We had two games on Sunday, with the luxury of knowing that regardless the outcome of the early game we were in the championship final. This was a great opportunity to give players a look at different positions and rest some arms. Rabbit, however, stayed at first. It is quite comforting to see him there.
The game started at 7:45 am, and it was 36 degrees when we pulled into the parking lot at 6:50 am. This needs to stop! We were visitors and batted first. Rabbit drew a walk on 7 pitches and was sent to second by the coach who was trying to catch the defense napping. No such luck, he was out at second. Blue Wave scored three in their half of the first and then got the opponents 1-2-3 in the bottom half. Rabbit played much better defense and recorded 2 of the three outs. His next at bat was a 4 pitch walk where he came around to score. Third trip was an 0-2 single into LF and another steal. His approach at the plate is amazing. Even down 0-2 he is still dangerous. In the bottom of the third (we were ahead 11-2 by then) Rabbit made 2 great defensive plays, including a pop up over his shoulder. After the previous days shaky defense it was great to see him play so well. His final at bat he was robbed of extra bases, and possibly a home run, by a great leaping grab. Even though it was an out it was hit where he wanted it to go, and hard. The team coasted to an easy 14-5 victory.
We headed home as the final game was not until 3:45. We got a quick rest in, some lunch, and then headed back to Chino. After watching the warm ups and first inning I told my wife I expected us to lose 12-4. Sadly, I was eerily prescient.
Things started off with us going 1-2-3 in the top of the first. 2 of those outs were on stunning defensive grabs. We were inches away from having a great inning. We only allowed one in the bottom of the first. Rabbit, still at first and still batting clean-up, got an infield single to start the second. He came around to score after a few steals. We were tied at 1 after 1.5 innings. Then the wheels started to fall off. You could see it coming. Some poor decision making about when and where to throw the ball, coupled with a few misplayed balls let 5 runs in. Even when we scraped 3 of our own together in the top of the third they responded with 2 in their half. By now Rabbit was brought in to finish the game and lost his composure. It was cold again, the sun had gone down, and was maybe 45 degrees on the field. Rather than checking with the umpires or coaches he decided on his own that he could not blow on his hands to keep warm. This dramatically reduced his ability to grip the ball. He opened the 4th inning with 6 straight balls, and I could see his shoulders slump. It took about 4 batters to find his groove. Once he did, he got 3 of 4, but by then 4 more runs had crossed. At the plate he finished with a strikeout and a walk and the final was Blue Wave on the short end of a 12-5 score.
As disappointing as the loss was, it was very heartening to see this team win three games in a weekend for the second tournament in a row. It also marked their fourth finals appearance since June. There is still a ways to go, but the team is getting better by leaps and bounds.
4 2 2 0 2 1
Monday, December 15, 2008
Saturday, December 13, 2008
Being a good teammate ... and playing for a good team.
We were back at Big League Dreams again after several months. And we were there early. Call time was 7:15 on a gray, misty morning. It was cold to be certain. The game was at 8am and Rabbit got the ball as starter. Having him start always makes me nervous, but it is particularly terrifying for games starting before 10am.
In his two innings of work (standard fare for the first day of a tourney) he allowed 5 hits, one walk (did not come around to score), two strikeouts (including a devastating change-up) and one earned run. And also six unearned. It was frustrating. We could see the team struggling to not fall into bad habits of giving up on games. We were down 4-0, 4-3, 7-3 and 8-4 in this game. Back in July we would have started packing up because the mercy rule would have been inevitable. But a funny thing happened on the way to the loss. Rabbit, after a mediocre turn on the hill and another error at pitcher walked his first two trips and singled sharply in his third at bat. For this tourney he was hitting clean-up, a tip of the cap to his vastly improved hitting of late. He also scored twice, including the bottom of the last inning winning run! Blue Wave scored the last 5 runs of the game to prevail 9-8. While it was not a thing of beauty, it was a win we most likely would not have achieved earlier in the year. The team was starting to believe that they can win games. It is fun to watch.
After a quick lunch we played again at noon. For game 2 Rabbit was back at first and still hitting fourth. His first AB was an 8 pitch pop out to second. A very nice AB and while not the perfect result, a good effort. In the bottom of the second (we were visitors, so hitting first) with 2 outs Rabbit brutally misplayed a routine ground ball into a two run error. It was ugly. He took the next two batters off before finally getting back into the game. It was frustrating to watch, but also it was only 2-1. We were still in it.
His next at bat was a four pitch strike out with two good swings and one horrible one. He was still angry. He will learn to shorten his memory. It is ok to be aggressive, but don't swing angry! He played better at first after the error and came up again against the ace pitcher in the 4th. After opening 2-0 Rabbit took a cut that scared me. It was the most violent swing I can recall from him in quite a while. Even though he missed the ball he knew that if he hit the ball, it was going to go far. At 3-1 the pitcher made a mistake. Rabbit laced a ball just fair down the LF line. All of his extra running paid off as he was halfway between 2nd and 3rd before the LF even caught up to the ball at the fence 338 feet away. He came in, standing up, with his second Blue Wave Home Run. We were sitting on the 1B side and could see his smile as he rounded 3rd and came across. A great moment.
Later on defense he turned another 6-3-2 double play, throwing a perfect strike to the catcher who blocked the plate like a pro. The boys had come from behind, again, and won 7-6. This team has now won 5 of their last 6 and is starting to believe. All the boys were hitting. To be sure, there were many errors and miscues, but none of the hopelessness, or haplessness, from previous tournaments. The team walks differently now. Not a swagger but a contagious confidence that they can play with, and beat, any team they face. It will not always be this good, but for now it is going well.
Oh, and one last thing. In the third inning of the first game I heard the coach call him "Rabbit." He has earned it.
4 3 2 1 2 1
In his two innings of work (standard fare for the first day of a tourney) he allowed 5 hits, one walk (did not come around to score), two strikeouts (including a devastating change-up) and one earned run. And also six unearned. It was frustrating. We could see the team struggling to not fall into bad habits of giving up on games. We were down 4-0, 4-3, 7-3 and 8-4 in this game. Back in July we would have started packing up because the mercy rule would have been inevitable. But a funny thing happened on the way to the loss. Rabbit, after a mediocre turn on the hill and another error at pitcher walked his first two trips and singled sharply in his third at bat. For this tourney he was hitting clean-up, a tip of the cap to his vastly improved hitting of late. He also scored twice, including the bottom of the last inning winning run! Blue Wave scored the last 5 runs of the game to prevail 9-8. While it was not a thing of beauty, it was a win we most likely would not have achieved earlier in the year. The team was starting to believe that they can win games. It is fun to watch.
After a quick lunch we played again at noon. For game 2 Rabbit was back at first and still hitting fourth. His first AB was an 8 pitch pop out to second. A very nice AB and while not the perfect result, a good effort. In the bottom of the second (we were visitors, so hitting first) with 2 outs Rabbit brutally misplayed a routine ground ball into a two run error. It was ugly. He took the next two batters off before finally getting back into the game. It was frustrating to watch, but also it was only 2-1. We were still in it.
His next at bat was a four pitch strike out with two good swings and one horrible one. He was still angry. He will learn to shorten his memory. It is ok to be aggressive, but don't swing angry! He played better at first after the error and came up again against the ace pitcher in the 4th. After opening 2-0 Rabbit took a cut that scared me. It was the most violent swing I can recall from him in quite a while. Even though he missed the ball he knew that if he hit the ball, it was going to go far. At 3-1 the pitcher made a mistake. Rabbit laced a ball just fair down the LF line. All of his extra running paid off as he was halfway between 2nd and 3rd before the LF even caught up to the ball at the fence 338 feet away. He came in, standing up, with his second Blue Wave Home Run. We were sitting on the 1B side and could see his smile as he rounded 3rd and came across. A great moment.
Later on defense he turned another 6-3-2 double play, throwing a perfect strike to the catcher who blocked the plate like a pro. The boys had come from behind, again, and won 7-6. This team has now won 5 of their last 6 and is starting to believe. All the boys were hitting. To be sure, there were many errors and miscues, but none of the hopelessness, or haplessness, from previous tournaments. The team walks differently now. Not a swagger but a contagious confidence that they can play with, and beat, any team they face. It will not always be this good, but for now it is going well.
Oh, and one last thing. In the third inning of the first game I heard the coach call him "Rabbit." He has earned it.
4 3 2 1 2 1
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Time to take a deep breath
The schedules have opened up just in time for the holidays. Rabbit looks to have one last tournament this year. It is nice to have the break, especially with the chaos of impending holidays.
On the baseball side of things Rabbit is excelling beyond our dreams. He is hitting well (8 for his last 16 with several extra base knocks), pitching nicely and fielding very well. By far the biggest change comes from his confidence. He plays from pitch to pitch, with a short memory. It is OK to strike out, just get a triple next time up. It is OK to allow back to back line drive doubles so long as you find a way to get out of the inning. He has learned that there are many ways to be a good teammate. You do not have to do everything perfect. He can be as valuable with his glove as he is with his bat some days. This is baseball on a whole different level than I expected from 9 and 10 year olds.
On the personal side I cannot believe the change in my son. He has seen the highest highs and lowest lows. He has won and lost and been responsible for both. And more than anything, he wants to play more. It is still fun, and that is most important to me. When he plays after school with his friends it is always baseball. On XBox it is always baseball. He takes the game seriously, and treats it with respect. This will be, I hope, a passion for him for years to come. We are already planning our summer trips to watch more ball being played. This is amazing.
Times are tough for families now, and the costs associated with this activity can be staggering. I figure, by rough estimate, we have spent almost $4,000 this year between equipment, fees, instruction, tournaments and travel. That is not insignificant. Luckily some of that is "up front" costs that we will not need to pay annually. And we are making sacrifices, all of us, to keep doing the things we love. We are so fortunate with the team he is on and the coaches he is working with. This group of boys is amazing to watch. I look forward to seeing what happens in 2009. If I had to guess, we will win some, and lose some.
On the baseball side of things Rabbit is excelling beyond our dreams. He is hitting well (8 for his last 16 with several extra base knocks), pitching nicely and fielding very well. By far the biggest change comes from his confidence. He plays from pitch to pitch, with a short memory. It is OK to strike out, just get a triple next time up. It is OK to allow back to back line drive doubles so long as you find a way to get out of the inning. He has learned that there are many ways to be a good teammate. You do not have to do everything perfect. He can be as valuable with his glove as he is with his bat some days. This is baseball on a whole different level than I expected from 9 and 10 year olds.
On the personal side I cannot believe the change in my son. He has seen the highest highs and lowest lows. He has won and lost and been responsible for both. And more than anything, he wants to play more. It is still fun, and that is most important to me. When he plays after school with his friends it is always baseball. On XBox it is always baseball. He takes the game seriously, and treats it with respect. This will be, I hope, a passion for him for years to come. We are already planning our summer trips to watch more ball being played. This is amazing.
Times are tough for families now, and the costs associated with this activity can be staggering. I figure, by rough estimate, we have spent almost $4,000 this year between equipment, fees, instruction, tournaments and travel. That is not insignificant. Luckily some of that is "up front" costs that we will not need to pay annually. And we are making sacrifices, all of us, to keep doing the things we love. We are so fortunate with the team he is on and the coaches he is working with. This group of boys is amazing to watch. I look forward to seeing what happens in 2009. If I had to guess, we will win some, and lose some.
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Mercy, Mercy.
As mentioned previously, Rabbit was starting our semi-final game. With all 6 innings available he was scheduled to go as far as needed. He chose the economic route.
The very first batter (we were home, so in the field first) grounded back to the pitcher. He totally vapor locked and neither tagged the runner nor threw the ball to first. One pitch, runner on first, E1. No worries. He picked the kid off on his first throw over. I believe the word I am looking for is bamboozled. Next batter again taps to pitcher. Again Rabbit cannot find the handle. Two pitches, runner on first. And again, he picks the kid off. The coach was stunned. The poor runner had no idea what just happened. Next batter singles sharply. He never took a lead of more than 1 step. Every pitch Rabbit made to the plate the coach was screaming "back" to his runner. It was amusing. It was also the last runner the opposition got all day. A 3 pitch strike out ended the inning. 9 pitches, 3 outs.
