inthedougout

At the end of the day, baseball really is a simple game.  You need gloves, a bat, and a ball.   We have made it increasingly difficult to play, however, by overloading our kids' brains with details they can't even begin to absorb. So what do I do?  Keep it insanely simple.  And fun.   I tell my kids that baseball is a glorified game of tag.  Someone has to throw the ball, someone has to hit the ball, and then you gotta tag 'em out. But go out and pay attention to the next practice.  Listen to the flood  of information that these kids are supposed to process.  Elbow this, feet that, head there, hips like this, on and on and on.  Now put yourself in the shoes of that kid.  When the kid gets frustrated, is he justified?  You're damn right he is.  When we practice, my kids have more fun running relays on the bases than the fielding or hitting drills.  The reason is simple: just go out and run. ...

I was heating up my lunch yesterday and someone asked, "is baseball played in the Fall?" I laughed for several reasons, but more so because baseball has become a year-round passion of ours.   Note:  I fully believe and subscribe to the school of thought that kids should play several sports.  My kids play several sports.  Baseball just happens to be the sport that we use for life lessons.  Baseball is always, and I mean always, around us. Yes, I replied, we play baseball in the Fall and we love it.  But baseball in the Fall is unique for so many reasons.  We don't usually keep that close of an eye on the scores.  We emphasize fundamentals and the process -- not the outcomes. Fall baseball has become how I'd like to treat all of baseball.  I follow a number of youth baseball organizations and they tout their success winning tournament after tournament. To some extent, I just don't care if you won that tournament or not....