Zero expectations for this weeks tourney. 0-3 with 2 mercy losses is my guess. Not having a good time right now. The good news is that we are playing 10 minutes from home, and will not play until 1 PM on Sunday. Somehow we are playing with two 8 year old players while some 10s are not on the roster. I am confused, but slightly hopeful. The roster for the National Tourney in Nevada looks very strong. No point in freaking out, but we will have to start making decisions for next year in the next 90 days. Maybe it is time to unplug for a bit.
Rabbit needs glasses. This is no surprise since both the Mrs. and I are blind as bats. This might just help at the plate. We will be seeing an eye doctor next week. Otherwise, Rabbit can finally grip a circle change, and it is very effective right now. It will be fun to watch that develop.
Had a great road trip to Albuquerque. Saw two AAA games and got to play with my 16 yo nephew. He is becoming quite a solid player and he and Rabbit had a blast together. Rabbit is itchy though, wanting to play even more than he already is. His enthusiasm is overwhelming. It is all I can do to reign him in. Relax, breathe deep. He is only 10, for 4 more days at least.
Friday, July 24, 2009
Saturday, July 11, 2009
A tail in search of a head
Let me be blunt.
Today
SUCKED
100 degrees, two painfully easy games squandered to rookie mistakes and no one accepting responsibility. This team needs a leader. Since there are no volunteers, we have let Rabbit know that he is faced with the unwelcome task of being an on field general. The boys simply do not come prepared to play. They practice well, but come game time they are on another planet. Rabbit needs to help them focus,or get those who refuse to focus where they will do the least harm. The good news is that we cannot play worse.
1-5 today, with a great RBI single, and 4 Ks. Horrible in the field, mediocre on the hill and terrible with the bat. We always expect July tourneys to be rough, but this was embarrassing. No point in dwelling on the past. I am interested in what tomorrow brings.
Found a huge whole in his swing and got to work on that. But that is like using a squirt gun on a forest fire. The problems facing this team require more than a visit to the cage.
Today
SUCKED
100 degrees, two painfully easy games squandered to rookie mistakes and no one accepting responsibility. This team needs a leader. Since there are no volunteers, we have let Rabbit know that he is faced with the unwelcome task of being an on field general. The boys simply do not come prepared to play. They practice well, but come game time they are on another planet. Rabbit needs to help them focus,or get those who refuse to focus where they will do the least harm. The good news is that we cannot play worse.
1-5 today, with a great RBI single, and 4 Ks. Horrible in the field, mediocre on the hill and terrible with the bat. We always expect July tourneys to be rough, but this was embarrassing. No point in dwelling on the past. I am interested in what tomorrow brings.
Found a huge whole in his swing and got to work on that. But that is like using a squirt gun on a forest fire. The problems facing this team require more than a visit to the cage.
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
The end of Little League!
We were bad parents. We took the weekend off to go to Morro Bay and sleep in and be lazy. We had planned this trip about 6 weeks ago. It turns out that this past Sunday was the first game of Tournament of Champions. So we missed game 1. Oh well. The Bruins won and we were back in town for game 2 on Monday night. Rabbit grounded sharply to third in his first at bat, played good defense in RF, and then misplayed a pop up in LF. With no outs and the bases loaded in the third inning coach had him come in to pitch. Rabbit hates coming in as a reliever, especially in situations like this. But, he did his best, and got ground balls. And more ground balls. A few strike-outs were mixed in as well. In fact, in his three innings pitched not a single ball was hit in the air, or past the infield. The 7 errors didn't help any. We lost 5-0 and now are super duper done with Little League. Except for Closing Ceremonies on Monday. Ugh.
