Help me choose my Manager Pitch baseball team uniforms

[Cebby]

The kids get a licensed MLB hat and t-shirt with full color logo for their respective teams - even the coach (me) gets a hat.

My youngest was already a Cub in the t-ball league last year.

Help us decide.

[slosurfer]

Old school Astros jersey :thumbup:

[YotaFun]

I am A New Yorker and was a Mets Fan when I was little :-)

[neliconcept]

no love for the atlanta braves?

[Cebby]

no love for the atlanta braves?


The league picked the teams - I'd have liked to see the Braves and the Yanks in the mix.

[Robinhood4x4]

Had to go diamond backs.

[fustercluck]

Being a recent Phoenix fugitive, I chose the D-backs...

[Cebby]

Well, the D-Backs it is!! That seemed to be an overwhelming choice among others that I talked to also.

Thanks All!

[waskillywabbit]

We have been the Braves, Cards, Yankees and Twins. My vote is whatever works with gray pants cause the white ones are white for about 5 minutes. :D

This year my oldest is on the Reds...white with red pinstripes pants and shirt with a red mesh vest overshirt...looks bad arse but it won't be clean long I imagine.

My youngest is the Braves since I am coaching the team and that is the team he wanted to be.

Ain't baseball with little kids just great!

:guitar:

[Cebby]

I've had Cubs, Orioles, Dodgers, Pirates, Tigers, Red Sox, and a couple I can't think of.

We had our first practice today. I gotta tell you, I was a bit leery since I didn't know at least 1/2 of the kids for the draft. This is my 5th year coaching though, so I feel I can whip anyone into shape at this point.

Of course, first practice (on short notice) and I had 4 no-shows (including 2 sluggers that I had from last year). But the kids that did come did OK. They all were able to hit the ball - even the t-ball kids that just moved up. I think I got a pretty good idea of the skill levels. I have 4 eight y/o, 5 seven y/o, and 3 six y/o players.

Next year, I'm taking over the baseball league from the current guy. :confused: Yes, I should have my head examined.

[waskillywabbit]

Do you guys not have an evaluation day for the draft? I would assume you get to "protect" a few players like we do.

I have 5 six year olds and 6 five year olds. All my six year olds (including my own) can hit off the pitching machine already (38 mph) so coach pitch is easy for them. Some of the five year olds would rather throw dirt than play baseball and could care less but I guess that is just the age. I just wish I could convince parents, especially the dads, that practice a couple times a week with the team will not make them that much better. Many of them ask me how my six year old got so good...I tell them about 5.2 million whiffle balls in the backyard. :D

:guitar:

[Cebby]

Our league is setup a little differently. The ages are normally broken down 5-6 y/o for t-ball, 7-8 y/o for coach pitch, 9-10 for minors (4 outfielders still), and the 11-12 for majors, 13-14 for Pony League and 15-17 for Colt League.

They let the t-ball players who are on the verge of quitting play up in coach pitch, but they are stuck there for 3 years then.

T-Ball is a challenge in patience - we mostly get grass throwing since we don't have a dirt infield for t-ball. Can you blame them though? T-ball is Bor-ring.

You guys must have a bigger budget - pitching machine? We even have the kids provide their own pants. Ours is primarily donation funded.

[waskillywabbit]

4/5 T-ball or 5 yos can play 5/6 coach pitch, 7/8 pitching machine, 9/10 throw at each other and beyond. T-ball is a waste of time IMO.

$100/child to play and then we have to buy our own uniforms too. With 2 playing I am at the field M, T, R, F, S every week until June. :D

Dixie Youth League

[Cebby]

$100? Wow! Ours is $70 for the first, $55 for the second and $50 for any additional players per family. (I've got 3 in it) That includes the uniform shirt and hat. Our league is a non-profit and has managed to keep the costs low due to some state grants and good fund raising. Plus, we let local businesses sponsor the baseball teams (they get their names on the back of the shirts).

For ranking players before the draft, we take about 15 minutes prior to actually picking the players to rate them (1st round, etc). Usually none of the coaches know about 1/2 of the players, so most of our ranking is futile. Half of the team picks are a crap-shoot.

I hear you about the parents - they seem to expect their kids to become Cal Ripken without any of their involvement whatsoever. It's an instructional league and all, but the idea is to teach them the game, not the basic fundamentals (like catching/throwing/hitting). They need to bring something to the dance. As a result, a few kids who's parents don't work with them manage to drag the whole team down (stranded runners, errant throws, missed "easy" catches). I have a super-duper long fuse for kids that are actually trying. It's the kids that are forced to play by their folks that have no interest that make volunteer coaching a challenge. I had two kids like that on my team last year... So far, so good this year.

I spend tons of time with my kids playing. I take them to a batting cage (where I pitch) - I even spent an hour with them in there last night after our 1 1/2 hour practice (I'm sore :)). I've got two of my 3 sons proficient at backhanding grounders - parents are amazed to see kids so small making plays like that. Once they understand the mechanics of it though, it comes easy to them.