In his first at bat Rabbit struck out looking at a pitch most of us felt was up and out. Oh well. In the second inning they went 1-2-3 in only 11 pitches. We broke the game open in our half of the inning scoring 9 times, including an RBI infield single by Rabbit. 10-0 after 2. Another 1-2-3 inning in the third (only 6 pitches this time) and two more scored by us in the bottom of the third led to a 12-0 mercy win. The boys carried the momentum from yesterday through to today. They were a force. Rabbit pitched a one-hit shutout over 3 innings on 26 pitches. That was the effort he had needed for a while now. He retired 9 of 10, including the final 7 in a row. What a tremendous boost.
Then they went to lunch.
In the championship game we played 2 1/2 innings of solid, decent ball. Then the wheels fell off. After making 4 errors in the first 3 games of the tourney (including Rabbit's back-to-back errors to open game 3) we had 7 errors in the third inning alone. Rabbit was responsible for 3 more today, including 2 on the same play. The boys were tired and behind, and just gave up. After such a dominant performance it was a let down, but fairly understandable. After his double error inning Rabbit was due up third. The first two kids were retired quietly and Rabbit watched ball 1 go by. He said he heard a voice from the other teams stands say to just throw strikes, that he would not swing. Bad advice. Once again, he destroyed a ball. I got a good look at the CF number as he walloped a triple on the way to scoring for the second time that game. Alas, the damage was done. And even when he came in for mop up he was throwing strikes, but the defense which had been so sharp was unable to cleanly field balls. A 16-6 final put them out of their misery.
It was a down ending to an amazing set of games. For the first time ever this team won 3 games in a weekend. Also this was the first tourney that I can recall winning by a mercy margin twice, much less three times. I am excited to see their confidence grow and watch them build from here. It was a great weekend for 3 1/2 games. We will gladly focus on that!
3 2 2 1 1 1
The very first batter (we were home, so in the field first) grounded back to the pitcher. He totally vapor locked and neither tagged the runner nor threw the ball to first. One pitch, runner on first, E1. No worries. He picked the kid off on his first throw over. I believe the word I am looking for is bamboozled. Next batter again taps to pitcher. Again Rabbit cannot find the handle. Two pitches, runner on first. And again, he picks the kid off. The coach was stunned. The poor runner had no idea what just happened. Next batter singles sharply. He never took a lead of more than 1 step. Every pitch Rabbit made to the plate the coach was screaming "back" to his runner. It was amusing. It was also the last runner the opposition got all day. A 3 pitch strike out ended the inning. 9 pitches, 3 outs.
In his first at bat Rabbit struck out looking at a pitch most of us felt was up and out. Oh well. In the second inning they went 1-2-3 in only 11 pitches. We broke the game open in our half of the inning scoring 9 times, including an RBI infield single by Rabbit. 10-0 after 2. Another 1-2-3 inning in the third (only 6 pitches this time) and two more scored by us in the bottom of the third led to a 12-0 mercy win. The boys carried the momentum from yesterday through to today. They were a force. Rabbit pitched a one-hit shutout over 3 innings on 26 pitches. That was the effort he had needed for a while now. He retired 9 of 10, including the final 7 in a row. What a tremendous boost.
Then they went to lunch.
In the championship game we played 2 1/2 innings of solid, decent ball. Then the wheels fell off. After making 4 errors in the first 3 games of the tourney (including Rabbit's back-to-back errors to open game 3) we had 7 errors in the third inning alone. Rabbit was responsible for 3 more today, including 2 on the same play. The boys were tired and behind, and just gave up. After such a dominant performance it was a let down, but fairly understandable. After his double error inning Rabbit was due up third. The first two kids were retired quietly and Rabbit watched ball 1 go by. He said he heard a voice from the other teams stands say to just throw strikes, that he would not swing. Bad advice. Once again, he destroyed a ball. I got a good look at the CF number as he walloped a triple on the way to scoring for the second time that game. Alas, the damage was done. And even when he came in for mop up he was throwing strikes, but the defense which had been so sharp was unable to cleanly field balls. A 16-6 final put them out of their misery.
It was a down ending to an amazing set of games. For the first time ever this team won 3 games in a weekend. Also this was the first tourney that I can recall winning by a mercy margin twice, much less three times. I am excited to see their confidence grow and watch them build from here. It was a great weekend for 3 1/2 games. We will gladly focus on that!
3 2 2 1 1 1
Saturday, November 22, 2008
And for at least one day, they played baseball
An odd title, but by far the most accurate phrase to describe what I saw today.
This morning we returned to the area of our first tournament, Moreno Valley. It was at that tournament that we made it into the finals and Anthony helped to showcase his love of playing 1B. Through some fluke of scheduling our first game was not until 3PM! This was amazing, we could sleep in, have a nice morning then go to a tourney. No more 6AM for me. No sir!
When we arrived at the complex we were able to watch one of our future opponents win a game. They looked good, but we have played better historically. I checked at the host table and saw that the team we would be playing first had been the victim of a "Mercy" rule in their first game. You can never judge a team by their first result, so we were cautious in our hopes. When the other team scored first we were concerned, but it was only one run. We then ran off 13 unanswered runs before finishing the game as 14-2 victors ourselves. Rabbit struck out first, then walked, both on full counts. He is firmly cemented at 1B now, and played every out there today. He also stole a few and came around to score. The usual.
Game 2 was to determine if we were either the 1, 2 or 3 seed. This was very important. The one seed would play at 1PM, and if victorious, then again at 3PM. The 2 seed would play at 11AM, and if victorious, again in the championship at 3PM. The third seed would play at 9AM (ensuring a 7AM departure, blech) then if a winner there, 1PM, and if successful 3PM. A lot was on the line, not the least of which was my ability to sleep in a tad.
Rabbit again was at first and batting 5th. The first three innings were amazing. Both teams were making plays, throwing strikes and very focused on the game. We were luckily able to string together some runs and start to build a lead. It was a while before we noticed that we were still shutting them out in the 4th inning. By then Rabbit was 2-2 with 2 runs and some amazing plays at first. The usual stretches, getting to balls that he should not have been able to get to and acting as a captain in the infield. The communication was excellent and everyone was sharp. The result was a decisive 9-1 win and securing of the 2 seed.
Back to the title for a second. These kids are 10. For 7 innings today (the length of both games figuring the mercy shortages) they played like pros. They all focused and executed with amazing precision and dedication. 2 errors in 7 innings. 4 walks allowed. Getting lead runners. Make good throws to the correct base. They were a joy to watch. They played way above their level. Their maturity and dedication was amazing. I have paid money before to see much worse baseball than I saw today. Hopefully they remember this and play as well tomorrow!
Speaking of tomorrow, Rabbit gets the ball for the semi-final. All he needs is outs. He is ready, and due, for a great outing. Hopefully the team can continue on this path. It is fun to see what is happening to this group right now. However, as we know too well, one bad day erases months of progress. We will keep our fingers crossed.
3 3 2 0 1 1
This morning we returned to the area of our first tournament, Moreno Valley. It was at that tournament that we made it into the finals and Anthony helped to showcase his love of playing 1B. Through some fluke of scheduling our first game was not until 3PM! This was amazing, we could sleep in, have a nice morning then go to a tourney. No more 6AM for me. No sir!
When we arrived at the complex we were able to watch one of our future opponents win a game. They looked good, but we have played better historically. I checked at the host table and saw that the team we would be playing first had been the victim of a "Mercy" rule in their first game. You can never judge a team by their first result, so we were cautious in our hopes. When the other team scored first we were concerned, but it was only one run. We then ran off 13 unanswered runs before finishing the game as 14-2 victors ourselves. Rabbit struck out first, then walked, both on full counts. He is firmly cemented at 1B now, and played every out there today. He also stole a few and came around to score. The usual.
Game 2 was to determine if we were either the 1, 2 or 3 seed. This was very important. The one seed would play at 1PM, and if victorious, then again at 3PM. The 2 seed would play at 11AM, and if victorious, again in the championship at 3PM. The third seed would play at 9AM (ensuring a 7AM departure, blech) then if a winner there, 1PM, and if successful 3PM. A lot was on the line, not the least of which was my ability to sleep in a tad.
Rabbit again was at first and batting 5th. The first three innings were amazing. Both teams were making plays, throwing strikes and very focused on the game. We were luckily able to string together some runs and start to build a lead. It was a while before we noticed that we were still shutting them out in the 4th inning. By then Rabbit was 2-2 with 2 runs and some amazing plays at first. The usual stretches, getting to balls that he should not have been able to get to and acting as a captain in the infield. The communication was excellent and everyone was sharp. The result was a decisive 9-1 win and securing of the 2 seed.
Back to the title for a second. These kids are 10. For 7 innings today (the length of both games figuring the mercy shortages) they played like pros. They all focused and executed with amazing precision and dedication. 2 errors in 7 innings. 4 walks allowed. Getting lead runners. Make good throws to the correct base. They were a joy to watch. They played way above their level. Their maturity and dedication was amazing. I have paid money before to see much worse baseball than I saw today. Hopefully they remember this and play as well tomorrow!
Speaking of tomorrow, Rabbit gets the ball for the semi-final. All he needs is outs. He is ready, and due, for a great outing. Hopefully the team can continue on this path. It is fun to see what is happening to this group right now. However, as we know too well, one bad day erases months of progress. We will keep our fingers crossed.
3 3 2 0 1 1
Sunday, November 2, 2008
A single game on Sunday
The earlier reports of our demise have been greatly exaggerated.
A one game friendly matchup with the Lake Forest Dodgers had us heading South at 7:30 am the day after a Halloween party. Again, never let it be said that I do not love my son. Even with "Fall Back" it was plenty early.
Rabbit started at first and was hitting third. We were visitors so he got up early, with a runner on third and one out. Second pitch he hit a perfect ground ball to the 1B for the easy sacrifice RBI. He looked comfortable at the plate, much better than last few times up. In the field he made his usual strong showing, another error-free game. Most importantly the communication between the fielders was excellent. At one point they actually turned a great play when Rabbit fielded the ball and the 2B had come over to cover. Very slick for a group of 10 year olds.
Second AB and Rabbit was down 1-2. The second strike was a swing so horrible he stepped out of the box and shook his head. He was not watching the ball, not rocking his weight, and not ready to hit. Whatever he shook loose on that swing paid off. The next pitch he drilled. Hard. Like adios senor pelota. The best sight a hitter can see is the center fielder's number. And it was getting smaller. 2 run home run, his first HR with Blue Wave. A great feeling and well deserved high 5s from his teammates. In his third at bat he walked on 5 pitches. At 3-0 the pitcher made a mistake that Rabbit fouled off into the parking lot. The next pitch missed the plate by more than a foot.
After that walk he stole second and came around on a triple to score his second run to go with three batted in. A great confidence boost after a rough outing last time. The team struggled though and made it close before winning 10-9. It was a good win and a great effort.
On the way home we talked about how it was nice for Rabbit to be the one to pick up his friends and help them out. Lately he has felt like he had not been helping the team as much as he would have liked to. It was finally his turn to help out with the bat.
Speaking of bats, got him a wood 30" bat for the cages. It is much heavier than his travel team bat. He swears he is ready to become a cage rat and swing until he breaks it. At $12 a pop, I am OK with that. Next step is finding a bat for Little League next year, and then see about a new OF glove.
2 2 1 3 0 1
A one game friendly matchup with the Lake Forest Dodgers had us heading South at 7:30 am the day after a Halloween party. Again, never let it be said that I do not love my son. Even with "Fall Back" it was plenty early.
Rabbit started at first and was hitting third. We were visitors so he got up early, with a runner on third and one out. Second pitch he hit a perfect ground ball to the 1B for the easy sacrifice RBI. He looked comfortable at the plate, much better than last few times up. In the field he made his usual strong showing, another error-free game. Most importantly the communication between the fielders was excellent. At one point they actually turned a great play when Rabbit fielded the ball and the 2B had come over to cover. Very slick for a group of 10 year olds.
Second AB and Rabbit was down 1-2. The second strike was a swing so horrible he stepped out of the box and shook his head. He was not watching the ball, not rocking his weight, and not ready to hit. Whatever he shook loose on that swing paid off. The next pitch he drilled. Hard. Like adios senor pelota. The best sight a hitter can see is the center fielder's number. And it was getting smaller. 2 run home run, his first HR with Blue Wave. A great feeling and well deserved high 5s from his teammates. In his third at bat he walked on 5 pitches. At 3-0 the pitcher made a mistake that Rabbit fouled off into the parking lot. The next pitch missed the plate by more than a foot.
After that walk he stole second and came around on a triple to score his second run to go with three batted in. A great confidence boost after a rough outing last time. The team struggled though and made it close before winning 10-9. It was a good win and a great effort.
