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Post by purplehaze on Jun 10, 2020 16:37:35 GMT -5
Tonight and tmro will have a 5 round draft of college and H.S. prospects (instead of 40 rounds) - certainly our Austin Masel would have been drafted under normal circumstances but this year is different than any other.
I don't know whether teams will be signing undrafted free agents.
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Post by A Clock Tower Purple on Jun 10, 2020 19:24:56 GMT -5
Clubs will sign UFA's - just means clubs don't have to pay round-slotted signing bonus pool $ beyond the 5th round, which will allow them to throw more $ at undrafted players they really like. Will also help the college baseball, as many HS players will opt to go to college rather than ink for much less than past yrs.
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Post by bison137 on Jun 11, 2020 9:07:07 GMT -5
Clubs will sign UFA's - just means clubs don't have to pay round-slotted signing bonus pool $ beyond the 5th round, which will allow them to throw more $ at undrafted players they really like. Will also help the college baseball, as many HS players will opt to go to college rather than ink for much less than past yrs. The maximum amount that a team can pay an undrafted free agent this year is $20,000. With the drastic cuts to the number of minor league teams (40+ affiliated minor teams going away), I doubt teams will be signing a ton of free agents. Most MLB teams just got done cutting 30 or more of their minor leaguers. |
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Post by WCHC Sports on Jun 11, 2020 10:38:09 GMT -5
Strictly business: if it's a small town that draws flies, and the players never have a chance to truly progress through the pipeline to become a pro player, the minor league operations could be a drag on the baseball organization. I'm all for teams having a larger pipeline of players for true prospects, rewarding good drafts, good coaching, good farm systems-- resources to grow or trade to support the big league clubs. However, I am not for paying some 40 year-old guy, or middling 20 year-old less than a living salary for them to chase a nostalgic dream and make tremendous sacrifices that are not prudent on any front.
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Post by hchoops on Jun 11, 2020 10:48:28 GMT -5
Cutting minor league teams will drastically affect the many small towns whose economy depends on the income from those teams
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Post by WCHC Sports on Jun 11, 2020 10:54:50 GMT -5
Cutting minor league teams will drastically affect the many small towns whose economy depends on the income from those teams If those teams made a profit, had people go through the turnstiles, buy food nearby the park, or funding parking lots and other nearby revenue, I'm sure they wouldn't be on the chopping block. If you're talking attendance in the hundreds, is the local economy really impacted either way? |
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Post by rgs318 on Jun 11, 2020 10:55:18 GMT -5
Minor league baseball is almost a sport unto itself. It is fun to watch with many activities that include fans all at a reasonable price. It would be awful to lose some of the minor league teams for that reason alone. It is also where many youngsters develop a love of the game at that level (with those numbers already being diminished by bAseball going to late night broadcasts for greater revenues. In this area, youth baseball is seeing a drop in numbers, while soccer is growing larger than ever before - with leagues for kids as young as 3 or 4. I can;t recall when I last saw a sandlot pickup baseball game - the type we played some decades back before everything got so over-organized.
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Post by WCHC Sports on Jun 11, 2020 11:15:17 GMT -5
To play a pickup baseball game, or sandlot, you'd need A) A field, B) permits or the local parks or cops kick you off the field, C) a bat, D) a ball/balls, E) a glove for most people, or at least all defenders. D)14- 18 people?, E) bases?
To play a pick up soccer game, you need a ball, anything that can make a "goal" and a few people.
With that said, we've probably all read the anecdote that soccer is growing larger than ever, and it never overtakes the big four in the US.
And yet, with that said, I don't think that the teams would be so willing to cancel minor league teams that were profitable, either directly, or in growing their interest in the game. I played 13 years of baseball without ever having attended a minor league game-- I attended my first game as an adult who could drink. There are no teams that are easy to travel to see in my area. It's easier for me to get to a Yankee game (although a fortune more expensive).
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Post by rgs318 on Jun 11, 2020 11:56:27 GMT -5
We never had official bases, never needed a permit, just an open field, and - if lucky - might have up to 18 players. Soccer does require a field and (if a town field) a permit. In speaking about youth sports (NOT pro sports), soccer is growing faster than baseball. That is from the numbers, not from an anecdote.
More high schools now (last time I checked) have soccer teams than football teams. To keep football some teams are combining to soft one team beause they have so few players. To stick with baseball, there is also a problem with metal bats and the injuries that can cause to young players. Yes, soccer does cause more concussions than baseball, but that has not hurt it at a youth level.
