Sparksdale,
Let me relate a personal moment to you. During my junior year of college, on Spring trip, I won a start, and then the very next day was asked to relieve when our "super freshman" walked the bases loaded and gave up a grand slam. I pitched 4 shutout innings to earn the save. A few days later I got another start, and pitched into the last inning, 2 outs to go. In a 6-2 game I walked two batters and was pulled for a reliever after 120-some pitches. I was pissed at myself for walking 2 consecutive guys. Rather than actually be happy that we were about to win, I was pissed. As I came out of the game, my head and assistant coach were standing by the entrance with their hands raised to give me five. I walked past them in a rage and threw my glove at the wall, and sat on the bench thinking pissed off thoughts. I did not pitch a colle3ge varsity game again. My coaches would rather sit the 6'3 lefty throwing mid 80s with a 2-0 0.56 ERA then win with me pitching. I think about this situation almost every day in one form or another (I'm about to turn 39). We ended up losing in Sectionals (ranked 5th in the nation, D3), when our coach brought in 2 other relievers, not me. I have to live with that ... and despite success in other areas, it doesn;t feel good.
I ended up getting some pro invites that summer, but no contract and no draft. I am confident that 2 teams were interested until they talked to my coach. At that time I was 155 pounds, and I'm quite certain that teams thought with added weight and maturity the velocity would increase even more. I'm sure that talking to my coach thwarted any interest the teams had.
My whole point in this is to let you know that not everyone here is perfect. Some of us really struggle with the player-coach, dad-son situation that exists.
My son is gifted athletically and academically, but really struggles with emotions. Some of buddies say "plant a potato, get a potato". I continue to explore strategies to keep my son from reliving my experiences.
What I can tell you is that every kid has flaws. You don't often hit the jackpot with a kid that excels in all aspects. What we have started to focus on is "getting better at things we're not naturally good at." Too often we're simply praised for the things that come easy to us.
We all share experiences here to get input on how to work on some things, to let each other know that you're not alone, and to keep others from repeating our mistakes. If the community loses that aspect, it will lose its most valuable purpose, IMHO.
Let me relate a personal moment to you. During my junior year of college, on Spring trip, I won a start, and then the very next day was asked to relieve when our "super freshman" walked the bases loaded and gave up a grand slam. I pitched 4 shutout innings to earn the save. A few days later I got another start, and pitched into the last inning, 2 outs to go. In a 6-2 game I walked two batters and was pulled for a reliever after 120-some pitches. I was pissed at myself for walking 2 consecutive guys. Rather than actually be happy that we were about to win, I was pissed. As I came out of the game, my head and assistant coach were standing by the entrance with their hands raised to give me five. I walked past them in a rage and threw my glove at the wall, and sat on the bench thinking pissed off thoughts. I did not pitch a colle3ge varsity game again. My coaches would rather sit the 6'3 lefty throwing mid 80s with a 2-0 0.56 ERA then win with me pitching. I think about this situation almost every day in one form or another (I'm about to turn 39). We ended up losing in Sectionals (ranked 5th in the nation, D3), when our coach brought in 2 other relievers, not me. I have to live with that ... and despite success in other areas, it doesn;t feel good.
I ended up getting some pro invites that summer, but no contract and no draft. I am confident that 2 teams were interested until they talked to my coach. At that time I was 155 pounds, and I'm quite certain that teams thought with added weight and maturity the velocity would increase even more. I'm sure that talking to my coach thwarted any interest the teams had.
My whole point in this is to let you know that not everyone here is perfect. Some of us really struggle with the player-coach, dad-son situation that exists.
My son is gifted athletically and academically, but really struggles with emotions. Some of buddies say "plant a potato, get a potato". I continue to explore strategies to keep my son from reliving my experiences.
What I can tell you is that every kid has flaws. You don't often hit the jackpot with a kid that excels in all aspects. What we have started to focus on is "getting better at things we're not naturally good at." Too often we're simply praised for the things that come easy to us.
We all share experiences here to get input on how to work on some things, to let each other know that you're not alone, and to keep others from repeating our mistakes. If the community loses that aspect, it will lose its most valuable purpose, IMHO.
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