The reason we are done is because I told the league that we were not interested in having Rabbit play with the 9-10yo All Stars. After last years overwhelmingly negative experience I already had a bad taste in my mouth. Plus, Rabbit would be the only person on that team who had not played in AAA. And I was not overwhelmed by the person who was coaching. This is where I become a world-class LL A-hole parent. It was an absolute no-win scenario for the kid. If he goes out and strikes out every batter, he is supposed to because he played in Majors. If he hits every ball over the fence, again, he is supposed to. But if he doesn't dominate then he is open to ridicule and questions of "who does this kid think he is?" from other players and parents. We had made our plans for the summer already, and those plans did not include All Stars. It was an easy decision,and we are satisfied with the outcome. As expected, once I turned down the 9-10 team we were disqualified from the 11 or 12 team. In fact, his LL coach tried to get him for the 12 team and was denied by the board. I completely understand, and endorse that decision. No matter what, he was in demand, and it is a compliment that so many coaches wanted him to play for them.
When we began Little League this season we wanted Rabbit to be able to contribute. By the end of the season he was the number 2 starting pitcher, starting 1B and clean-up hitter. He met and exceeded his goals and had a great season. He should be proud of his accomplishments.
Now that we are back to baseball 3 nights a week instead of 6 we can get back to the fun stuff. The OC Flyers home opener is tonight. Rabbit will be a bat boy for game 1 of a DH on Wednesday. Then, starting the 19th he is with his cousin in the Central Valley for 10 days of swimming pools and goofiness. It is good to be 10, and it should be.
Albuquerque later this summer, and Blue Wave tourneys from now until December. I will have more about Blue Wave later, the drama is thick. But not today.
The reason we are done is because I told the league that we were not interested in having Rabbit play with the 9-10yo All Stars. After last years overwhelmingly negative experience I already had a bad taste in my mouth. Plus, Rabbit would be the only person on that team who had not played in AAA. And I was not overwhelmed by the person who was coaching. This is where I become a world-class LL A-hole parent. It was an absolute no-win scenario for the kid. If he goes out and strikes out every batter, he is supposed to because he played in Majors. If he hits every ball over the fence, again, he is supposed to. But if he doesn't dominate then he is open to ridicule and questions of "who does this kid think he is?" from other players and parents. We had made our plans for the summer already, and those plans did not include All Stars. It was an easy decision,and we are satisfied with the outcome. As expected, once I turned down the 9-10 team we were disqualified from the 11 or 12 team. In fact, his LL coach tried to get him for the 12 team and was denied by the board. I completely understand, and endorse that decision. No matter what, he was in demand, and it is a compliment that so many coaches wanted him to play for them.
When we began Little League this season we wanted Rabbit to be able to contribute. By the end of the season he was the number 2 starting pitcher, starting 1B and clean-up hitter. He met and exceeded his goals and had a great season. He should be proud of his accomplishments.
Now that we are back to baseball 3 nights a week instead of 6 we can get back to the fun stuff. The OC Flyers home opener is tonight. Rabbit will be a bat boy for game 1 of a DH on Wednesday. Then, starting the 19th he is with his cousin in the Central Valley for 10 days of swimming pools and goofiness. It is good to be 10, and it should be.
Albuquerque later this summer, and Blue Wave tourneys from now until December. I will have more about Blue Wave later, the drama is thick. But not today.
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
3 Day Weekend - Days 2 and 3
Day 2 was predictably frustrating. After losing the first game on Saturday our team settled into the feeling that we were smaller, less experienced and not as good as our competition. Suffice to say we lost both games, but a glimmer of hope started to flicker in game 2. We played very well and actually held a lead. Rabbit finally broke through with a bases loaded RBI single and pitched well. His coach wanted to keep his pitch count very low, as usual, and throw him mainly in the championship rounds. He threw 17 pitches in the first inning and was done on the mound for the day. Even with two losses, we could see small adjustments being made and the team improving.
That was the good part. The not so good part is the frustration, both amongst players and parents, that was palpable after losing 3 straight. Throw the additional confusion of who will get the 12 year old team, who will coach the 11s etc. it quickly becomes a grumpy crowd. This team needed a good win to help everyone feel better.
