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**Mark H** · 04-11-2006, 08:28 PM

That's the problem with team sports. You either have to keep doing what you are doing and hope for the best, find out what the coach wants or is thinking or convince mom and dad to move. Keep in mind, your summer select team will be more important to your college ball chances than your hs team. And I'm not talking about a summer team based on your school. I'm talking about a true select team. You can do some reading and searching on high school baseball web concerning select ball, showcases etc. Don't pay any attention to what they say about how to swing or throw but when it comes to how to get noticed and move to the next level they know their stuff.

**chesspirate** · 04-11-2006, 08:45 PM

I feel for you, always was behind somebody, felt that i was better in certain areas too.

You need to be bold, do whatever it takes to play, get in the games, Whatever It Takes! it's worth the possible heartache of confrontation with coaches to get what you want. Trust me on that, i didn't force the issue and the coaches just let me sit back the whole way through high school, probably affected my LIFE overall looking back at. I've made the best of it (far as i'm concerned) but if you really love ball, and you're better than the other guys, do WHATEVER it takes!!!

**Curly** · 04-11-2006, 09:09 PM

Life is not fair! So what are you going to do about it? Do you love the game?
Sorry for being tough. Do whatever it takes:
1) Are you at practise early, taking extra swings, fielding grounders from both short and third?
2) Are you a positive influence on and off the field? Do you cheer on the guys ahead of you because they are teammates or privately snicker at their errors?
3) Are you staying after practise and doing things to make yourself better? These things could be extra conditioning or resistence training (can't get enough core work) or for that matter bunting or ....

Character is built when you get knocked down (literally as well) a notch. How do you respond? Crying, badmouthing or work harder and improve yourself. Use this time to better yourself for your local travel team if nothing else.

I may touch a nerve here, but most of the highschool coaches in my area are not worth a damn and popularity is an issue on our highschool team(s). Do the things that are in your control. You will be a better person and player!

Good Luck and work hard!!!

**Ursa Major** · 04-11-2006, 09:54 PM

Curly, you've got some excellent points there. Hope to see you post more often.

Fuggles, if all you say is true, the coach has an agenda that does not include you. So, anything that he can find about you that he thinks is negative will allow him to continue to rationalize keeping you on the bench -- i.e., "yeah, Fuggles has talents, but he's too negative." If you keep making the plays at practice and raking the ball in BP while being a positive teammate, the other players will go to the coach and demand that you get a chance.

What you have to be careful about is not "showing up" the coach. If you make it a direct challenge -- "I'll show that you're wrong, you old fossil" -- then he'll consider it to be a matter or preserving his authority. If other players ask you why you're sitting, don't criticize him. A better attitude is, "Well, I guess he knows what the other guys can do and I understand that, but I'll do what I can and see."

You say you're a freshman. Are you on the JV squad or varsity? Either way, the coach may have made commitments to the other players to give them a shot, and doesn't want to go back on his word until they've clearly flamed out. You've got three more years there. Give it a little time... Maybe talk with another teacher with whom you've established a rapport and seems to have some interest in baseball. Maybe he or she knows the coach and can advise you on the dynamics, and perhaps even get a little back channel action going to make sure you get a shot.

In the meantime, make sure your grades are good and you stay eligible. While we here at Baseball-fever are pretty lax about grammar and diction, your posts suggest that you might do well to pay a wee bit of attention to your writing skills.

Good luck and keep us posted.

UM

**fungo22** · 04-11-2006, 10:22 PM

Extremely good advice. i coached a little school ball, and we always put the team on the field that was getting the job done. But we had a soft spot for the kid that did some of the things suggested above - even if he deserved to be 3rd string. I'm not saying your HS coaches will develop a soft spot for you, but it is your best shot. In the end, you'll have to decide whether the price is worth paying.

A word of my own advice: Don't call the coach an "old fossil." He'll suspect you've been getting advice from an old fossil.

**Jake Patterson** · 04-12-2006, 08:01 AM

Fuggles, to mirror some of the things already said.

Being a former high school coach there are several bits of advise I can offer...

1. You are what your coach percieves you to be (when on his field) Not what you percieve yourself to be. Whether or not you feel you're the best there is - he does not.
2. You are only a freshman. I seldom, almost never put a freshman at short on my varsity HS team.
3. DO NOT lament over the coach's decision to play you or not. Concentrate on improving and showing him why it is you should be playing. If you went 2-2, then bare down and go 3-3, then 4-4 etc...
4. I have been a dad who has coached his sons (Both grown now). AND I have been on both sides of the dad/son equation. I was known for two things when it came to my boys - a.) Not cutting them any slack and treated them harder than others - mainly because I saw unfullfilled potentential - and - b.) Put them in positions where others felt it was unfair. Mainly because I understood their skill set and their limitations.
5. Be the best cheerleader on the team, be early, help with the equipment and always treat other players with respect. This goes a lot farther than sitting back feeling bad for yourself.
6. DO NOT ask the coach why am I not playing? Ask him, "Hey coach what do I need to do to get more playing time at short?"
7. Try for another position. If I had a great freshman SS from middle school, AAU, Senior League, Babe Ruth, etc... I would look at playing him on 2nd.
8. Never ever again mention that, "His dad...." It doesn't help.

