Youth Sports: You’ve Lost Your Minds

Rant time: Here it is 1:30AM and I’m reading once again about a complex in Georgia with “state of the art” fields that include some things even more than what is available at the Major League Baseball level! To go along with it are some complaints from parents about what they consider to be “nickel and dime” efforts but one of the organizations and some of these parents claim it is simply a matter of business.

Youth Sports Injuries Radio Show

Join me this afternoon on the HSBBWeb Radio Show. We’ll be talking baseball injuries, rehabilitation, and strength and conditioning. You can also expect some other related topics to be brought up as well.

You can listen in here. We’ll start around 3PM Central time..

Quote of the Week: Play Catch?

Ray Kinsella: Hey… Dad? [John turns]

Ray Kinsella: [choked up] “You wanna have a catch?”

 

Quote of the Week: Fever Pitch

“That’s right. I mean – why? Because they haven’t won a World Series in a century or so? So what? They’re here. Every April, they’re here. At 1:05 or at 7:05, there is a game. And if it gets rained out, guess what? They make it up to you. Does anyone else in your life do that? The Red Sox don’t get divorced. This is a real family. This is the family that’s here for you. ” —Fever Pitch

Mike Matheny Letter to Parents

Mike Matheny is the new manager for the St. Louis Cardinals. Matheny played for the Cardinals as well as other teams in his playing career. I have always been a big fan of his in his Cardinal playing days and he is off to a fantastic start as the Cardinals manager. Previous to him becoming the manager of the St. Louis Cardinals, Matheny coached his son’s youth team. This is a letter he wrote to the parents of the players on the team before one season…

I always said that the only team that I would coach would be a team of orphans, and now here we are. The reason for me saying this is that I have found the biggest problem with youth sports has been the parents. I think that it is best to nip this in the bud right off the bat. I think the concept that I am asking all of you to grab is that this experience is ALL about the boys. If there is anything about it that includes you, we need to make a change of plans. My main goals are as follows:

Quote of the Week: Baseball Success

Baseball is the only field of endeavor where a man can succeed three times out of ten and be considered a good performer.  ~Ted Williams

Quote of the Week: Rogers Hornsby

People ask me what I do in winter when there’s no baseball.  I’ll tell you what I do.  I stare out the window and wait for spring.  ~Rogers Hornsby

 

Well, Rogers, you don’t have to stare out the window anymore. Baseball is back as spring begins to arrive in the South. Spring Training is here and it’s time for the greatest game on earth to return.

REPOST: Pitch Counts in High School Baseball

Spring Training is about to begin. Pitchers and catchers are beginning to report to the spring training locations and baseball will be back here very soon! In honor of that, I am reposting this article that I wrote in college as a part of a research project….

Eric Cressey: 7 Reasons Baseball Pitchers Shouldn’t Do Year-Round Throwing Programs

Last week Eric Cressey posted two great posts about baseball pitchers. If you are unaware, Cressey is one of the premier strength and conditioning specialists specific to the game of baseball. He has been featured in Men’s Health, Yahoo! Sports, ESPN, and other national media. He runs Cressey Performance which emphasizes on athletes’ performance.

Quote of the Week: Baseball Playoffs

“Every day is a new opportunity. You can build on yesterday’s success or put its failures behind and start over again. That’s the way life is, with a new game  every day, and that’s the way baseball is.”

—Bob Feller