On Monday it was single elimination win or go home time. Coach asked Rabbit to start and go as far as he could. On our way to the park we discussed keeping his pitch count down and letting his defense get the outs. We set an imaginary, arbitrary and ridiculously low target of 4 pitches per batter. Our opponent was another team that had struggled and we were anxious to get going. Rabbit took control immediately. In the first inning he drove in a run on a shot down the RF line. With a 1-0 lead the boys took the field defensively. On the second pitch thrown a ball was hit that got through 2B and the runner took a big turn and tried for second. He was thrown out by 3 steps. A strike out and a pop-up later and we were out of the first inning on 7 pitches. We scraped another run across in the second, and again retired them in order, this time on 5 pitches, a new personal best. One more run for us in the third and then Rabbit struck out 2 and got a tremendous grab on a foul ball by the 1B. His second strikeout he threw a changeup that was ridiculous. The umpire was amazed, the poor hitter looked dejected and the opposing coach had a look on his face as if to say "I don't know either." He is throwing that pitch for outs now more often, and when it is good, it is completely unhittable. As usual, we scored 1 run in the fourth. Rabbit got the first two outs before walking a batter but then that runner was caught stealing. We broke it open in the fifth, scoring 4 runs against a clearly resigned defense. If we could hold on and not allow a run we would win 8-0 via mercy rule. Rabbit turned it up and threw 8 pitches in the inning, striking out the last batter for the CG shutout. ON 45 PITCHES! 5 IP, 1H, 0R, 5K, 1BB. He faced the minimum and no runner made it to second base. He also drilled a huge sac fly to RF. It was a great game for the entire team.
We were now in the semi-finals and faced a dramatically tougher opponent. We had some lapses in the field and fell behind early. The other team chipped away and finally the game ended at 9-1 in the fifth. The boys who had been so sharp in the morning almost seemed relieved that it was OK to lose one. Not in a negative sense, but that we had competed with some of the best teams out there. The mood was decidedly more upbeat that afternoon and we headed home for a pool party next door.
More tourneys coming up, plus LL ToC and possible All Stars. It just never ends.
That was the good part. The not so good part is the frustration, both amongst players and parents, that was palpable after losing 3 straight. Throw the additional confusion of who will get the 12 year old team, who will coach the 11s etc. it quickly becomes a grumpy crowd. This team needed a good win to help everyone feel better.
On Monday it was single elimination win or go home time. Coach asked Rabbit to start and go as far as he could. On our way to the park we discussed keeping his pitch count down and letting his defense get the outs. We set an imaginary, arbitrary and ridiculously low target of 4 pitches per batter. Our opponent was another team that had struggled and we were anxious to get going. Rabbit took control immediately. In the first inning he drove in a run on a shot down the RF line. With a 1-0 lead the boys took the field defensively. On the second pitch thrown a ball was hit that got through 2B and the runner took a big turn and tried for second. He was thrown out by 3 steps. A strike out and a pop-up later and we were out of the first inning on 7 pitches. We scraped another run across in the second, and again retired them in order, this time on 5 pitches, a new personal best. One more run for us in the third and then Rabbit struck out 2 and got a tremendous grab on a foul ball by the 1B. His second strikeout he threw a changeup that was ridiculous. The umpire was amazed, the poor hitter looked dejected and the opposing coach had a look on his face as if to say "I don't know either." He is throwing that pitch for outs now more often, and when it is good, it is completely unhittable. As usual, we scored 1 run in the fourth. Rabbit got the first two outs before walking a batter but then that runner was caught stealing. We broke it open in the fifth, scoring 4 runs against a clearly resigned defense. If we could hold on and not allow a run we would win 8-0 via mercy rule. Rabbit turned it up and threw 8 pitches in the inning, striking out the last batter for the CG shutout. ON 45 PITCHES! 5 IP, 1H, 0R, 5K, 1BB. He faced the minimum and no runner made it to second base. He also drilled a huge sac fly to RF. It was a great game for the entire team.
