service to youth. So serve them! If their parents won't you do it.

That's what you sign up for when you take on the role of a coach! Your goal as a youth coach isn't to win baseball games, but to make the players in your charge better. Not just better baseball players, but better human beings! If a kid has no work ethic, why not do everything you can to give him one? Remember, out of every 10,000 players you coach, only one is going to go on to be a professional ball player, but they'll all be citizens in our country.

Whhhoooooeeeeyyyyyy! Did anyone else see the fire works going off and the American Flag waving while they were reading that? Wowsers! Talk about a soapbox!