Why Kids Suck at Baseball

Baseball is called America's pastime.  That's because you can play it with a stick and a ball, the rules are simple -- and the heroes are likable and lovable with names like Whitey, Babe, Willie or just Joe.  When we were kids we played ball around the clock.  Some of the kids never played for a "team"...mostly because they weren't good enough, it cost money, or they didn't care enough to sign up. Kids in my 'hood just played to play.

In 1998, I moved to the suburbs....two doors down there were two brothers (Eric and Matt) that played all day long.  Screaming and yelling at the top of their lungs at every close play, every home run -- all with a passion I once played with.  In an odd way I was jealous of the passion they played with because now my passions had switched to coaching and projects around my new house. Their shrieks brought back so many good memories, they were sounds of joy (almost music to my ears). Sidebar: Eric and Matt went on to fantastic baseball careers.

Fast Forward to 2011

I coach an 11 year old traveling baseball team. I have a nice crew of boys that play the game well (their defensive statistics rival a major league teams, they throw strikes like a pitching machine and some can hit balls pitched speeds I know I couldn't have ever hit at that age).

But here are a few reasons why kids aren't any good at baseball anymore.

Knowledge: These kids don't know the game.  They don't sit around on a rainy day Saturday and watch The Game of the Week on NBC listening to Vin Scully call a game (or even better, the B crew Tony Kubek and Joe Gariogola).  Today they watch Sports Center and they know the great players and they know who gets them points on their fantasy team, but they don't understand why a guy would hit a ball to the right side to score a run versus swinging for the fence to get on TV.

Mommy Says: Kids today are very good at being told when to be somewhere, where to be, and how long they have to be there.  That's a bad recipe for baseball.  In baseball, there is no time limit and no rule on how far to lead off, or how hard to throw it. By age 11, a boy has played for 5 years -- but for the life of me today they don't know if the ball is 45 feet away from the catcher to steal home on a Passed Ball. Why is this? Their coach didn't say so.  For the life of me, if a kid is leading off way too far at 1st or 3rd, a kid won't throw down. Why is this? Their coach didn't say so. They don't do these things because they've been programmed to do exactly what authority tells them...and if they don't they get yelled at to conform.

No Instinct: A secondary flaw to the "Mommy Says" reason is kids don't play like I did, or Eric and Matt did as late as the late 1990's. People learn by doing things hands on.  Showing up for a practice and learning skills is nice and praises to the thousands of volunteer coaches in America for their time. But you'd be better served coaching kids by dropping them off at the park, hand them a tennis ball and some cheap wood bats, some cheap Target bases and then LEAVE for 2 hours. You'd return to find a kid who understood how to hit a crappy pitch the other way, a kid who knew how fast he was and how much he could get away with, and most important a kid who understands if the punk on the other team is showing you up you just deck him next time.

Other Sport Pressure: One of the biggest problems in Minnesota is the pressure to play Hockey or Basketball year round.  Kids and parents are constantly struggling to keep up in the arms race of these two important (longer season) sports.  Kids are running from baseball diamonds to hockey rinks, basketball gyms and training facilities....year round. See my blog on Youth Hockey for proof.

Choices/Toys: My 11 year old has access to Internet, he has an iPod touch, Sony Wii, Comcast On Demand, DVR, DVDs, Baseball Cards, a Swimming Pool, and every toy under the Sun. By most standards he's not considered spoiled.  Compared to my childhood, he'd be Richie Rich. On top of the toys, his parents have managed to wedge him into 500 other activities.  All of these things are all well and fine on their own, but smashed together it can be a mess.

So in summary, kids suck at baseball because we as parents over program, over indulge, and over coach them.  The sad fact is there is no easy answer -- other than the fateful crossroads that most parents face - make Johnny specialize in one sport by age 11 so that they can be good/great at something.