We were now in the semi-finals and faced a dramatically tougher opponent. We had some lapses in the field and fell behind early. The other team chipped away and finally the game ended at 9-1 in the fifth. The boys who had been so sharp in the morning almost seemed relieved that it was OK to lose one. Not in a negative sense, but that we had competed with some of the best teams out there. The mood was decidedly more upbeat that afternoon and we headed home for a pool party next door.
More tourneys coming up, plus LL ToC and possible All Stars. It just never ends.
3 Day Weekend - Day 1
Between LL and Blue Wave we played 6 games over the three day weekend. It marked the end of the Little League season and the beginning of tournament time. It is amazing to see how much confidence and momentum matter in this game. We witnessed both ends of the spectrum, invincibility and the complete inability to do anything correctly. Breathe deep and remember, they are only 10.
Saturday morning was in Huntington Beach with Blue Wave. We were playing in the 11U bracket, but had nearly as many 9 year old players (3) as 11 year old players (5). We also had 15 on the roster. Since the coach has every boy hit, we had a 15 man batting order. In our first game we faced a very good team that had all 11 year old players and was a favorite to win the whole event. The game went about as expected. We knew that they could hit our pitching, but our defense was not adjusting to where the balls were being hit. Also, with over half our roster used to playing on smaller fields (46' mound and 65' bases, whereas this tournament was played at 50' and 70') we were unable to play the strong defense we needed. The game ended at 9-0 after 5 innings.
Jumped into the car and then off to Santa Ana for Little League City Tournament. Our coach for LL had his game plan, and was not going to deviate from it for any reason. Our starting pitcher, who was excellent all season long, did a good job, but was not as sharp as he had been. In fact, in the fourth inning he threw 30 pitches. The high pitch count would come into play and he would need to be replaced. With our team leading 4-2 in the bottom of the last inning our pitcher had finally met his number and needed to be replaced. With a runner on first and no outs the coaches son came in to close out the game. The problem is that he throws curveballs, almost constantly. This meant an extreme workload on our catcher to block the balls and prevent steals. Well, a walk and an error later, it is now a one run game. Then tied. Then the winning run for the opponent came across on a wild pitch. I lose my ability to second guess when I declined to manage. However, a control pitcher makes more sense to me in that scenario. And we had 4 of them ready to go.
Oh well. The good news is that we are out of that tournament and don't have to sweat juggling practices and games mid-week. An anti-climactic ending to a positive LL season. Rabbit played well in both games, but is still not finding hits. They will come.
Saturday morning was in Huntington Beach with Blue Wave. We were playing in the 11U bracket, but had nearly as many 9 year old players (3) as 11 year old players (5). We also had 15 on the roster. Since the coach has every boy hit, we had a 15 man batting order. In our first game we faced a very good team that had all 11 year old players and was a favorite to win the whole event. The game went about as expected. We knew that they could hit our pitching, but our defense was not adjusting to where the balls were being hit. Also, with over half our roster used to playing on smaller fields (46' mound and 65' bases, whereas this tournament was played at 50' and 70') we were unable to play the strong defense we needed. The game ended at 9-0 after 5 innings.
Jumped into the car and then off to Santa Ana for Little League City Tournament. Our coach for LL had his game plan, and was not going to deviate from it for any reason. Our starting pitcher, who was excellent all season long, did a good job, but was not as sharp as he had been. In fact, in the fourth inning he threw 30 pitches. The high pitch count would come into play and he would need to be replaced. With our team leading 4-2 in the bottom of the last inning our pitcher had finally met his number and needed to be replaced. With a runner on first and no outs the coaches son came in to close out the game. The problem is that he throws curveballs, almost constantly. This meant an extreme workload on our catcher to block the balls and prevent steals. Well, a walk and an error later, it is now a one run game. Then tied. Then the winning run for the opponent came across on a wild pitch. I lose my ability to second guess when I declined to manage. However, a control pitcher makes more sense to me in that scenario. And we had 4 of them ready to go.
Oh well. The good news is that we are out of that tournament and don't have to sweat juggling practices and games mid-week. An anti-climactic ending to a positive LL season. Rabbit played well in both games, but is still not finding hits. They will come.