On the way home we talked about how it was nice for Rabbit to be the one to pick up his friends and help them out. Lately he has felt like he had not been helping the team as much as he would have liked to. It was finally his turn to help out with the bat.
Speaking of bats, got him a wood 30" bat for the cages. It is much heavier than his travel team bat. He swears he is ready to become a cage rat and swing until he breaks it. At $12 a pop, I am OK with that. Next step is finding a bat for Little League next year, and then see about a new OF glove.
2 2 1 3 0 1
Monday, October 27, 2008
Have we hit a wall?
We are now approaching 10 consecutive months of weekly baseball. For anyone, much less a 10 year old, this is daunting. Rabbit is unique in his ability to focus and commit to a task. That said, he is still 10 and every once in a while acts his age.
This weekend we had a double header on Sunday. Saturday was a day of sloth around the house and then a great time with friends at the Chivas USA game. We got home after 10PM and went straight to bed. Woke up by 8 to be ready to go at 9. The Rabbit was tired. Seriously tired. He was coming off a mild cold and some major school work, so it was not entirely unexpected. I just had a feeling as we left that it was going to be a long day.
Game 1 was OK. He went 0-2 with 2 strikeouts without ever so much as making contact. He played his usual sparkling defense at first, but twice there was a major lack of communication that left a circle of three players staring at the ball with no one covering the bag to get an easy out. We had a quick break for lunch and I gave serious consideration to heading home and getting him a nap. But, since he was scheduled to pitch game 2 it was not really an option.
Game 2 he came in to relieve in the 4th inning with a 3 run lead. 2 errors behind him led to 2 unearned runs. He walked on 4 pitches his first AB, then 6 pitches his second AB. On the plus side, he did foul a ball off, his only contact of the day. In the 5th he stopped using his legs when he pitched. Because of this he was almost always behind in the count, leaving the ball up, and struggling with control. It is certainly degrees, and his "bad day" yesterday was eons better than a "bad day" 5 months ago, but he was struggling. More errors, wild pitches and a full count walk (a mortal sin if ever there was one) and he finished the fifth down 4 runs. He got the third out on a great pickoff move. He has been working hard on that and it was fun to see it pay off.
On the plus side, when he remembered to use his legs, bend his back, and throw like he meant it he could find strikes. It does seem silly to talk about the mental approach to the game with a 10 year old who watches Sponge Bob as much as he watches MLB. However, he seems to get it. I am wondering if he would do better with less baseball for a few weeks. But he wants to play every day. He wants to go to the park and work on flies, pickoffs and pitching. Maybe he needs a hobby to keep him away from his hobby. And maybe, no, this is a certainty, I am over thinking it. He is a kid, having fun. Isn't that enough?
2 0 0 0 2 2
This weekend we had a double header on Sunday. Saturday was a day of sloth around the house and then a great time with friends at the Chivas USA game. We got home after 10PM and went straight to bed. Woke up by 8 to be ready to go at 9. The Rabbit was tired. Seriously tired. He was coming off a mild cold and some major school work, so it was not entirely unexpected. I just had a feeling as we left that it was going to be a long day.
Game 1 was OK. He went 0-2 with 2 strikeouts without ever so much as making contact. He played his usual sparkling defense at first, but twice there was a major lack of communication that left a circle of three players staring at the ball with no one covering the bag to get an easy out. We had a quick break for lunch and I gave serious consideration to heading home and getting him a nap. But, since he was scheduled to pitch game 2 it was not really an option.
Game 2 he came in to relieve in the 4th inning with a 3 run lead. 2 errors behind him led to 2 unearned runs. He walked on 4 pitches his first AB, then 6 pitches his second AB. On the plus side, he did foul a ball off, his only contact of the day. In the 5th he stopped using his legs when he pitched. Because of this he was almost always behind in the count, leaving the ball up, and struggling with control. It is certainly degrees, and his "bad day" yesterday was eons better than a "bad day" 5 months ago, but he was struggling. More errors, wild pitches and a full count walk (a mortal sin if ever there was one) and he finished the fifth down 4 runs. He got the third out on a great pickoff move. He has been working hard on that and it was fun to see it pay off.
On the plus side, when he remembered to use his legs, bend his back, and throw like he meant it he could find strikes. It does seem silly to talk about the mental approach to the game with a 10 year old who watches Sponge Bob as much as he watches MLB. However, he seems to get it. I am wondering if he would do better with less baseball for a few weeks. But he wants to play every day. He wants to go to the park and work on flies, pickoffs and pitching. Maybe he needs a hobby to keep him away from his hobby. And maybe, no, this is a certainty, I am over thinking it. He is a kid, having fun. Isn't that enough?
2 0 0 0 2 2
Thursday, October 23, 2008
A little bit of quiet time.
We actually had a weekend off! It was amazing. Very strange.
This week had hitting on Monday, scheduled practice Wednesday, but Rabbit was not feeling well, and practice Friday. We will need to leave practice a bit early for a supper commitment, but that will be fine. We then have a double header on Sunday.
This past weekend we signed up for another (possibly final) Little League season. It was good to see some friends at the fields. We stuck around and watched a few fall-ball games. Nice to see the development of players I have known for 4 seasons now. Through it all we felt that we made the right choice by having Rabbit stay with Blue Wave for the fall season though.
Next month is fairly quiet, only a Big League Dreams tournament between now and Thanksgiving. The big calendar item is the Palm Springs tournament the last week of December. Strange to think we are already making our plans for it. The year moves very quickly.
This week had hitting on Monday, scheduled practice Wednesday, but Rabbit was not feeling well, and practice Friday. We will need to leave practice a bit early for a supper commitment, but that will be fine. We then have a double header on Sunday.
This past weekend we signed up for another (possibly final) Little League season. It was good to see some friends at the fields. We stuck around and watched a few fall-ball games. Nice to see the development of players I have known for 4 seasons now. Through it all we felt that we made the right choice by having Rabbit stay with Blue Wave for the fall season though.
Next month is fairly quiet, only a Big League Dreams tournament between now and Thanksgiving. The big calendar item is the Palm Springs tournament the last week of December. Strange to think we are already making our plans for it. The year moves very quickly.
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
They are the Champions!
OK, so I gave it away already. Sue me.
The 10U championship game was scheduled for 3:15. Due to an extra inning affair on our designated field we did not get the first pitch across until after 4. We were the visiting team by way of a coin flip and had Jason the Ace on the hill. Jason and Rabbit both had 4 innings of eligibility left, everyone else on the team had 5. We were going to throw people out there until we found a good one! Luckily, we found a good one right away.
For this game Rabbit was moved to clean up, batting fourth. He came up with 2 out and a runner on third. On the first pitch he hit a hard single right down the 3B line driving in the first run of the game. He then stole second (much easier today, they were back on 60 foot basepaths instead of the 70 foot used by the 11U) and came around to score on a clean single by the next batter. We finished batting with a 2-0 lead and only allowed 1 in the bottom of the inning. In the second Rabbit was up again, 2 out, runner on third and 3 already across. He fought back, having been down 0-1 and 1-2. A 7 pitch at bat including 2 foul balls ended with a swinging strikeout. A good AB for certain, and after 2 innings we were ahead 5-1. After the third it was 5-3, and should have been much more. With two runners on and two out the opposing batter lifted a soft liner over the 1B bag. Rabbit on a full run made the play over his head saving at least one run. The umpire, opposing coach and his entire team congratulated him on a spectacular grab.
In the fourth Rabbit saw 6 pitches before walking. As was his custom, he stole second and third before coming home on another single. It was 6-3 after 4.
After Jason was done with his 4 innings the coaches had to decide between Rabbit and Will to close out the game. Luckily for my health they chose Will. He is a boy who can throw very hard and throws strikes. We allowed one in the 5th but only after scoring 3 in our half. It was 9-4 going into the last inning. By now, due to our late start, the sun was directly in the faces of the batters. They, and the catchers, were completely blinded. I am not certain but I do not recall many boys making contact. Rabbit missed 3 pitches in a row in his final AB and tells me he did not see any of them.
In the bottom of the last inning we let one run across, mostly from our catcher being blinded. But as had happened with us their batters could not pick up the ball. It would not have mattered as Will was throwing hard strikes. The game ended 9-5 with Bluewave winning the title.
Rabbit played stellar at first, and in fact played all 6 innings of the final game there. The team, only 9 boys were able to make the trip, really played well over the weekend. They have a lot to be proud of and are playing excellent ball together. It was an amazing weekend and Rabbit is still wearing his medal around the house. And why not, he earned it!
6 3 3 1 3 2
Welcome to Paso Robles, I hope you brought a jacket!
We got to Los Osos and my parents new vacation home in time for dinner Friday night and got Rabbit into to bed by 9. This was key since we needed to leave the house at 6:30 to be at the fields by 7:15. A good nights sleep was appreciated, and cut short by the alarms.
When we pulled into the fields complex it was 33 degrees outside. Fahrenheit! Yikes. We found our teammates and waited for the snack bar coffee to be ready. It was alarmingly cold. The boys were at least able to run a bit and warm up. By game time (8am) it was a blistering 40 degrees. Eeep. Rabbit started game 1 at first base. Their first two games were being played against teams from the 11U bracket. His first at bat, he was 5th in the line up, he was quickly down 0-2 before battling back 2-2. A swinging third strike left two runners on, but Rabbit knew what the pitcher had going. Boy did he ever. A 3 run second inning and we were ahead 3-0 after two. Rabbit led off the third and on the first pitch drilled a ball to center. If it had been 10 degrees warmer the ball would have skipped to the fence for an easy homerun. Instead it "lawn darted" and he was thrown out at 2nd on a questionable call. It was the hardest hit ball of the day and a great swing.
Before the bottom of the third Rabbit ran to RF and another boy went to the mound. A third boy, who had been warming up was sent to the outfield. The coaches then called Rabbit in to pitch. It was confusing and Rabbit never quite got his brain together before the inning started. Add in the fact he was again throwing from a 50 foot mound (46 is normal for 10U) and it went bad. Quickly. First play to him was a comebacker to the pitcher that he butchered, throwing the ball into the opposing dugout allowing a run. From there it got worse. In the third he gave up 5 runs, 4 earned with 1 k and 4 BB, including two on full counts. Starting the fourth it continued to spiral. Another earned run, another full count walk and after two outs the coaches took him out. A game that was easily winnable, against a team in a higher division, ended up a 5-3 loss.
Game 2 was against a much better team and we struggled early. Rabbit alternated between first and RF. His first AB was a 5 pitch walk from which he stole second and third and scored on a passed ball. His next AB was a sharp single and another stolen base. He came around to score as well. The game, which had been 11-2 at one point, ended up 13-9 with Bluewave putting the tying run on deck. Everyone was hitting and the team had a great final two innings in that game. It was now noon and we were done with games until 3PM Sunday. One of the families had brought an RV and the boys had hot dogs and chips together and then went to run around the park for a bit. After a while we headed back to Los Osos for naps and to get ready.
That afternoon we met several teammates at the beach in Morrow Bay for an impromptu whiffle ball game. A difficult task in 60 MPH winds, but a great time was had. Afterward we gathered at the house for burgers and movies. It was a great turnout and the boys really had a good time. As bedtime approached we were relishing the chance to sleep in on a game day for once!
When we pulled into the fields complex it was 33 degrees outside. Fahrenheit! Yikes. We found our teammates and waited for the snack bar coffee to be ready. It was alarmingly cold. The boys were at least able to run a bit and warm up. By game time (8am) it was a blistering 40 degrees. Eeep. Rabbit started game 1 at first base. Their first two games were being played against teams from the 11U bracket. His first at bat, he was 5th in the line up, he was quickly down 0-2 before battling back 2-2. A swinging third strike left two runners on, but Rabbit knew what the pitcher had going. Boy did he ever. A 3 run second inning and we were ahead 3-0 after two. Rabbit led off the third and on the first pitch drilled a ball to center. If it had been 10 degrees warmer the ball would have skipped to the fence for an easy homerun. Instead it "lawn darted" and he was thrown out at 2nd on a questionable call. It was the hardest hit ball of the day and a great swing.