Coach

**retkag** · 04-12-2006, 08:06 AM

responsibilities of a player

1. If your not early your late, if your on time your late. Be at the practice field 15 minutes before.

2. Remember this Coaches-coach Players-play Parents-parent

3. If your coach has not told the players where he they stand, it's your responsibility to ask him. Remember this about you and not the other players.

4. You need to ask him him what he thinks you need to do to see the field more. Remember!!! you might not like what he says but at least you will know where you stand.

5. Once you are presented with the information it is up to you how you want to respond.

6. Respect the game of baseball, wear your uniform the right way. Support your teammates even when not playing and ALWAYS HAVE GOOD BODY LANGUAGE, don't sulk after an error or your coach instructs you. Keep your head up and have a hop to your step.

best of luck to you
retkag

**Ursa Major** · 04-12-2006, 08:52 AM

Being an almost old fossil, let me take the liberty of bringing this around to some life lessons, Fuggle, since everyone else is giving you good advice. When you get out into the real world, it often gets worse. Here, the coach has every incentive to play his best players, because that translates into the clear currency that he's doing a good job -- victories.

When you get into the real world, it's more difficult to tell when a boss is or is not "doing a good job", particularly if you're in government jobs where's there's less of a profit motive. So, it's easier for bosses than in baseball to indulge their prejudices, favorites, etc. Now, you can complain that someone less talented than you gets promotions, more favorable treatment, etc., but it's not likely to do you any good other than to have you labeled as a whiner. Sure, in that situation you may (or may not) have the opportunity to move to a new job where your skills are appreciated; you probably don't have that luxury here. You're stuck with your high school and its one head coach.

So, the answer in baseball is the same as it is in life. Make yourself so valuable that they have to notice you. And, since you're a freshman, you have to make it look routine, so that they know you have more than just the skill set -- that you also have the maturity to perform at that level every day.

A separate note: at some level, the coach may be doing you a favor. If you blow in as a freshman and instantly take a job away from a junior or senior who's been toiling in the fields for two or three years assuming that the job would devolve to him, there's bound to be some resentment from him and his friends. Show your teammates that you absolutely deserve the shot first, and they'll take to you much better.

**Mark H** · 04-12-2006, 09:33 AM

Originally posted by Ursa Major

A separate note: at some level, the coach may be doing you a favor. If you blow in as a freshman and instantly take a job away from a junior or senior who's been toiling in the fields for two or three years assuming that the job would devolve to him, there's bound to be some resentment from him and his friends. Show your teammates that you absolutely deserve the shot first, and they'll take to you much better.

Outstanding point.

**fuggles8** · 04-12-2006, 05:28 PM

jV and Varsity

the problem is its a freshman only team so all the kids are my age...but thanks for the advice all its helpful

**Williamsburg2599** · 04-12-2006, 06:01 PM

Its all about devotion to the game, constanly hustle in practice and show up as early as you can, if its right after school make sure your always the first one out of the locker room and first one to the field. Ichiro showed up seven hours before the WBC finals to "warm-up." Now thats devotion.

**fuggles8** · 04-12-2006, 06:59 PM

thanks for the advice and i wanna make sure im hearing clearly that i just have a positive attitude, hustle, and always do my best and be a cheerleader when not playing?

**wilson68** · 04-12-2006, 08:17 PM

Sometimes it takes a coach some time to overcome either preconceptions or first impressions. I will offer two examples from my personal experience.

When I was nineteen I started on a men's team along with a cousin (pure coincidence, we weren't close.) Now my cousin had played against the coach's son when they were children and my coach was heard to remark that my cousin was a good ball player. It took two months of truly bad play before the coach realized that his recollection of a 12 year old may have nothing to do with current reality.

After that I only had to deal with playing the same position as the coach's son. "He hit great growing up. I'm sure it will come back." To be fair he was a better fielder than me.

And as the coach, I can think of a couple of players that I pigeonholed early and took a couple of months to see they were better than my first impressions. So like everyone else, I say stick with it and give him every positive reason to include you in the team. If you are the better player he will eventually figure that out.

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