[Barkeep49]

This will follow my efforts to coach a B-level 11U travel baseball team. I’m going to try the dynasty thing again, mainly because having a place to process my thoughts is important given the insecurity inherent in the name of this dynasty. My plan is try and write less than I used to, but this first post will be a long one as I give a lot of information.

Background

I enjoy working with kids (I am a school administrator career wise) and am competitive so coaching is a natural fit for me. I have done a fair amount of coaching at the middle school and below level given that I’m only 29.

I coached 4 competitive travel basketball teams over 3 years. I stopped 2 years ago because of a combination of burnout, failure, and lack of time due to my career. My teams had mixed success, with one even winning the championship and another finishing the regular season in 4th place, but I would say that I had a mostly negative experience with it.

More positive has been my Science Olympiad coaching. Obviously non-athletic, but over the past two years I have had kids in an event I coach win a medal at the State level. Also successful has been my recreational baseball coaching. My 7 teams have had good years and tough years, but even in tough years it was mostly a positive experience, as my baseball coaching partner, Steve, and got the most out of our teams. My team last year was a talented one and we finished in a close second.

Perhaps the worst coaching experience, but one I’m somewhat proud of, is when I tried coaching competitive travel baseball. My 9 year-old team didn’t have much talent. The parents were obnoxious. By the end of the season we’d progressed from horrible to mediocre. But there was a LOT of losing along that journey. A lot. Granted by the end there was quite an improvement, and that’s why I’m proud. But the losing took a toll on me and on the parents who took it out on me and Steve.

Part of the problem is that the parents weren’t completely off base. Neither Steve or I played baseball above the Middle School level. So while we do certain things well, there is enough of a lack of knowledge that I really worry that we might simply not be up to the task of coaching competitive baseball. Hence the title of this dynasty.

The Setup

Through a co-worker of Steve’s we were hooked up with a job in the next suburb over from where I live and where Steve and I grew-up. This program, unlike the program we coached in last time, is well run. The parents are helpful, but also have a respect for the coaches that wasn’t present, even before the losing started, last time. If things go south with the parents it won’t be because of them, it’ll be because of us.

The program being better means several things. It means that we have more coaching time than we did last time. It also means that we won’t have to deal with kids missing because of travel soccer like last time. Despite a much more intense schedule, which has us playing/practicing 5 days a week between now and the middle of July, kids are allowed 4 discretionary absences, period. There’s simply a commitment by the players and parents that wasn’t there last time.

The Team

And then there’s our team. The team has been largely together for 3 years now and it shows. They have good chemistry and an ease about themselves. They also have a commitment that’s admirable. Today one of our players didn’t show up in the practice uniform, due to his shuttling between two houses in a divorce. More than one player, when seeing this out of uniform player, said “Well we deserve to run today.” As a teacher I’ve seen lots of different groups of kids and can say that I think this one is special. Here’s the team, in our rough batting order:

Alex - Our starting shortstop, at least for the moment. He is obviously a good fielder and good hitter (hence his leading off). He’s an unassuming kid, who I think is nervous in social situations so taking charge at short will be difficult for him and so we might flip him and Jordan just because of the leadership demands we ask of our shortstops. He’s also our 3rd best pitcher at the moment.

Jordan - By far our best player. He had been a benchwarmer with the A level team last year, but should be a star for us. He is one of the 3 best hitters, fielders, throwers, and runners. I also have him ranked as our #1 pitcher. Currently we have him playing second, when he and Alex are not pitching because he can be a touch slow to react sometimes. Steve and I buy the research saying the best hitter should go 2, which is why he’s hitting here.

Aaron - This kid has personality oozing out of his pores. At our first practice after hearing that I was a teacher explained that most teachers don’t like him. I believe it, but that’s because most elementary teachers are women who don’t always enjoy boys with personality. He’s our starting catcher. He announced today he wanted to try pitching and showed some good stuff in a bullpen session. At our next practice we’re going to see how he does against live batters. Steve is more impressed with his baseball skills than I am.

Danny - He’s slooooooow, but is our best power hitter. He’s a kid who is going to do whatever is asked him with a smile, even when he doesn’t like it. Due to a good arm and good reflexes he’s our starting 3rd baseman. He’s not going to overwhelm you with pitching speed, but he should be pretty acurate.