Before the bottom of the third Rabbit ran to RF and another boy went to the mound. A third boy, who had been warming up was sent to the outfield. The coaches then called Rabbit in to pitch. It was confusing and Rabbit never quite got his brain together before the inning started. Add in the fact he was again throwing from a 50 foot mound (46 is normal for 10U) and it went bad. Quickly. First play to him was a comebacker to the pitcher that he butchered, throwing the ball into the opposing dugout allowing a run. From there it got worse. In the third he gave up 5 runs, 4 earned with 1 k and 4 BB, including two on full counts. Starting the fourth it continued to spiral. Another earned run, another full count walk and after two outs the coaches took him out. A game that was easily winnable, against a team in a higher division, ended up a 5-3 loss.
Game 2 was against a much better team and we struggled early. Rabbit alternated between first and RF. His first AB was a 5 pitch walk from which he stole second and third and scored on a passed ball. His next AB was a sharp single and another stolen base. He came around to score as well. The game, which had been 11-2 at one point, ended up 13-9 with Bluewave putting the tying run on deck. Everyone was hitting and the team had a great final two innings in that game. It was now noon and we were done with games until 3PM Sunday. One of the families had brought an RV and the boys had hot dogs and chips together and then went to run around the park for a bit. After a while we headed back to Los Osos for naps and to get ready.
That afternoon we met several teammates at the beach in Morrow Bay for an impromptu whiffle ball game. A difficult task in 60 MPH winds, but a great time was had. Afterward we gathered at the house for burgers and movies. It was a great turnout and the boys really had a good time. As bedtime approached we were relishing the chance to sleep in on a game day for once!
Monday, October 6, 2008
The weekend before the big trip
Rabbit was invited to play with the 11U squad this past weekend as a tune up to the Paso Robles Tournament that is this weekend. The 2 games (Sunday double-header) were against a very strong local team that had just won several major tournaments. Rabbit was excited to play and ready to go Sunday morning buoyed by the news of the Dodger's sweeping the Cubs.
Game one saw Rabbit at First Base and Right Field. He played excellent defense at both, recorded several outs, and two assists! One from first to third, the other from RF to third. After a bit the other team stopped running on his arm, it was a "proud Papa" moment to watch the Coach hold his runners at second. Rabbit's play in RF is hugely improved and he made several plays where he had to track the ball, get in position and come up throwing. All of his work shagging fungos is paying off.
To the shock of us all he started game 2. What was most surprising was that the pitching rubber is 4 feet further back. This meant Rabbit had to adjust his release and arm speed. In the first inning he was nervous, but scrapped through with one walk, zero earned runs and 5 ground balls. In the second inning he gained his footing, worked quickly and got out with no walks or earned runs, struck a hitter out and left with a tie game after two. At the plate he drew a walk, stole second and came around to score on a bang-bang play at the plate. He swears it was a hook-slide to the open side of the plate, I think he got lucky and fell away from the catcher. Either way, the run scored.
Monday at the cages, Tuesday another bullpen session, Wednesday practice then we leave Friday straight from school for Paso. This is going to be a blast.
Game one saw Rabbit at First Base and Right Field. He played excellent defense at both, recorded several outs, and two assists! One from first to third, the other from RF to third. After a bit the other team stopped running on his arm, it was a "proud Papa" moment to watch the Coach hold his runners at second. Rabbit's play in RF is hugely improved and he made several plays where he had to track the ball, get in position and come up throwing. All of his work shagging fungos is paying off.
To the shock of us all he started game 2. What was most surprising was that the pitching rubber is 4 feet further back. This meant Rabbit had to adjust his release and arm speed. In the first inning he was nervous, but scrapped through with one walk, zero earned runs and 5 ground balls. In the second inning he gained his footing, worked quickly and got out with no walks or earned runs, struck a hitter out and left with a tie game after two. At the plate he drew a walk, stole second and came around to score on a bang-bang play at the plate. He swears it was a hook-slide to the open side of the plate, I think he got lucky and fell away from the catcher. Either way, the run scored.
Monday at the cages, Tuesday another bullpen session, Wednesday practice then we leave Friday straight from school for Paso. This is going to be a blast.
Friday, October 3, 2008
Wow, where did that month go?
It has been a very quiet last month for several reasons. First off, the team only had one double header scheduled after canceling a tourney due to lack of players. Secondly, I have been unable to walk due to a foot injury. Add in school starting and all the assorted extra time there and we have been very light on baseball lately.
No excuses though, we are off to Paso Robles next weekend. This weekend Rabbit has been asked to play with the 11U team to get some innings in before the Paso tourney. Last weekend was a 10U double header on Sunday that went ok, but not great. Rabbit pitched two innings, 3 earned, 3 strikeouts, one walk. He left the ball up twice and got drilled both times. He looked pretty good for not having pitched in a month, but he needs to get back on the hill. Hitting he was 1-3 and also was HBP. Drove in a run and scored after stealing a few bases. As usual, finding the third out was a huge challenge for the group. Hopefully that will come easier in the future.
Tuesday of this week we worked on velocity. As I expected, he was throwing mid-forties with his fastball. Worked his arm rotation and taking a bigger step to try to get some more speed. By the end of the session (50 pitches) he had hit 50 several times on the radar. We will go again next Tuesday to see if the changes are sticking.
When not playing we are having a blast watching the Dodgers play in the playoffs. It is quite interesting watching Rabbit absorb a game these days. He is very aware of the hitters footwork, where the catcher's glove is and especially the pitch sequence. He is really seeing the game on an entirely different level.
No excuses though, we are off to Paso Robles next weekend. This weekend Rabbit has been asked to play with the 11U team to get some innings in before the Paso tourney. Last weekend was a 10U double header on Sunday that went ok, but not great. Rabbit pitched two innings, 3 earned, 3 strikeouts, one walk. He left the ball up twice and got drilled both times. He looked pretty good for not having pitched in a month, but he needs to get back on the hill. Hitting he was 1-3 and also was HBP. Drove in a run and scored after stealing a few bases. As usual, finding the third out was a huge challenge for the group. Hopefully that will come easier in the future.
Tuesday of this week we worked on velocity. As I expected, he was throwing mid-forties with his fastball. Worked his arm rotation and taking a bigger step to try to get some more speed. By the end of the session (50 pitches) he had hit 50 several times on the radar. We will go again next Tuesday to see if the changes are sticking.
When not playing we are having a blast watching the Dodgers play in the playoffs. It is quite interesting watching Rabbit absorb a game these days. He is very aware of the hitters footwork, where the catcher's glove is and especially the pitch sequence. He is really seeing the game on an entirely different level.
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
Early mornings in San Clemente
We had 11 boys confirmed for a three day tournament in San Clemente over the Labor Day weekend. You might think that playing by the beach would be nice and cool. Nope. Steed Park is tucked away in the hills in the really hot part of town. No worries, all of our games were scheduled to be over by noon anyway.
The first day was another frustrating mess of missed opportunities. The team did not capitalize and then seemed to give in during the later innings. In the first game Rabbit started at first and made all 3 outs in the inning. His first AB was a ground out to second. We talked about being more aggressive at the plate. When he came up the second time it was bases loaded and no outs. He was able to get an RBI, but it was on a fielder's choice. He is working on his power and is looking better at the plate.
Rabbit started game 2 and pitched very well. As per the usual he went two innings, 1 earned, 2 k's and left with the lead. Most importantly he had no walks. In fact, he struck out a batter with a change up that was just plain nasty. He was dealing. At the plate he was walked on 5 pitches the first time up and struck out in his second trip. He was at a 3-1 count and got called for a strike on a pitch that was 8" inside. After that call he was hacking at anything. In the field he played more excellent 1B including a great play on a foul pop that was hit right into the sun. Rod Stilanovich would be proud (see No Excuses, Part 3). The team played better, but still it was mental errors that lead to being "mercied" twice. In the second game they walked 8 batters, and all 8 came around to score
That night we went to the OC Flyers game and had a chance to relax before Sunday's game.
Sunday's game was just what the team needed. The pitching was dominant, the hitting was timely and the baserunning was focused. The team coasted to an easy 13-3 mercy win. Rabbit had a real nice two-strike double over the third baseman's head later coming around to score. In his second AB he struck out again, but only after fouling a few off. It was a good win and the type of performance the kids deserved for playing so well.
We had to play Monday at 8am, that meant leaving our house at 6:30. In the morning. Yipes!
This was now single elimination and Rabbit was given the ball. He went 1-2-3 in the first and was effective, but not sharp. In his first AB he grounded out 4-3 on a pretty well hit ball. In the second inning of pitching he got the first batter, then totally lost control. He got hit hard, then walked a batter, then the opposing team called time while he was in his wind up. Rabbit was flustered and gave up for a few hitters. During that 4 batter stretch three got on base and two scored. He walked 2 that inning and went full count to a batter who never took the bat off his shoulder before finally striking him out. The defense shares partial responsibility by allowing 5 outs that inning. However, they were following the lead of their starter. Overall it was only 4 runs, but they were down 4-1 in an elimination game.
Huge kudos to the team and the coaches for not quitting. The game stayed 4-1 until the 5th when we pushed one more across. In Rabbit's second AB he popped up to the pitcher on the first pitch. He was trying to make something happen, but will learn about pitch selection over time. They scrapped together one more run in the sixth but still lost 4-3. The team showed a lot of heart and deserved a better fate. It is frustrating, to be sure, but these types of losses will help the team get better.
The team is better today than they were three weeks ago, that is for certain. They have now played 7 games together and I expect that 7 more games will make them a force to be reckoned with.
7 1 1 1 1 2
The first day was another frustrating mess of missed opportunities. The team did not capitalize and then seemed to give in during the later innings. In the first game Rabbit started at first and made all 3 outs in the inning. His first AB was a ground out to second. We talked about being more aggressive at the plate. When he came up the second time it was bases loaded and no outs. He was able to get an RBI, but it was on a fielder's choice. He is working on his power and is looking better at the plate.
Rabbit started game 2 and pitched very well. As per the usual he went two innings, 1 earned, 2 k's and left with the lead. Most importantly he had no walks. In fact, he struck out a batter with a change up that was just plain nasty. He was dealing. At the plate he was walked on 5 pitches the first time up and struck out in his second trip. He was at a 3-1 count and got called for a strike on a pitch that was 8" inside. After that call he was hacking at anything. In the field he played more excellent 1B including a great play on a foul pop that was hit right into the sun. Rod Stilanovich would be proud (see No Excuses, Part 3). The team played better, but still it was mental errors that lead to being "mercied" twice. In the second game they walked 8 batters, and all 8 came around to score
That night we went to the OC Flyers game and had a chance to relax before Sunday's game.
Sunday's game was just what the team needed. The pitching was dominant, the hitting was timely and the baserunning was focused. The team coasted to an easy 13-3 mercy win. Rabbit had a real nice two-strike double over the third baseman's head later coming around to score. In his second AB he struck out again, but only after fouling a few off. It was a good win and the type of performance the kids deserved for playing so well.
We had to play Monday at 8am, that meant leaving our house at 6:30. In the morning. Yipes!
This was now single elimination and Rabbit was given the ball. He went 1-2-3 in the first and was effective, but not sharp. In his first AB he grounded out 4-3 on a pretty well hit ball. In the second inning of pitching he got the first batter, then totally lost control. He got hit hard, then walked a batter, then the opposing team called time while he was in his wind up. Rabbit was flustered and gave up for a few hitters. During that 4 batter stretch three got on base and two scored. He walked 2 that inning and went full count to a batter who never took the bat off his shoulder before finally striking him out. The defense shares partial responsibility by allowing 5 outs that inning. However, they were following the lead of their starter. Overall it was only 4 runs, but they were down 4-1 in an elimination game.
Huge kudos to the team and the coaches for not quitting. The game stayed 4-1 until the 5th when we pushed one more across. In Rabbit's second AB he popped up to the pitcher on the first pitch. He was trying to make something happen, but will learn about pitch selection over time. They scrapped together one more run in the sixth but still lost 4-3. The team showed a lot of heart and deserved a better fate. It is frustrating, to be sure, but these types of losses will help the team get better.
The team is better today than they were three weeks ago, that is for certain. They have now played 7 games together and I expect that 7 more games will make them a force to be reckoned with.
7 1 1 1 1 2
Thursday, August 28, 2008
It is the first day of school...
Finally! Rabbit started fifth grade this morning after a great summer of laziness, baseball, bar-b-cue and general good times. This has been a pretty normal week, BP with Blue Wave on Monday, hitting lesson (last one for a few months) on Tuesday, conditioning workout with Blue Wave on Wednesday and a tournament this weekend in San Clemente. Tonight, as a special bonus, Rabbit is the bat boy for the OC Flyers game against the Long Beach Armada. He will be in the dugout with Darrel Evans, Gary Carter and all the players. What a cool experience.
