Too Small for the Game of Baseball?

Hall of Famer at 5'7" -- no, not too small at all

Size, Shmize
With this year's Red Sox-Cardinals World Series having two local products, Daniel Nava and Daniel Descalso, I saw an interesting article on the former, relating to how he was actually at one point considered "too small" for the game of baseball.

As a freshman in high school, he was 4 foot 8 and weighed less than 80 pounds, and " he was considered too small and scrawny to excel in athletics at a school like St. Francis, which regularly sends players to Division 1 programs such as Stanford’s."  As a senior, at 5 foot 7 and 160 pounds, he was their starting infielder.  His MLB stat sheet now shows him at 5 foot 11, 200 pounds.

So does size matter, especially in these younger divisions of baseball (8, 9, 10 years old, etc)?  To some teams and coaches, I think so. They want the biggest, strongest, fastest 8 year olds money can buy. Well, ok, maybe not money, but visions of varsity high school and D-1 scholarship grandeur that hopeful parents suck up like a dry sponge in an ocean.  

Reminds me of the famous quote attributed to the founder of the Revlon makeup corporation: "In the factory we make cosmetics. In the store we sell hope."

The "Prepubescent Delusion Rule"
A great article I found about this notion of size being everything, call this the "Prepubescent Delusion Rule."  Here are some of my favorite quotes from this article:

• We have no idea what genetic cards have been dealt to these kids
• Any parent or coach who thinks they know what a kid is capable of before he or she goes through puberty is completely delusional
• While there are some attributes a child may show at a young age which might lend themselves to a particular sport.. all bets are off until the kid goes through puberty.

The bottom line: Coaches who understand and adopt this philosophy will be more comfortable with providing a loose and fun baseball environment for their young player.

And, for your edification, here are some famous sub-6 footers:
Marco Scutaro - 5' 10"
Sergio Romo - 5' 10"
Willie Mays - 5' 11"
Yogi Berra - 5' 7"
Rickey Henderson - 5' 10"
Phil Rizzuto - 5' 6"
Kirby Puckett - 5' 8"
Jackie Robinson - 5' 11"

Brandon Crawford on the Importance of Fundamentals

I really dig the two Brandons' blog - just awesome baseball info all around.  I found this particular piece by Brandon Crawford on their Spring Training start particularly compelling, because it jives with what we teach these boys all the time on the importance of fundamentals.  Too many other teams out there seem so laser focused on winning at all costs, that they forgo the basics.  Read on and enjoy:

If you came to the first few days of workouts here this week, you might be surprised at our drills. They are as fundamental as a Little League practice.

Jose Alguacil, the minor league’s roving infield instructor, literally rolls the ball to us. The point is to work on footwork and on exchanging the ball from the glove to the throwing hand, though we don’t throw. It’s not like we forget how to do any of this. But we’ve been off for three months, so you want to regain your form one step at a time to make certain you’re doing everything the right way.

For batting, we start by hitting off a tee. You can set the tee at different locations. First thing I do when I get to the park in the morning is  take five swings at nine locations: up and away, up middle, up and in, middle away, middle middle, middle in, down and away, down middle and down and in. That takes about 15 minutes.

Then a coach tosses balls underhand to me, and I’ll hit for another 15 minutes doing that.

Yesterday, our third base coach Tim Flannery had a session on base-running. He gathered all the position players at first base. He reminded us that a player who gets 200 hits in a season spends only 42 minutes on base. “There’s no reason you can’t stay focused for 42 minutes!’’ he said.

What Does It Really Mean to Be a Team Player?

There's no "I" in team.

You don't always need to be the best player or score the highest.  The best team members know when to lead, when to support others, and when to stay on the sidelines.  From a team player's perspective, the team should always be first not the individual.  Everyone needs to learn how to be a great follower in order to be a great leader.  

Being a leader is not about talent, but instead about being the best teammate possible. Most athletes do not place enough value on being a glue guy, and making everyone one else around him or her better.   Worry less about how YOU can be better, and start worrying about how you can make your team better. 

Cardinals in Cooperstown - 2016 Here We Come!