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Post by lou on Jun 11, 2020 12:22:59 GMT -5
Saw a story recently, while waiting for the minors to decide what they will do, a group in northern Jersey, or maybe it was Rockland Coubty, NY is forming a short term league to showcase college talent to the scouts. Players will live in a motel at around $1-2000 for the summer...we'll see
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Post by bfoley82 on Jun 11, 2020 21:48:06 GMT -5
We never had official bases, never needed a permit, just an open field, and - if lucky - might have up to 18 players. Soccer does require a field and (if a town field) a permit. In speaking about youth sports (NOT pro sports), soccer is growing faster than baseball. That is from the numbers, not from an anecdote. More high schools now (last time I checked) have soccer teams than football teams. To keep football some teams are combining to soft one team beause they have so few players. To stick with baseball, there is also a problem with metal bats and the injuries that can cause to young players. Yes, soccer does cause more concussions than baseball, but that has not hurt it at a youth level. I am nearly 40 and grew up in central mass...we never played pickup baseball or anything close to it unorganized but ended up playing soccer everyday in elementary school and that was on concrete before and during recess. Baseball was never a topic and has continued to drop off. |
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Post by Non Alum Dave on Jun 12, 2020 5:09:59 GMT -5
As a kid in the late 60s/early 70s, baseball was the main thing for my small group. If we were lazy and played in the street (and had 3 kids), we played a game we called Pickle. Just 2 bases (used anything, including drawing in chalk), a guy at each base, and a runner; who, yup, started at one base and got himself caught in a pickle. The object was for him to safely make it to the other base; could not retreat to the original base. Yes, lame. We often would go to one neighborhood field looking for a game. Rarely were there enough kids for a full game, so it was always opposite field foul. Also rare when someone showed up with catcher's gear, so the games usually amounted to slow pitch baseball with no real catcher. When there were no kids there my friend (or friends) would play this other game we called "Up Against". See, this park had a cool stone wall (about 10-12 ft. high) running roughly from left center to right center field, with a standard chain link fence on top. You'd have a "batter" standing around second base, hitting balls out of his hand. The other guy (or guys) was a fielder back at the wall. If a ball hit the wall on the ground it was a single; a ball off the stone wall was a double; a ball off the chain link fence was a triple; over the wall and fence was a home run. Any ball caught on the fly or on the ground was an out. It was great fielding practice; not much hitting wise unless your goal was to become a fungo hitting assistant coach some day.  The other big thing at that time was hockey, due to the Orr/Espo Bruins. Not only were rinks popping up everywhere, but all kinds of kids were playing street hockey as well. I never was exposed to soccer when I was young; never saw kids playing. Ironically, during that time soccer was by far our strongest sport at the high school (we pretty much stunk at everything else). Kids must have been playing it somewhere; I just never saw it. And this was before the Brazilian population explosion occurred in our area (hard NOT to find people playing now). |
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Post by rgs318 on Jun 12, 2020 6:39:53 GMT -5
We played pick-up baseball every day in the 1950s and 1960s. If we did not have enough players, the team at bat would supply the catcher. We also never called balls and strikes. If it was a "ball" it was just ignored. No one wanted a walk. As the weather got cooler (or when we shoveled off the court after a snow) we played basketball. I never saw soccer or hockey being played in our neighborhood in north NJ. I guess we were creatures of habit (or were athletically deprived). (There was the occasional game of "touch" football. Some mornings I still feel the effects of one of those touches.)
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Post by A Clock Tower Purple on Jun 12, 2020 7:08:54 GMT -5
Love it Rob. Same here from late 70's-early 80's. We'd get 18 kids some days, then is was Ruth or Legion ball at nite for almost all of us. I miss those days. Wasn't a kid I knew who played soccer. Everyone played baseball in my Worc neighborhood, and sad these days when I drive by the field we played on as it's a hay field and in total disrepair.  |
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Post by rgs318 on Jun 12, 2020 7:27:34 GMT -5
It is sad to see what happened to some of those old fields. Grant Field was in the next town and the double gate to our side of the park was always chained with a sign that said "Oradell residents only." We would either walk several blocks around to the Oradell entrance or simply climb over the cyclone fence. One of the guys got a bolt cutter and the fencing in the gates disappeared one night. After replacing it several times, the gates were finally opened but the sign saying "Oradell Residents ONLY" was not removed for several more years...then one day it disappeared (in the same way as the fencing, I imagine).  |
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Post by alum on Jun 12, 2020 7:50:27 GMT -5
The idea that soccer or lacrosse have overtaken baseball in the lives of American kids is really not borne out by the facts. The most recent National Federation survey shows 16,000+ boys baseball teams with 480,000 participants and 12,500 boys soccer teams with 460,000 participants. Three thousand plus schools play boys lacrosse with 119,000 kids playing. Not surprisingly, basketball is the largest sport for boys both in schools participating and number of kids (18,600+/540,000+.) www.nfhs.org/media/1020412/2018-19_participation_survey.pdfYouth participation numbers are probably not as reliable but I found a chart showing participation for kids ages 6-12. It shows 4,100,000 kids playing baseball (mostly boys I imagine) and 2,200,000 playing soccer (both boys and girls, I imagine.) Lax (boys and girls) comes in at 296,000 with tackle football at 839,000 and flag football at over 900,000. (I have a hard time believing that more kids play flag than tackle, but maybe I am wrong.) One sport that is in trouble is softball with only 350,000 girls playing. For a sport that it played in every state and is similar to a boys sport that remains popular, that is discouraging. www.aspenprojectplay.org/youth-sports-facts/participation-ratesThe biggest issue in youth sports is keeping kids involved. The goal used to be to keep them playing multiple sports until age 12. The growth of the $3000 per year and up premier/academy/AAU/club/travel year round industry in every sport has probably hurt that, especially in more affluent communities. Kids can't play rec basketball during the winter if they are driving forty minutes to play indoor soccer on a Saturday. Bravo to a guy like 92 who seems to have kept his kids playing multiple sports. |
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Post by hchoops on Jun 12, 2020 8:30:15 GMT -5
Does that count soccer ?