The Blue Wave 10U team is starting to gel a little bit. Rabbit is fitting in nicely and has several friends on the squad. We have a minimum of four games this weekend so I am looking forward to watching them play together more. I figure this group will need a few more tournaments before they are real competitive, but progress is clearly being made.
I mentioned earlier that Rabbit has finished with private hitting instruction for a bit. His grandmother got him some pitching lessons for his birthday. We are going to focus on that through the end of October and then go back to hitting once a month and pitching once a month. It gets very pricey, but the results are dramatic. Plus, part of me wants him to just blow everyone away at Little League tryouts this coming March.
The Blue Wave 10U team is starting to gel a little bit. Rabbit is fitting in nicely and has several friends on the squad. We have a minimum of four games this weekend so I am looking forward to watching them play together more. I figure this group will need a few more tournaments before they are real competitive, but progress is clearly being made.
I mentioned earlier that Rabbit has finished with private hitting instruction for a bit. His grandmother got him some pitching lessons for his birthday. We are going to focus on that through the end of October and then go back to hitting once a month and pitching once a month. It gets very pricey, but the results are dramatic. Plus, part of me wants him to just blow everyone away at Little League tryouts this coming March.
Sunday, August 17, 2008
Happy Anniversary to us!
As seems to happen from time to time we spent another weekend revolving entirely around baseball. Friday night we went to the Flyers game, Saturday Rabbit had a Blue Wave tournament and played two games, then a Flyers Double Header, and the continuation of the tournament on Sunday. Sunday also happens to be our twelfth wedding anniversary. A lot going on to be sure.
Game one of the tourney and Rabbit was handed the ball to start us off. This was a bit of a surprise but he took it in stride and pitched well. Coach likes to keep the innings low early on so it was no surprise when he came out after two innings pitched. In that time he had 4 strikeouts, all ground balls, no walks allowed and one earned run. In his only AB he was hit by the first pitch and came around to score after a few steals. Sadly, the game got away and was a lopsided loss.
Game two meant some time at first, but also some bench time. We had been told that Rabbit was going to get some pine to rest up since he would start the first elimination game on Sunday. When he played he did well and had no errors, went 1 for 1 and was walked on 5 pitches. Scored 2 runs and drove in one. Not bad.
Sunday morning was game 3. Another early morning. Rabbit started and kept getting ground balls, but we had a tough time getting a handle on them. He struggled a bit, but ended up surrendering 3 in the first. In the bottom of the first he got an RBI on a fielders choice grounder as part of a five run rally. He then struck out the side in the second on 11 pitches and gave up an unearned run in the third. Then, the fourth happened. The wheels fell off, and the entire team participated. Four runs came across, but they were lucky it was only four. Many mental lapses and poor fielding cost them the lead. They struggled and scrapped the rest of the way, but ended up losing in the first round 11-9. Rabbit went 2-3 with 2 RBI and another run scored. Overall in 4 innings he had 3 earned, 6 strikeouts and one walk. A very solid performance.
It is frustrating to watch the team make some of these errors at this stage. But we need to remember that the boys are all 9 or 10 years old. Rabbit played well and we all have high hopes for the future of this group. There is incredible talent out there with this team, we just need to be sure that we are learning from these tournaments.
Game one of the tourney and Rabbit was handed the ball to start us off. This was a bit of a surprise but he took it in stride and pitched well. Coach likes to keep the innings low early on so it was no surprise when he came out after two innings pitched. In that time he had 4 strikeouts, all ground balls, no walks allowed and one earned run. In his only AB he was hit by the first pitch and came around to score after a few steals. Sadly, the game got away and was a lopsided loss.
Game two meant some time at first, but also some bench time. We had been told that Rabbit was going to get some pine to rest up since he would start the first elimination game on Sunday. When he played he did well and had no errors, went 1 for 1 and was walked on 5 pitches. Scored 2 runs and drove in one. Not bad.
Sunday morning was game 3. Another early morning. Rabbit started and kept getting ground balls, but we had a tough time getting a handle on them. He struggled a bit, but ended up surrendering 3 in the first. In the bottom of the first he got an RBI on a fielders choice grounder as part of a five run rally. He then struck out the side in the second on 11 pitches and gave up an unearned run in the third. Then, the fourth happened. The wheels fell off, and the entire team participated. Four runs came across, but they were lucky it was only four. Many mental lapses and poor fielding cost them the lead. They struggled and scrapped the rest of the way, but ended up losing in the first round 11-9. Rabbit went 2-3 with 2 RBI and another run scored. Overall in 4 innings he had 3 earned, 6 strikeouts and one walk. A very solid performance.
It is frustrating to watch the team make some of these errors at this stage. But we need to remember that the boys are all 9 or 10 years old. Rabbit played well and we all have high hopes for the future of this group. There is incredible talent out there with this team, we just need to be sure that we are learning from these tournaments.
4 4 3 3 0 1
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Summer draws to a close
We have a tourney next weekend that will be played with wood bats. That should be fun and help even out some of the power gaps between the kids. Monday is BP with Blue Wave, Tuesday hitting lesson, Wednesday night conditioning and then the games on Saturday and Sunday.
We bought season seats with the Orange County Flyers for next year and get the rest of this year included. As part of the package Rabbit gets to be a bat boy at one of the later games. I hope the schedules work out for that, that would be a lot of fun for him. School starts in a few weeks (August 28th I believe) so we are starting to wind it all down. We have had a blast and are looking forward to the fall.
Rabbit's team is now the 10yo team and they will play together for the next 4-7 months. Next sumer he may play up again if they need the help. It is a good group of kids and I am excited to watch them grow together. Rabbit's hitting is amazingly better thanks to Coach Jason and he will start some pitching lessons after school starts. We will do series of 6 lessons hitting over a two month period, then a few weeks off before 6 pitching lessons over 2 months. We will decide again in January if we want to do more private lessons. They are very valuable, but not cheap.
We bought season seats with the Orange County Flyers for next year and get the rest of this year included. As part of the package Rabbit gets to be a bat boy at one of the later games. I hope the schedules work out for that, that would be a lot of fun for him. School starts in a few weeks (August 28th I believe) so we are starting to wind it all down. We have had a blast and are looking forward to the fall.
Rabbit's team is now the 10yo team and they will play together for the next 4-7 months. Next sumer he may play up again if they need the help. It is a good group of kids and I am excited to watch them grow together. Rabbit's hitting is amazingly better thanks to Coach Jason and he will start some pitching lessons after school starts. We will do series of 6 lessons hitting over a two month period, then a few weeks off before 6 pitching lessons over 2 months. We will decide again in January if we want to do more private lessons. They are very valuable, but not cheap.
Sunday, August 3, 2008
Now I can say I have seen it all
Just got back from Hanford, CA (near Fresno) where we went Friday night to the AAA Fresno Grizzlies game. If I am doing the math correctly I have now seen every level of baseball played competitively in the US. So far this year I have seen:
Youth Rec League - Santa Ana North West Little League T-Ball, Coach Pitch, Minor B, Minor A, Major, Junior, Senior and All-Star.
Travel Ball - CCYB, USSSA and USTBA tournaments
High School - Mater Dei and Orange Lutheran
College - Cal State Fullerton
Independent League - Orange County Fliers
Single A - Savannah Sand Gnats
Double A - Jacksonville Suns
Triple A - Fresno Grizzlies
MLB - Los Angeles Dodgers
If I missed anything let me know.
Back to practice this week for Rabbit. Monday is hitting and Friday will be a conditioning practice. We may do some mound work on Wednesday depending on my work schedule. It has been a nice two weeks off but Rabbit seems ready to get goin again. Next tournament is the 16th and 17th.
Youth Rec League - Santa Ana North West Little League T-Ball, Coach Pitch, Minor B, Minor A, Major, Junior, Senior and All-Star.
Travel Ball - CCYB, USSSA and USTBA tournaments
High School - Mater Dei and Orange Lutheran
College - Cal State Fullerton
Independent League - Orange County Fliers
Single A - Savannah Sand Gnats
Double A - Jacksonville Suns
Triple A - Fresno Grizzlies
MLB - Los Angeles Dodgers
If I missed anything let me know.
Back to practice this week for Rabbit. Monday is hitting and Friday will be a conditioning practice. We may do some mound work on Wednesday depending on my work schedule. It has been a nice two weeks off but Rabbit seems ready to get goin again. Next tournament is the 16th and 17th.
Saturday, July 26, 2008
Wow - downtime!
We had a good practice last night and ended a fun week. Rabbit is now at "Grandma Camp" with his cousin. That means 6 days with no kid! Except for having everyone over for dinner on Sunday, Dodger game and his birthday party on Monday and throwing on Tuesday. For his birthday we got him a new backpack style gear bag that is quite roomy. It will be much easier on his shoulders.
Our next practice is on Monday the fourth and then we do not have a game until the 16th and 17th. I know Rabbit will enjoy the break and I hope he has a good time being a 10 year old spaz. We are off to my brother's house next weekend for 3 days of pool time. The 10s team is playing this week in a CCYB tournament and we wish them well. For now though it nice to have a respite.
Our next practice is on Monday the fourth and then we do not have a game until the 16th and 17th. I know Rabbit will enjoy the break and I hope he has a good time being a 10 year old spaz. We are off to my brother's house next weekend for 3 days of pool time. The 10s team is playing this week in a CCYB tournament and we wish them well. For now though it nice to have a respite.
Monday, July 21, 2008
One for three
Well, we finally got a chance to play at the Big League Dreams parks this past weekend. This was originally scheduled as a 9U tourney, but we ended up playing in 10U. There were 9 9yo and 3 10yo if I remember correctly. The first two games were against 9U teams though so we felt like we might have a good showing after back-to-back disappointing tournaments. Well, so much for that idea.
The boys were not ready to play. It must be summer. We took about 4 innings to get into the game and lost a game that was extremely winnable. Rabbit sat the first inning, then came in to play 1st base. He never left the field, or 1st base, after that. He played the next14 innings at first. He looked great and made the plays he needed to. Sinking liners, pop-ups, long stretches, flips to the cover man, a good set of games for him. The one thing he does need to work on is receiving pick-off attempts. He misplayed 2 of those that led to runners advancing.
Rabbit also hit well on day 1. Two infield singles and two RBIs helped ease some of the sting. He struck out once and flew out once to go 2-4 on the day. The second game was a mess. There was a moment in the third inning when you could watch the entire team give up. It was frustrating to watch them quit caring. I imagine all of the boys heard about it on the way home, after they heard about it from the coach. They needed to be better on Sunday. We had no chance of getting to the finals, but this level of play was simply unacceptable. We talked with Rabbit about acting as a leader, keeping his teammates in the game, encouraging the pitcher and basically not allowing the team to quit. He took it to heart.
Sunday morning the boys warmed up with a spring in their step. They looked like a different team entirely. We were the home team and did not allow a hit or run in the first inning. A first! We then came back in the bottom of the inning and put up a 6 spot. Rabbit laced a single over second to drive in his third run of the tourney. Back on 1B he made the plays he needed to and did a great job helping everyone stay focused. It was an entirely different team out there. The boys were all talking, encouraging, congratulating and helping in any way they could. At one point we retired 8 straight opposing batters. The SS had some amazing plays and the pitchers were on their games. It was fun to watch. We ended up winning 11-7 in a game that never really got close. It was a good win and everyone felt much better.
Since Rabbit did not pitch this tournament I took him to the park to throw once we got home. He threw 72 pitches under a "simulated game" format. He was a mess early, but settled in nicely and popped 50-51. he then wanted to run, shag flies, take throws at 1B and hit. We had to drag him off the field to go to Grandma's for dinner.
We ended the weekend on a high note which we needed. Tonight is hitting and then practice Wednesday and Friday. We have passed on the CCYB World Series tourney due to being out of town so our next tournament appears to be August 9-10.
7 2 3 3 0 2
The boys were not ready to play. It must be summer. We took about 4 innings to get into the game and lost a game that was extremely winnable. Rabbit sat the first inning, then came in to play 1st base. He never left the field, or 1st base, after that. He played the next14 innings at first. He looked great and made the plays he needed to. Sinking liners, pop-ups, long stretches, flips to the cover man, a good set of games for him. The one thing he does need to work on is receiving pick-off attempts. He misplayed 2 of those that led to runners advancing.