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
The best team in the majors.
Well, the Dodgers are still winning. But this is not about them. This is about the Santa Ana NW Little League Major Bruins. After a 2-5 start they rallied hard, winning 10 of 11 to win their division. Rabbit played a big part and finished the season as a starting pitcher and batting clean up. What a tremendous accomplishment. The team has really played well of late and hopes to carry some strong momentum into the ToC and City Tournament schedules. His coach has also alerted us to the fact that he will nominate Rabbit for the 11U All Stars and even suggested that he may take him for the 12U team. Quite the recognition for a kid playing up a level.
Hitting has come back down to earth, but we noticed a slight change in the stance. Upon correction he was back to hitting the ball hard and picked up 4 RBI in his last 3 games. His pitching is great right now with a real zip on the fastball. Additionally, the change-up is un-hittable and keeping the front elbow high has really added to the movement of his other pitches. Of all things, it is his defense at 1B, usually his strong suit, that has been suffering. We spent some extra reps on the bag and are making the adjustments. For whatever reason he does not like to get the ball into the webbing of the glove, but rather trap the ball against the "paddle" edge. A few more reps and he will be back to his usual sparkling defense.
Travel ball gets serious this weekend with a 3 day tournament. We have the potential between City Tournament and Travel to play 9 games in 3 days. YIKES! The reality will be much more reasonable. I am astonished at Rabbit's progress in the last 12 months. Mostly, I am amazed he still has the same enthusiasm and drive. Even more so were that possible. It is fun to be a part of his world as he grows. I do need to remind myself that he is still 10. It is very easy to forget when he handles himself so maturely.
Summer plans are shaping up nicely. Flyers start in 3 weeks, road trip to ABQ looks like the end of July, and NCAA regionals coming in the next two weeks. Throw in a Dodger game or 3 and we are set for a few months. While not everything is perfect, who cares. The game is still fun, and he is improving daily. It is hard to believe it has been a year already since I started this project. I cannot wait to see what the next 12 months bring.
Hitting has come back down to earth, but we noticed a slight change in the stance. Upon correction he was back to hitting the ball hard and picked up 4 RBI in his last 3 games. His pitching is great right now with a real zip on the fastball. Additionally, the change-up is un-hittable and keeping the front elbow high has really added to the movement of his other pitches. Of all things, it is his defense at 1B, usually his strong suit, that has been suffering. We spent some extra reps on the bag and are making the adjustments. For whatever reason he does not like to get the ball into the webbing of the glove, but rather trap the ball against the "paddle" edge. A few more reps and he will be back to his usual sparkling defense.
Travel ball gets serious this weekend with a 3 day tournament. We have the potential between City Tournament and Travel to play 9 games in 3 days. YIKES! The reality will be much more reasonable. I am astonished at Rabbit's progress in the last 12 months. Mostly, I am amazed he still has the same enthusiasm and drive. Even more so were that possible. It is fun to be a part of his world as he grows. I do need to remind myself that he is still 10. It is very easy to forget when he handles himself so maturely.
Summer plans are shaping up nicely. Flyers start in 3 weeks, road trip to ABQ looks like the end of July, and NCAA regionals coming in the next two weeks. Throw in a Dodger game or 3 and we are set for a few months. While not everything is perfect, who cares. The game is still fun, and he is improving daily. It is hard to believe it has been a year already since I started this project. I cannot wait to see what the next 12 months bring.
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
A statement game
Little League is worse than the mob. Just when you think you are out, they pull you back in. Rabbit was starting against a team in our division that was within 1 game of us for first. With only 3 to play this was a must win for us to move on into Tournament of Champions. I was quite surprised when Coach told me that Rabbit had the ball. Coach was hoping to get 1-2 innings and then let the No. 1 come in and finish the game. What he got from Rabbit was nothing short of exceptional. 4 IP, 7K, 1BB, 1H, 0ER, 57 pitches. All of this against a team coached by a manager who said at the draft that no 10 year old should be in Majors.