David - He’s got a good throwing arm, but doesn’t quite have the pitching mechanics down yet so he’s not a part of the rotation at the moment. He’s also a very good first baseman, so that’s his primary position. However, when we needed a 3rd catcher (Steve and I always believe you can’t have too many catchers) he was willing to step-up. Due to his good arm, I could see him competing with Aaron for time behind the plate should he want it.

Michael - I haven’t quite figured him out yet. He’s good enough to be our second infield utility man, plugging holes due to kids sitting out or pitching. Unlike just about all the other kids on the team, I haven’t quite pegged either how much talent he has now, or his potential.

Ryan - The other kid besides Jordan to come down from the A team this year. He sometimes becomes disrespectful, sometimes without meaning to. He is our #1 infield utilityman and will see a fair amount of time at second when Alex or Jordan are pitching or sitting out.

Andrew - One of 3 sixth graders on the team, including his twin brother Justin. He’s definitely the best natural athlete on the team. He’s our number two catcher and has surprised us with how quickly he’s gotten better at the position (see natural athlete above). I also have him ranked as our #2 pitcher, but could easily see him surpassing Jordan before the season is over. He is also our best at fielding flyballs on the team, taking nearly great angles to the ball, so when not pitching or catching he’s our #1 centerfielder.

Justin - Andrew’s twin. Where Andrew is more serious, Justin is more laidback. Not quite as talented as his brother, he is a hard worker, whose positive nature is of benefit to the team’s good chemistry. He’s an outfielder who will play center when it’s not occupied, but see more time in the corners. He’ll be an emergency pitcher for us.

Nate - Nate didn’t play on our team last year, instead playing for a team put together by his father. He fancies himself a first baseman. Unfortunately he’s not good at catching the ball, so while he’ll keep getting chances to be at 1st during practices, I don’t envision him there during games. He’s the only kid I don’t ever want the ball hit to as he tends to lose focus, and isn’t particularly fast. More promising is his pitching. While I have him ranked as our #4 pitcher right now, it’s because of his inability to consistently locate the plate. He is a lefty who throws ¾ with great movement. If he can learn to regularly find home plate, he could be our best or second best pitcher.

Ross - I want this kid to be good. He works hard. He’s got a great attitude and a good amount of baseball IQ. The talent just isn’t there. He expressed some interest today at catching, which would be great, but I don’t think he’s got the arm to throw kids out, so so much for that. He’s a kid who will make some of the plays required of him, but not others. Like I said I’m really rooting for him.

Brett - Our 3rd sixth grader. He does a bunch of things right, but more things wrong. His baseball IQ is also -5. Nice kid, who will work hard though. His fundamentals are good enough to combine with height befitting his being one of the older kids on the team to make him our back-up first baseman. He won’t make some of the plays David will, but he’ll make all the routine ones.

The Year So Far
The weather interfered greatly with our ability to practice during April. However, we got in 11 practices which was more than enough to have me feeling good for our first game. I knew our pitching was weak, but I felt good about our fielding and our hitting.

So of course we lost our first game yesterday 7-2. It wasn’t the score which gave rise to my insecurities as much as how we looked doing it. There were definite first game jitters as our bats didn’t come alive until the 5th inning and Jordan and Alex, who pitched 4 out of the 7 innings, had trouble finding the strike zone. The real issue were things like having 2 kids picked off at first due to not paying attention. Things like having a kid take second on a walk because we weren’t paying attention. I think it made me and Steve look like idiots. Steve says we’re not under as much scrutiny as we were in before, which is true. But if we don’t win, we will be.

There was some good out of it. Andrew pitched well striking out 2 while allowing no runs and, combined with his getting the first hit of the season for the team, earned the game ball. Danny in his last at bat rifled the ball down the 3rd base line and needed only 11 pitches to get 3 outs in the 7th.

More exciting were the 3 putouts we recorded, and barely missed out on 2 others. By the end of the game they’d become much more cautious running, knowing that our outfielders would be able to make the throws to get them out.

So that’s where we’re at so far. We have another game tomorrow and will be relying on Nate and Andrew at pitcher, as Alex and Jordan are inelegible due to the pitch count rules. Managing our not fantastic pitchers will be one of the seasons challenges for us, but if Aaron turns out to be a pitcher for us, I feel a lot better about our chances to do that.

Thanks for reading.