Rabbit also hit well on day 1. Two infield singles and two RBIs helped ease some of the sting. He struck out once and flew out once to go 2-4 on the day. The second game was a mess. There was a moment in the third inning when you could watch the entire team give up. It was frustrating to watch them quit caring. I imagine all of the boys heard about it on the way home, after they heard about it from the coach. They needed to be better on Sunday. We had no chance of getting to the finals, but this level of play was simply unacceptable. We talked with Rabbit about acting as a leader, keeping his teammates in the game, encouraging the pitcher and basically not allowing the team to quit. He took it to heart.
Sunday morning the boys warmed up with a spring in their step. They looked like a different team entirely. We were the home team and did not allow a hit or run in the first inning. A first! We then came back in the bottom of the inning and put up a 6 spot. Rabbit laced a single over second to drive in his third run of the tourney. Back on 1B he made the plays he needed to and did a great job helping everyone stay focused. It was an entirely different team out there. The boys were all talking, encouraging, congratulating and helping in any way they could. At one point we retired 8 straight opposing batters. The SS had some amazing plays and the pitchers were on their games. It was fun to watch. We ended up winning 11-7 in a game that never really got close. It was a good win and everyone felt much better.
Since Rabbit did not pitch this tournament I took him to the park to throw once we got home. He threw 72 pitches under a "simulated game" format. He was a mess early, but settled in nicely and popped 50-51. he then wanted to run, shag flies, take throws at 1B and hit. We had to drag him off the field to go to Grandma's for dinner.
We ended the weekend on a high note which we needed. Tonight is hitting and then practice Wednesday and Friday. We have passed on the CCYB World Series tourney due to being out of town so our next tournament appears to be August 9-10.
7 2 3 3 0 2
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
A great time in Florida
Well, we accomplished our goal of baseball and barbecue in Florida. Overall we saw three games. A rain out on Friday led to a double header (9 inning game, then a 7 inning game) on Saturday. On Sunday morning we left Jacksonville for Savannah, GA for a 2PM game there. At 5PM on Sunday we had seen 25 innings of baseball played in less than 23 hours. I was in heaven.
Minor league ball is a blast. In Jacksonville we were granted a full access tour including the owners suite, clubhouse, underground cages and field. We were also allowed to go out early and watch BP and get autographs. Also in Jacksonville Rabbit got the ball from the final out of the first game when the CF tossed it to him. At the Savannah game Rabbit and I were brought out onto the field between innings for the home run derby. Starting in Left Field you hit the ball off the tee. Kid first, then father. If you get it over the fence in 2 hits you win. Rabbit did his part, I failed miserably. We still got the Chili's gift certificates anyway.
We had a great time and many thanks to our friends in Jacksonville for setting it all up. Now, back to reality. Practice Wednesday, hitting lesson Thursday and then a tournament Saturday and Sunday. We are still deciding about the next tourney, a week-long affair that starts the 26th.
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
So... about that last tournament
Well, they stunk. They lost all 3 games and the last 2 by mercy. It was a group effort and everyone was off their mark. Many, many errors, including 3-4 by Rabbit added up quickly. On the plus side, Rabbit hit the ball hard 3 times and got a hit, only striking out once. Rabbit did get a chance to pitch in the second game and got some ground balls. He pitched effectively and will continue to throw for the 9's team and maybe again for the 10's. Oh well, time to move on.
We leave for Florida in the morning so we have been trying to get our baseball out of the way early this week. Spent yesterday in the park hitting 2 full buckets of flies to OF. This morning we were on the bump again, 50 pitches this time. He was sharp, throwing mainly strikes (probably 35-38) and tapped 49 twice on the gun. His change-up is coming on quite nicely.
Off to the cages this afternoon, then shutting it down for a few days. Next tourney is the weekend of July 19-20.
4 1 1 1 0 1
We leave for Florida in the morning so we have been trying to get our baseball out of the way early this week. Spent yesterday in the park hitting 2 full buckets of flies to OF. This morning we were on the bump again, 50 pitches this time. He was sharp, throwing mainly strikes (probably 35-38) and tapped 49 twice on the gun. His change-up is coming on quite nicely.
Off to the cages this afternoon, then shutting it down for a few days. Next tourney is the weekend of July 19-20.
4 1 1 1 0 1
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
A chance to play with the big boys
The new bat is working well and Jason, the swing doctor, is pleased with Rabbit's progress. On Sunday we went to the LL park and threw off the mound focusing on velocity. His first 10 pitches averaged 44 MPH on the Bushnell gun. His last 10 (he only was allowed to throw 50) averaged 48.5, including 2 at 49 and one at 50. Not bad for a first effort. A longer stride really helped his speed.
We will be playing this coming weekend on July 5 and 6 with the 10U team. Since Rabbit is only 9 I expect that he will not play very much. I am quite happy about this honestly. I hope he can take this tournament and treat it as a learning opportunity. His time in the dugout can be spent listening to the coaches, seeing how they set up the fielders and focusing on the pitchers. I think this a great opportunity for him.
After the tournament we are off for almost 2 weeks. We are headed to Jacksonville, Florida to visit some friends. While out there we will see some minor league ball, eat BBQ, and complain about the heat. It should be a fun time all around.
We will be playing this coming weekend on July 5 and 6 with the 10U team. Since Rabbit is only 9 I expect that he will not play very much. I am quite happy about this honestly. I hope he can take this tournament and treat it as a learning opportunity. His time in the dugout can be spent listening to the coaches, seeing how they set up the fielders and focusing on the pitchers. I think this a great opportunity for him.
After the tournament we are off for almost 2 weeks. We are headed to Jacksonville, Florida to visit some friends. While out there we will see some minor league ball, eat BBQ, and complain about the heat. It should be a fun time all around.
Thursday, June 26, 2008
All Stars - Game 2
Well, after game 1 we had a few days off. On Monday Rabbit went to his "swing doctor" and then a practice on Tuesday night. Game 2 was scheduled for Wednesday. Since it is a double elimination format we needed to win or we would be out of the tournament.
We were visitors and batted first. Nothing too exciting, no runs across. In the bottom of the inning we played good defense (Rabbit started on first base) and looked good. In the second we scored 3. Rabbit walked his first time up and came around to score on a wild pitch. The pitcher for the opposing team hit his arm when he fell and came out of the game after 1.2 innings and we had a 3-1 lead. Sadly, we did not get any more runs that inning. In their half of the second we got two outs quickly, but struggled mightily to get that last out. The coach pulled the starter when the game was 4-3 and brought in Rabbit to get the last out. He got 3 ground balls, none of which were fielded. A bloop single over our 3B who was playing shallow for some reason, and a sleepy catcher (he knelt down to tie his shoe before calling time) led to 7-3 deficit by the end of the inning. We scrapped and fought, but finally ended up on the wrong end of a 10-6 score. Rabbit got a real nice opposite field hit in his second at bat. The team was guilty of several mental mistakes, for everyone, that really cost them a chance to move on. However, the baseball they played was a far sight better than what we witnessed on Saturday.
So we are now, officially, super-duper mean it done with Little League for this season. We will not be playing "fall ball" as we are with the travel team now.
Rabbit's new bats will be here today. Even though we have a day off I suspect he will want to hit later. Nothing serious, just a bucket of whiffles. We actually have the entire weekend off as well. Crazy! We are playing in a tournament with Blue Wave on July 5-6, then off that next week to Florida on vacation before coming back for the USSSA World Series July 23-27 held at Big League Dreams fields. By the time that is over we will already be in August. Wow, it sure is moving quickly.
We were visitors and batted first. Nothing too exciting, no runs across. In the bottom of the inning we played good defense (Rabbit started on first base) and looked good. In the second we scored 3. Rabbit walked his first time up and came around to score on a wild pitch. The pitcher for the opposing team hit his arm when he fell and came out of the game after 1.2 innings and we had a 3-1 lead. Sadly, we did not get any more runs that inning. In their half of the second we got two outs quickly, but struggled mightily to get that last out. The coach pulled the starter when the game was 4-3 and brought in Rabbit to get the last out. He got 3 ground balls, none of which were fielded. A bloop single over our 3B who was playing shallow for some reason, and a sleepy catcher (he knelt down to tie his shoe before calling time) led to 7-3 deficit by the end of the inning. We scrapped and fought, but finally ended up on the wrong end of a 10-6 score. Rabbit got a real nice opposite field hit in his second at bat. The team was guilty of several mental mistakes, for everyone, that really cost them a chance to move on. However, the baseball they played was a far sight better than what we witnessed on Saturday.
So we are now, officially, super-duper mean it done with Little League for this season. We will not be playing "fall ball" as we are with the travel team now.
Rabbit's new bats will be here today. Even though we have a day off I suspect he will want to hit later. Nothing serious, just a bucket of whiffles. We actually have the entire weekend off as well. Crazy! We are playing in a tournament with Blue Wave on July 5-6, then off that next week to Florida on vacation before coming back for the USSSA World Series July 23-27 held at Big League Dreams fields. By the time that is over we will already be in August. Wow, it sure is moving quickly.
Monday, June 23, 2008
My rant about District 30 Little League
It is almost a week since this happened. I have purposely waited to let my emotions calm down and try to find a good reason for what has happened. But I am still amazed at what has happened.
As I mentioned earlier, Rabbit was selected to participate on the All Star team. Another boy from our team was selected also. Rabbit and this boy have been friends for 4 years and my wife and I are good friends with the parents. In fact, the other dad helped us coach this year. Both boys deserved the honor and were excited to play.
I was given a list of "acceptable" documents that I could provide to prove my residency. Keep in mind that this is after we had to prove our residency in order to sign up to play in the regular season. Among the allowed documents was a driver's license, utility bills, insurance cards, vehicle registration, school records and other similar documents. One mandatory document that was required was the birth certificate. But not the abstract, the actual full document. A photocopy was not allowed, neither was a notarized copy, it HAD to be the original. I even asked if I could supply his passport, a government issued photo ID. And we were supposed to leave it with the league for up to two weeks for them to verify that it was, in fact, the original. Sorry, not going to happen that way.
I supplied 4 forms of ID and made arrangements to drop off the birth certificate at the league offices the day it was needed. I simply was not comfortable leaving it with them for any length of time and knew that I would get it back the next morning. Please let me clarify that the people from our league were great. It is the district personnel that I have an issue with. I did not have faith that the district would keep track of my documents. So, I hand over the certificate at 5PM and off we go to a ChivasUSA soccer game.
We get home about 10PM and there are 3 messages on my phone. The first one is the manager of the All Star team asking me to call him immediately, the second is from our league informing us that Rabbit has been disallowed due to a problem with the documents and the third was our league trying to reach us again to clarify an issue. They had disallowed our son. I was furious. I fear that Rabbit learned some new words that night, or at least heard those words in new combinations. The basis for their disqualification was that I use my middle name. I have done that for over 20 years. No one at the league even knows my first name. My driver's license, vehicle registration and Rabbit's birth certificate had me listed as First Name Middle Name Last Name. The phone bill was listed as Middle Name Last Name. For that, that one item, they were going to disqualify us. The addresses all matched, if they bothered to read any of the documents, or cross check them it would have been obvious. But no, they refused to allow it. This is the worst form of power hungry twit I have ever dealt with. Anyone with half a brain could connect the dots. The district people are fools and spent hours trying to discredit players and parents. The were calling me a liar and accusing me of trying to game the system. This was stupid, petty and beyond unreasonable. Exactly what I expect from dealing with these clods.
They finally allowed that we were not perpetrating a massive fraud and accepted that some people do actually go by their middle names. We found that out the next morning, after a long night of no sleep. I spent hours trying to find a way to explain to my son that he would not be playing because some district flunkie had no sense of logic. Once we were reinstated we found out that Rabbit's friend had been disqualified as well. He was removed because he lived 2 blocks outside of the district boundaries. They have lived in that house nearly 20 years. For each of the last 5 seasons this boy has played in our league. They have dutifully taken their money and never raised an eyebrow in notice. Now this boy is excluded. This family can literally see the fields from their backyard, but allegedly belong to a Little League that plays 7 miles away. They "should have known" or gotten a waiver. The family was notified two weeks after the waiver deadline passed.
I have heard that an entire team of 9-10 All Stars was dismantled under the scrutiny of this district board. This is embarrassing. The district needs to reconsider their commitment to the kids. This petty, discretionary application of the rules, for a team that cannot advance to a national level anyway reeks of a power grab. They should be ashamed.