Rabbit was doing a great job of changing speeds, raising and lowering eye-levels and spotting the ball perfectly. He was Maddux-like only in the sense that they were taking balls down the middle and swinging at things 6-12" off the plate. He struck out the side in the third, including his best friend from across the street (3 pitches) and the boy who 2 weeks ago told him that he had no business being in Majors and was only there because I made the league draft him, also on 3 pitches. In the fourth he got a friend, and former teammate on a fantastic sequence. Change-up for a called strike, swung and missed a high and outside fastball, then screwed himself into the ground swinging on a change-up that bounced twice on the way to the plate. He also made two strong fielding plays (we had been working on fielding the position lately) and managed to not slide head first into home this time.
That was the good news. Now the frustrating stuff. The officiating has passed bad, blew straight through awful, and is almost beyond embarrassing. Strike zones change from pitch to pitch and factual calls are missed several times a game. 6 of the 7 strikeouts Rabbit got were swinging so the opposition has nothing to complain about there. However, it is a joke what the boys have to deal with behind the plate. More bad news, we are now firmly atop the league standings and look to be facing City Tournament, ToC and All-Stars. So much for this being the last week of Little League. Rabbit's Coach has nominated him for the 11U All-Star team. A real accomplishment and we will see if he gets accepted. We highly doubt we would accept the honor since he wants to play with Blue Wave more and was incredibly frustrated by last years All-Star experience, but it is still a tip of the cap to all of his hard work.
We are in the middle of a stretch right now where we have baseball 10 days in a row and 13 out of 17. In the midst of all of that Rabbit is also doing State Testing at school and is headed into his classroom an hour early each morning for study-hall. I am nothing short of amazed at his focus and resiliency. I am exhausted and I just watch.
Blue Wave is coming nicely, big tournament over Memorial Day in Huntington Beach. OC Flyers open at home on June 9 and the Dodgers are starting to fall back to earth. I may have a comment on Manny later, but for now I just don't care enough to put it in writing.
Rabbit was doing a great job of changing speeds, raising and lowering eye-levels and spotting the ball perfectly. He was Maddux-like only in the sense that they were taking balls down the middle and swinging at things 6-12" off the plate. He struck out the side in the third, including his best friend from across the street (3 pitches) and the boy who 2 weeks ago told him that he had no business being in Majors and was only there because I made the league draft him, also on 3 pitches. In the fourth he got a friend, and former teammate on a fantastic sequence. Change-up for a called strike, swung and missed a high and outside fastball, then screwed himself into the ground swinging on a change-up that bounced twice on the way to the plate. He also made two strong fielding plays (we had been working on fielding the position lately) and managed to not slide head first into home this time.
That was the good news. Now the frustrating stuff. The officiating has passed bad, blew straight through awful, and is almost beyond embarrassing. Strike zones change from pitch to pitch and factual calls are missed several times a game. 6 of the 7 strikeouts Rabbit got were swinging so the opposition has nothing to complain about there. However, it is a joke what the boys have to deal with behind the plate. More bad news, we are now firmly atop the league standings and look to be facing City Tournament, ToC and All-Stars. So much for this being the last week of Little League. Rabbit's Coach has nominated him for the 11U All-Star team. A real accomplishment and we will see if he gets accepted. We highly doubt we would accept the honor since he wants to play with Blue Wave more and was incredibly frustrated by last years All-Star experience, but it is still a tip of the cap to all of his hard work.
We are in the middle of a stretch right now where we have baseball 10 days in a row and 13 out of 17. In the midst of all of that Rabbit is also doing State Testing at school and is headed into his classroom an hour early each morning for study-hall. I am nothing short of amazed at his focus and resiliency. I am exhausted and I just watch.
Blue Wave is coming nicely, big tournament over Memorial Day in Huntington Beach. OC Flyers open at home on June 9 and the Dodgers are starting to fall back to earth. I may have a comment on Manny later, but for now I just don't care enough to put it in writing.
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