Season Stats

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I will give you just ONE example of how much stats carry weight. I used to look at maxpreps a little, well maybe a LOT.. I would watch the stat leaders by area, and then go find them and watch them play. Now i didnt watch them play HS ball i just followed them to TB and made a point to see how good they really were.

I watched the STATE leader in strikeouts pitch one year (CA) mind you, and i was in shock when i saw her throw in person… To myself i was wandering how did this kid have 250+ K's …. Then i looked at the teams she was playing and it all made sense. I have also done the same thing for hitting on maxpreps but, i have found good hitters are pretty true, although stats are greatly inflated. I remember looking at a local stars game by game stats, and she had two home runs in one game, and i asked a teammate following week, "hey so and so had great game last week", she said, "HUH?", with a puzzled look, as in that didnt happen. BTW, that never got changed… I remember one year looking at the home run leaders for state, looked at one in particular in NorCal, she had like 15 home runs 3/4 thru season, then i looked at scores of games and division and they were beating people by 17-25 runs, just ugly softball. So everything is relative and should be put in proper perspective..

I find most little kids and stats mean very little, it means more to the parents, and usually causes more negative than positive, as parents have hard time with Suzy not hitting .500, and therefore take it out on Suzy….

My word to the wise is, dont get get caught up in numbers, What i would seriously get caught up in is INSTRUCTION and DEVELOPMENT!

Finding the right team seems to the biggest challenge these days. With the huge increase in team numbers it makes it very difficult to find good instruction. Back in the day, it was pretty cut and dry, you knew who was good and who was not, now days jeez, i have no clue as you have rec ball firecracker teams wearing the jersey, and now we even have Batbuster teams making their way up from the grapevine, I just hope parents do a good job looking for their kid and not just pick a team to wear the jersey, ESPECIALLY younger age groups where development is key. Treat it like a job or house hunting, put some time into it… I hear far more horror stories than success, so DO YOUR HOMEWORK, as when you complain half way thru the season, you really have no one to complain to except yourself. Remember, no team is perfect and everyone has drama if you decide to be a part of it. My suggestion is, find good instruction and get a lounge chair and find a good place to sit away from it all and enjoy it as times goes fast! my2cents


EDIT, NOW Spring/Summer team tryouts have moved all the way up to Thanksgiving weekend. Dont want to miss out on that top pitcher ,so we better have a tryout before anyone else and, on the 2nd biggest family weekend of the year, really kind of sad to think Suzy has to have mom or dad stay home and go to a tryout instead of making the annual trip to grandma's house for Thanksgiving. All because thats the team Suzy wants to tryout for , and the tryout is day after Thanksgiving, really screwed up and sad. Shoot, why not just beat the world to the punch, schedule tryouts Thanksgiving Day, have a spread of Turkey and Gravy for all the sad folks who show up, Hey, you will get that stud pitcher, gotya thinking now huh….

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, gotya thinking now huh….

It does, yes. it would be very unfortunate if I had a daughter named Suzanne and she played softball.