Fundraising has begun!  The Cardinals are excited to be playing in Cooperstown, the birthplace of baseball!  Yes, it's quite a bit down the road, but our team is excited to begin the process of getting themselves ready for this exciting journey, and the opportunity to make memories that last a lifetime.

The Cooperstown Dreams Park and the Dreams Park "Road to Cooperstown" program are where all independent, travel/select and sanctioned teams are unrestricted to play baseball as it was meant to be played.  The tournaments and the "Tournament of Champions" are open to athletes 12 years old and under with teams participating for a weekly National Title.  Players and coaches will come in pursuit of their dreams in the legendary home of baseball..."reaching back to the heritage of baseball when people played for the love of the game and heroes were truly that."

By stepping up to the plate, regardless of outcome, players will leave with a sense of pride, dignity and accomplishment for having participated and becoming a part of history.  Cooperstown Dreams Park is a place in time where the players are their own heroes.

More to come as we traverse this exciting journey for the boys!

Summer Season '13 - Done, and done!

And that's a wrap!  We ended our summer tournament season in Foster City, and ended it with a bang via a decisive win.  It's always nice to finish on a high note.

No, we didn't win any trophies or accolades this time around.  However, what I saw in this team was something, in my opinion, so more incredibly valuable than a piece of hardware: camaraderie and chemistry.

Sure, it's always nice to chalk one in the "W" column, but that's never been what we Cardinals are truly about.   When a club's mission is to win and be about the club and not the kids, that's when things go awry. Our goal is not becoming the No. 1 team at every league level we're at.  We're more about development. Character. Teamwork. Sportsmanship.  We don't just give lip service to those attributes like so many clubs seem to do. We live it.

8 Ways to Keep Your Athletes from Getting Cocky

I'm really digging another youth sports blog, the CoachUp Blog.  One recent article, which I'll paste my favorite highlights below, gives some good pointers for keeping your athlete from getting cocky....Ahh, if only more parents would read this, and follow this, our world would be a better place.  The original article in its entirety is here.

If your child is a gifted athlete, cockiness will become very a tempting behavior. The coaches will tell him he is good. The paper will tell him he is good. The local TV will tell him he is good. His friends will tell him he is good. The teachers will tell him he is good. And YOU will tell him he is good.

And that’s all good.

But that’s a lot for a kid to take in without succumbing to cockiness. That’s why God gave parents to kids. It’s our job to keep them humble. And here’s how you can do just that:

Model humility. It always starts with what YOU do.

Teach that there is no “i” in team. No matter how good your kid is, they cannot do it alone. Period.

Show no special treatment. By parents or by teachers. Athletes should be held to same standards as non-athletes, not given favors.

Remind them of their responsibility as leaders. Other kids look up to athletes. It comes with the territory of being athletic. Whether or not they like that, it’s a fact. And because of that, they need to take that responsibility seriously.

Offer them balance. When your kids play sports, it’s very tempting for sports to take over the entire household. But that can cause sports burnout. Instead, advocate balance. Let them grow in other areas of life–other interests, hobbies, adventures.

Praise them and their teammates. Recognize your child’s hard efforts, and point out the hard work of their teammates. This is just another way of instilling the no-I-in-team mentality.

Don’t support the “victim” mentality. According to your kid, there will always be someone else to blame. A blind ref. Selfish teammates. Even the stupid coach. Don’t feed that in your kid. Because unfortunately, that victim mentality will spill over into other areas of his life. Very unattractive.

Teach respect for coaches, teammates, refs. This is the hard part. There are coaches who are clueless, teammates who are selfish and obnoxious, and refs who are incompetent. It’s hard to respect them. But we must tell our kids to respect them as human beings, even if we don’t like the way they do their jobs. It all starts at home, folks. Our kids are like sponges; they will drip out what they soak up. What are you pouring into your kids? Are you teaching them to respect others?

Cardinals in the Burlingame Tournament Next Week

Our team is excited to kick things off this summer with the Burlingame Tournament next week, 6/13-6/16.  This will be our second tournament this year -- after our 2nd place finish in the Foster City Cooperstown U8 Tournament back during Easter break.....

Let's go Cardinals!