As I mentioned earlier, Rabbit was selected to participate on the All Star team. Another boy from our team was selected also. Rabbit and this boy have been friends for 4 years and my wife and I are good friends with the parents. In fact, the other dad helped us coach this year. Both boys deserved the honor and were excited to play.
I was given a list of "acceptable" documents that I could provide to prove my residency. Keep in mind that this is after we had to prove our residency in order to sign up to play in the regular season. Among the allowed documents was a driver's license, utility bills, insurance cards, vehicle registration, school records and other similar documents. One mandatory document that was required was the birth certificate. But not the abstract, the actual full document. A photocopy was not allowed, neither was a notarized copy, it HAD to be the original. I even asked if I could supply his passport, a government issued photo ID. And we were supposed to leave it with the league for up to two weeks for them to verify that it was, in fact, the original. Sorry, not going to happen that way.
I supplied 4 forms of ID and made arrangements to drop off the birth certificate at the league offices the day it was needed. I simply was not comfortable leaving it with them for any length of time and knew that I would get it back the next morning. Please let me clarify that the people from our league were great. It is the district personnel that I have an issue with. I did not have faith that the district would keep track of my documents. So, I hand over the certificate at 5PM and off we go to a ChivasUSA soccer game.
We get home about 10PM and there are 3 messages on my phone. The first one is the manager of the All Star team asking me to call him immediately, the second is from our league informing us that Rabbit has been disallowed due to a problem with the documents and the third was our league trying to reach us again to clarify an issue. They had disallowed our son. I was furious. I fear that Rabbit learned some new words that night, or at least heard those words in new combinations. The basis for their disqualification was that I use my middle name. I have done that for over 20 years. No one at the league even knows my first name. My driver's license, vehicle registration and Rabbit's birth certificate had me listed as First Name Middle Name Last Name. The phone bill was listed as Middle Name Last Name. For that, that one item, they were going to disqualify us. The addresses all matched, if they bothered to read any of the documents, or cross check them it would have been obvious. But no, they refused to allow it. This is the worst form of power hungry twit I have ever dealt with. Anyone with half a brain could connect the dots. The district people are fools and spent hours trying to discredit players and parents. The were calling me a liar and accusing me of trying to game the system. This was stupid, petty and beyond unreasonable. Exactly what I expect from dealing with these clods.
They finally allowed that we were not perpetrating a massive fraud and accepted that some people do actually go by their middle names. We found that out the next morning, after a long night of no sleep. I spent hours trying to find a way to explain to my son that he would not be playing because some district flunkie had no sense of logic. Once we were reinstated we found out that Rabbit's friend had been disqualified as well. He was removed because he lived 2 blocks outside of the district boundaries. They have lived in that house nearly 20 years. For each of the last 5 seasons this boy has played in our league. They have dutifully taken their money and never raised an eyebrow in notice. Now this boy is excluded. This family can literally see the fields from their backyard, but allegedly belong to a Little League that plays 7 miles away. They "should have known" or gotten a waiver. The family was notified two weeks after the waiver deadline passed.
I have heard that an entire team of 9-10 All Stars was dismantled under the scrutiny of this district board. This is embarrassing. The district needs to reconsider their commitment to the kids. This petty, discretionary application of the rules, for a team that cannot advance to a national level anyway reeks of a power grab. They should be ashamed.
Sunday, June 22, 2008
All Stars - Game 1
The All Star Tournament is a double elimination format and seems to encompass about 14-16 different leagues. I will go in greater detail in a later post, but let me clearly state how frustrated and angry I am with the way this is being run. It is a joke! We did not know the time or location of our first game until 22 hours prior to first pitch! Anyway, on to the game.
Our first game was against Orange Olive. We expected them to be a good team, and they were. They were also huge! Add in the fact it was well over 95 degrees at game time and I think our boys were intimidated. At least I hope that is the excuse, because we were awful. Our outfielders had no idea where to stand and the strikezone was so minuscule that any ball that could have been called a strike was drilled to the fence. Add in some other miscues, such as 4 players letting a popup drop between them and we were trounced. It was a frustrating day.
For bonus measure, I ended up as the assistant coach. This was different since I had not been helping at the practices and had to spend some time learning the players names. The manager had 2 assistants, one of whom we knew was not going to be available and another who did not show. So when I was asked to help I did what I could, but it did not have a dramatic effect the 14-1 final score.
Rabbit was OK, but was playing LF for the first time ever and had no help from the CF so he got to run after balls that were not his responsibility. He went 0-1 with a strikeout and a walk and played some 1B and handled himself well there. He was going to pitch the last inning, but the "mercy" rule applied so we did not need him. I expect he will pitch in the next game.
Not a lot of good things to say about the game other than it is over. If these boys want to play more than just two games they really need to get aggressive and play smarter.
On the personal side, Rabbit starts with a hitting coach (the previously mentioned Jason Corapci) on Monday. His new swing looks better and I think it will be a good thing for him. But if I was that smart I would be a major league hitting coach. ;)
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Let's spend more money!
I learned something new at last weeks tournament - all the cool kids use "big barrel" bats. These are bats that are not legal for use in Little League play, so if we get one for Rabbit he will be using different bats over the course of a year. Yikes.
I found a cool website at justbats.com that has some nice closeout specials. There is even a buy one get one offer where I could get 2 years worth of bats for less than $150. This seems like the way we will go once I get a chance to talk to the coaches about their recommendations.
We went to the cages again last night and made a big change to Rabbit's swing. He is now standing very open and closing his foot as the ball comes in. He is not quite as exaggerated as Andres Galarraga was, but if you remember his swing it is a similar idea. The change was dramatic. He began driving the ball and hit 19/20 and 20/20 in his last two rounds in the cage. Prior to the change he had been hitting 12-15 each round. We will keep looking at that swing and positioning but the early results are encouraging.
We had Little League closing ceremonies last night and took home some hardware. The trophies they gave to the All Stars are about 2'6" tall. He was also named defensive MVP, threw the most innings and strikeouts and tied for most HR hit this season. It was a good year for him and it was fun to get the team back together one more time. All Star practice is tonight with the first game on Saturday --- we think.
I found a cool website at justbats.com that has some nice closeout specials. There is even a buy one get one offer where I could get 2 years worth of bats for less than $150. This seems like the way we will go once I get a chance to talk to the coaches about their recommendations.
We went to the cages again last night and made a big change to Rabbit's swing. He is now standing very open and closing his foot as the ball comes in. He is not quite as exaggerated as Andres Galarraga was, but if you remember his swing it is a similar idea. The change was dramatic. He began driving the ball and hit 19/20 and 20/20 in his last two rounds in the cage. Prior to the change he had been hitting 12-15 each round. We will keep looking at that swing and positioning but the early results are encouraging.
We had Little League closing ceremonies last night and took home some hardware. The trophies they gave to the All Stars are about 2'6" tall. He was also named defensive MVP, threw the most innings and strikeouts and tied for most HR hit this season. It was a good year for him and it was fun to get the team back together one more time. All Star practice is tonight with the first game on Saturday --- we think.
Monday, June 16, 2008
Tourney 1, Day 2
Happy Birthday to Me! I wake up at 6:45 to drive back to the Inland Empire. Never let it be questioned the amount of love I feel for my son. We were playing in the 9am game and then a semi-final at either 11am or 1pm. If we won the semi-final the championship game would be at 3pm. That is right, 3 games in one day. Yikes!
Rabbit was the starting pitcher for the first game. He was excited and nervous. He threw well, but some missed opportunities and errors limited him to 1/3 of an inning. If the team had made all of the "routine" plays he would have made 4 outs during the same span of hitters. Oh well, the coaches needed to find outs so Rabbit was sent back to RF. Rather than mope Rabbit decided to hit. In the first at-bat he was walked on 4 pitches. The second time up, now with runners on the corners, he missed a "take" sign and blasted a double into center field. Both runs scored and by the end of the game it ended at 11-11. We were now 1-1-1 in the tourney.
It turned out that we played the same team from the morning again in the semi-final. This was a great game and the lead changed hands 3 times. It was not until the last inning that we, well, the 9 year old boys, built a lead that would last. Rabbit walked, again, and grounded out twice. But he did advance runners both times he was up. He played a good RF again and was thrilled when it ended at 9-6 Blue Wave, meaning they had earned a berth in the Championship Game!
In between games (we had all of 15 minutes) we did whatever we could to cool him down and get water and gatorade into him. I am pretty sure it was hotter on the second day, were that even possible. The final was to be played against the team that had beat us the day before. Our coaches were happy that we had made the final and were impressed that this team of 10 boys, 3 of whom had not played in a game with them before, had come together so quickly. Rabbit sat (finally) for the first inning. Unfortunately, we went a quiet 1-2-3 while the opponents put up a 6 run cushion on some timely hitting. Our boys were tired and got shocked by that inning. The second inning we still could not muster any offense, but the defense was much better. Please note, I am biased, but when Rabbit was off the field they scored, when he was on the field, they didn't. Enough said. :)
In the bottom of the third he was playing 1B. And he had a great inning. His first opportunity came and he made a great stretch to get the runner on a bang-bang play. After a walk and steal there was a runner on second when a ground ball was hit to the SS. SS made a great throw to get the runner and Rabbit came up gunning to the Catcher to get the runner trying to come home. Just a nice, easy 6-3-2 double play. Even the umpire came over to congratulate him on a great throw.
Defensively he played great, recording two more putouts and just missing another 6-3-2 double play opportunity. His last at bat was another grounder, to the right side, to move the runner along. While not flashy, he played a solid game that really made him feel like he belongs playing with this type of a team. Alas, it ended 9-1 with California Legends winning the title and Blue Wave as runner up.
After the game there was an awards ceremony on the field. Each Blue Wave player received a T-shirt designating them as a finalist at the tournament. Last night Rabbit slept in his. I expect he will every night for a month. He told his mom as we were packing up that he "could have died" he had so much fun out there. It was an amazing thing to watch him, and his teammates, grow up in two days like that. It was the best present I could have ever received.
4 1 1 2 2 1
Rabbit was the starting pitcher for the first game. He was excited and nervous. He threw well, but some missed opportunities and errors limited him to 1/3 of an inning. If the team had made all of the "routine" plays he would have made 4 outs during the same span of hitters. Oh well, the coaches needed to find outs so Rabbit was sent back to RF. Rather than mope Rabbit decided to hit. In the first at-bat he was walked on 4 pitches. The second time up, now with runners on the corners, he missed a "take" sign and blasted a double into center field. Both runs scored and by the end of the game it ended at 11-11. We were now 1-1-1 in the tourney.
It turned out that we played the same team from the morning again in the semi-final. This was a great game and the lead changed hands 3 times. It was not until the last inning that we, well, the 9 year old boys, built a lead that would last. Rabbit walked, again, and grounded out twice. But he did advance runners both times he was up. He played a good RF again and was thrilled when it ended at 9-6 Blue Wave, meaning they had earned a berth in the Championship Game!
In between games (we had all of 15 minutes) we did whatever we could to cool him down and get water and gatorade into him. I am pretty sure it was hotter on the second day, were that even possible. The final was to be played against the team that had beat us the day before. Our coaches were happy that we had made the final and were impressed that this team of 10 boys, 3 of whom had not played in a game with them before, had come together so quickly. Rabbit sat (finally) for the first inning. Unfortunately, we went a quiet 1-2-3 while the opponents put up a 6 run cushion on some timely hitting. Our boys were tired and got shocked by that inning. The second inning we still could not muster any offense, but the defense was much better. Please note, I am biased, but when Rabbit was off the field they scored, when he was on the field, they didn't. Enough said. :)
In the bottom of the third he was playing 1B. And he had a great inning. His first opportunity came and he made a great stretch to get the runner on a bang-bang play. After a walk and steal there was a runner on second when a ground ball was hit to the SS. SS made a great throw to get the runner and Rabbit came up gunning to the Catcher to get the runner trying to come home. Just a nice, easy 6-3-2 double play. Even the umpire came over to congratulate him on a great throw.
Defensively he played great, recording two more putouts and just missing another 6-3-2 double play opportunity. His last at bat was another grounder, to the right side, to move the runner along. While not flashy, he played a solid game that really made him feel like he belongs playing with this type of a team. Alas, it ended 9-1 with California Legends winning the title and Blue Wave as runner up.
After the game there was an awards ceremony on the field. Each Blue Wave player received a T-shirt designating them as a finalist at the tournament. Last night Rabbit slept in his. I expect he will every night for a month. He told his mom as we were packing up that he "could have died" he had so much fun out there. It was an amazing thing to watch him, and his teammates, grow up in two days like that. It was the best present I could have ever received.
4 1 1 2 2 1
Saturday, June 14, 2008
Tourney 1, Day 1
Rabbit played RF for the entire first game, and easy 15-8 win in which he went 0-1 with a strikeout and 2 walks. He also came around to score twice, stole two or three bases depending on the opinion of the scorer, and played some decent defense. He is still trying to figure out where to stand out there.
Game 2 was against the Legends, who had also won their first game. It was very tight until a few costly errors by us gave them a comfortable lead and an eventual 9-3 win. Rabbit came in to pitch and went 2/3 inning with 1H, 1K, 2R, 0ER and no walks. He played a great RF including an out and not letting any ball past him. In Little League a ball to the outfield usually means 3B or HR. Today, it usually meant long single. At the plate he was 0-1 with a strikeout and a walk.
He pitched well, and most importantly, confidently. He has 5 innings of "eligibility" left for tomorrow. The coach came over and congratulated him on a good job and that meant the world to him. I must admit I was quite nervous when he came in. His first pitch was called strike one. In fact, of the 5 batters he faced (we had some fielding issues to work out) he was ahead to all 5.
Hitting will need to be addressed. He is just not comfortable up there and does not know how to go about fixing his swing. We have many friends and coaches who can help us get him into shape and Rabbit knows that it will be an uphill battle until he is proficient. But, I am sure he is up for the challenge.
How did I hold up? Well thanks for asking. I did great. It was 97 degrees and I am happy to report that the easy up worked perfectly. Tomorrow we start even earlier (leaving the house by 7:15) so we shall see how it goes.
2 1 0 0 3 2
Friday, June 13, 2008
And away we go
Wish us luck, first tournament is tomorrow. So far we have purchased 2 hats ($50), an easy-up ($90), new socks, pants and belts ($75) and various balls, whiffles and other fun stuff ($50). That is right, we are roughly $265 into this, not counting tournament fees, initiation fees and coaching fees (appx. $600 so far) before we have played even one inning. I knew this was coming, but this is wildly different than the $55 Little League season.
Speaking of Little League we had our first All Stars practice last night. Rabbit was tired, but he hit very well. Those who know him realize this is quite a feat as he is generally not a strong hitter. He played real well in the field as well and seems to enjoy playing with the boys he has known for years again.
His arm looks great for this weekend and he is so excited he can barely sit still. Our games are in Moreno Valley (hour drive into the desert) and we need to leave Saturday morning by 8am. On Sunday we need to leave by 6:30. Anyone who knows me realizes what a sacrifice this is for my child. It is supposed to be stupidly hot this weekend, and there are 9 boys going. 24 innings without a rest over a two day span. The good news is that the most they can pitch is 6 innings in one day, 7 in two days. We still have a practice tonight, then home by 9 PM to pack up the car. It will be fun to see how he responds to all this playing time. The good news is that with next week being the last week of school it will be OK for him to be exhausted on Monday.
Speaking of Little League we had our first All Stars practice last night. Rabbit was tired, but he hit very well. Those who know him realize this is quite a feat as he is generally not a strong hitter. He played real well in the field as well and seems to enjoy playing with the boys he has known for years again.
His arm looks great for this weekend and he is so excited he can barely sit still. Our games are in Moreno Valley (hour drive into the desert) and we need to leave Saturday morning by 8am. On Sunday we need to leave by 6:30. Anyone who knows me realizes what a sacrifice this is for my child. It is supposed to be stupidly hot this weekend, and there are 9 boys going. 24 innings without a rest over a two day span. The good news is that the most they can pitch is 6 innings in one day, 7 in two days. We still have a practice tonight, then home by 9 PM to pack up the car. It will be fun to see how he responds to all this playing time. The good news is that with next week being the last week of school it will be OK for him to be exhausted on Monday.
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
And so it begins.....
This morning Rabbit asked me if we could go to the batting cages tonight. And on Thursday. We also have practice Wednesday and Friday. And an All-Stars meeting tonight. Tournaments Saturday and Sunday. This is starting to get silly.
In order to help maintain some form of balance my wife and I have decided to try out a "get out of jail free" card for practices. Once per month, for any reason at all, on 2 hours notice Rabbit can excuse himself from a practice. While I do not expect he will use it, I want him to know that this is fun activity, and not a full time job, previous paragraph not withstanding.
I came a cross an interesting letter from Little League headquarters. While I appreciate the sentiment, I have several problems with their position. Every Little League activity is pointed towards a tournament. Every game counts. Every trophy matters. While I whole heartedly endorse pitch counts and safety measures it is ridiculous to say that "Travel Ball" ignores those issues. I especially find this sentence noteworthy:
In reality though, those who support travel ball are in many cases fulfilling a self-serving goal by seeking out a “higher level of competition” for the expressed purpose of supposedly increasing their child’s chances of landing a major college scholarship, or professional contract.
That is absolutely correct that I want my son to play with a higher level of competition. I want him to fight for every opportunity. That is how he gets better at something he loves. Do I honestly believe that he will play baseball professionally? Not for a second. I just hope he plays baseball so long as it is fun. There are parents with $ in their eyes at these tournaments, but not more than I see in the stands of any Little League game. After managing for the last several years I have lost count of how many times I get spoken to by parents who know their child has the "something special" and that I am directly stunting their development.
I have yet to meet a 9 or 10 year old who is playing in the Major Leagues. Think about what you wanted to be when you were 10. By the time I was 14 I had my entire life and career planned out. Not a single aspect of my life today is how I envisioned it back then. And that is a good thing.
My hope for my son is that he develops discipline, camaraderie, problem solving skills and teamwork from his baseball "career." Everything else is gravy.
In order to help maintain some form of balance my wife and I have decided to try out a "get out of jail free" card for practices. Once per month, for any reason at all, on 2 hours notice Rabbit can excuse himself from a practice. While I do not expect he will use it, I want him to know that this is fun activity, and not a full time job, previous paragraph not withstanding.
I came a cross an interesting letter from Little League headquarters. While I appreciate the sentiment, I have several problems with their position. Every Little League activity is pointed towards a tournament. Every game counts. Every trophy matters. While I whole heartedly endorse pitch counts and safety measures it is ridiculous to say that "Travel Ball" ignores those issues. I especially find this sentence noteworthy:
In reality though, those who support travel ball are in many cases fulfilling a self-serving goal by seeking out a “higher level of competition” for the expressed purpose of supposedly increasing their child’s chances of landing a major college scholarship, or professional contract.
That is absolutely correct that I want my son to play with a higher level of competition. I want him to fight for every opportunity. That is how he gets better at something he loves. Do I honestly believe that he will play baseball professionally? Not for a second. I just hope he plays baseball so long as it is fun. There are parents with $ in their eyes at these tournaments, but not more than I see in the stands of any Little League game. After managing for the last several years I have lost count of how many times I get spoken to by parents who know their child has the "something special" and that I am directly stunting their development.
I have yet to meet a 9 or 10 year old who is playing in the Major Leagues. Think about what you wanted to be when you were 10. By the time I was 14 I had my entire life and career planned out. Not a single aspect of my life today is how I envisioned it back then. And that is a good thing.
My hope for my son is that he develops discipline, camaraderie, problem solving skills and teamwork from his baseball "career." Everything else is gravy.
Thursday, June 5, 2008
Practice makes perfect
One of our core reasons for continuing playing over the summer with a travel ball team was that Rabbit would be constantly improving from the direct supervision. That and the fact that he asked us if he could play baseball every day all summer long. He cleans his room, loves his mother and does his homework so there was no way we could say no.
During the Little League season we practiced 2 days a week and had 2 games a week. Rabbit was a starting pitcher and 1st baseman so he would, usually, pitch one game and play in the field the other. He is working on a change up right now to go with his 3 different fastballs. Coach Louis from Blue Wave taught him the grip just last week so we are still figuring it out.
Blue Wave practices are twice a week, Wednesday and Friday, from 5pm to 7pm or so. I say or so because the fielding practices tend to go a bit longer and the conditioning practices a bit shorter. These are hard-core working practices also. Lots of running and drills. It is fun to watch a group of motivated boys try to out hustle each other while maintaining a healthy competitive spirit. As an added bonus, Rabbit sleeps real well on the nights after practice.
We are spending a fair amount of money for this instruction and have had to make some internal rules regarding priorities. We have told our son these and so far (it is still new and exciting, let's see how we all feel in 6 months) he is 100% on board.
For the summer, our order of priorities is as follows:
1) Family
2) Baseball
3) Friends
Meaning that baseball practice and games take priority over sleep overs and going to the movies. In addition to the twice weekly team practices we will be going to the batting cages once a week and also continuing our Sunday morning baseball at the local fields. It is realistic that we will be spending almost 15-25 hours a week on baseball between practices and games. I must be honest and say that I am concerned about that much time and focus. We wanted to do this to help our son get better at something he enjoys and has done well at. The last thing I want to do is burn him out at the age of 9.
To avoid this we have 3 weeks of no baseball. A family trip in July and a week at his cousin's house will provide a nice break. It is very easy to toss in a mitt and play catch if you want to. It is also very easy to not play catch if you would rather do something else that day.
During the Little League season we practiced 2 days a week and had 2 games a week. Rabbit was a starting pitcher and 1st baseman so he would, usually, pitch one game and play in the field the other. He is working on a change up right now to go with his 3 different fastballs. Coach Louis from Blue Wave taught him the grip just last week so we are still figuring it out.
Blue Wave practices are twice a week, Wednesday and Friday, from 5pm to 7pm or so. I say or so because the fielding practices tend to go a bit longer and the conditioning practices a bit shorter. These are hard-core working practices also. Lots of running and drills. It is fun to watch a group of motivated boys try to out hustle each other while maintaining a healthy competitive spirit. As an added bonus, Rabbit sleeps real well on the nights after practice.
We are spending a fair amount of money for this instruction and have had to make some internal rules regarding priorities. We have told our son these and so far (it is still new and exciting, let's see how we all feel in 6 months) he is 100% on board.
For the summer, our order of priorities is as follows:
1) Family
2) Baseball
3) Friends
Meaning that baseball practice and games take priority over sleep overs and going to the movies. In addition to the twice weekly team practices we will be going to the batting cages once a week and also continuing our Sunday morning baseball at the local fields. It is realistic that we will be spending almost 15-25 hours a week on baseball between practices and games. I must be honest and say that I am concerned about that much time and focus. We wanted to do this to help our son get better at something he enjoys and has done well at. The last thing I want to do is burn him out at the age of 9.
To avoid this we have 3 weeks of no baseball. A family trip in July and a week at his cousin's house will provide a nice break. It is very easy to toss in a mitt and play catch if you want to. It is also very easy to not play catch if you would rather do something else that day.
Welcome, now light your summer plans on fire
After another very strong Little League season (AAA this time, capped with an All-Star invitation) we decided to give travel baseball a try for the summer. If you had asked me in March to describe the options for a 9 year old to play travel baseball I would have been amazed that such an animal even existed. Now I am just starting to realize how huge an animal this really is.
We met with people we trust and went to several different organizations. Special thanks to Jason Corapci at Real Deal Baseball camps for his input. In the end we chose Irvine Blue Wave as our team of choice. I may go into greater detail later about the whole process, but I have too many things going on right now to lay it all out.
We are just now preparing for a busy schedule of tournaments encompassing both All Stars and travel ball. Our first travel ball tourney is scheduled for Father's Day weekend, the 14th and 15th of June. All Stars starts on the 21st of June. I am still unsure of what format the All Stars tournament will take, but expect it to mostly be a Saturday thing with a day or two of practice midweek.
My plan for now is to relate my experiences, solicit help, shout into the wind and brag when appropriate.
We met with people we trust and went to several different organizations. Special thanks to Jason Corapci at Real Deal Baseball camps for his input. In the end we chose Irvine Blue Wave as our team of choice. I may go into greater detail later about the whole process, but I have too many things going on right now to lay it all out.
We are just now preparing for a busy schedule of tournaments encompassing both All Stars and travel ball. Our first travel ball tourney is scheduled for Father's Day weekend, the 14th and 15th of June. All Stars starts on the 21st of June. I am still unsure of what format the All Stars tournament will take, but expect it to mostly be a Saturday thing with a day or two of practice midweek.
My plan for now is to relate my experiences, solicit help, shout into the wind and brag when appropriate.
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