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Post by bfoley82 on Jun 12, 2020 15:34:42 GMT -5
The idea that soccer or lacrosse have overtaken baseball in the lives of American kids is really not borne out by the facts. The most recent National Federation survey shows 16,000+ boys baseball teams with 480,000 participants and 12,500 boys soccer teams with 460,000 participants. Three thousand plus schools play boys lacrosse with 119,000 kids playing. Not surprisingly, basketball is the largest sport for boys both in schools participating and number of kids (18,600+/540,000+.) www.nfhs.org/media/1020412/2018-19_participation_survey.pdfYouth participation numbers are probably not as reliable but I found a chart showing participation for kids ages 6-12. It shows 4,100,000 kids playing baseball (mostly boys I imagine) and 2,200,000 playing soccer (both boys and girls, I imagine.) Lax (boys and girls) comes in at 296,000 with tackle football at 839,000 and flag football at over 900,000. (I have a hard time believing that more kids play flag than tackle, but maybe I am wrong.) One sport that is in trouble is softball with only 350,000 girls playing. For a sport that it played in every state and is similar to a boys sport that remains popular, that is discouraging. www.aspenprojectplay.org/youth-sports-facts/participation-ratesThe biggest issue in youth sports is keeping kids involved. The goal used to be to keep them playing multiple sports until age 12. The growth of the $3000 per year and up premier/academy/AAU/club/travel year round industry in every sport has probably hurt that, especially in more affluent communities. Kids can't play rec basketball during the winter if they are driving forty minutes to play indoor soccer on a Saturday. Bravo to a guy like 92 who seems to have kept his kids playing multiple sports. Off of your NFHS link Here are the Massachusetts numbers as Soccer has bypassed Baseball... Baseball: 12,356 participants in 347 schools Boys Soccer: 14,551 in 348 schools Boys Lacrosse: 8,777 in 259 schools Football: 18,019 in 328 schools Field Hockey: 7,852 in 211 schools (there was 18 schools with men on them totaling 853 participants also) Girls Lacrosse: 8,585 in 237 schools Girls Soccer: 12,960 in 347 schools Softball: 9,109 in 344 schools All New England states have higher Men's Soccer participation numbers than Baseball and same with Women's Soccer when compared with Field Hockey or Softball. |
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Post by bison137 on Jun 12, 2020 17:35:02 GMT -5
Off of your NFHS link Field Hockey: 7,852 in 211 schools (there was 18 schools with men on them totaling 853 participants also) Boys playing field hockey - traditionally only a girls sport in HS - has created major problems and some ongoing legal actions in Massachusetts and a few other states. From one article: "Somerset Berkley has won the Division 1 state title the past two seasons. During its run, the team lost just one game in two years. This past fall, Somerset Berkley outscored opponents 197-6, with two boys playing major roles on the team. This, the coalition says, is the most glaring example of the advantage male players can provide." I wonder how accurate that 853 figure is. That's almost 50 boys per school playing field hockey. |
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Post by bfoley82 on Jun 12, 2020 17:49:32 GMT -5
Off of your NFHS link Field Hockey: 7,852 in 211 schools (there was 18 schools with men on them totaling 853 participants also) Boys playing field hockey - traditionally only a girls sport in HS - has created major problems and some ongoing legal actions in Massachusetts and a few other states. From one article: "Somerset Berkley has won the Division 1 state title the past two seasons. During its run, the team lost just one game in two years. This past fall, Somerset Berkley outscored opponents 197-6, with two boys playing major roles on the team. This, the coalition says, is the most glaring example of the advantage male players can provide." I wonder how accurate that 853 figure is. That's almost 50 boys per school playing field hockey. Yea that number doesn’t seem right at all...but Field Hockey is a male sport everywhere else in the world besides England and USA/Canada |
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Post by longsuffering on Jun 12, 2020 18:27:47 GMT -5
Played pick up baseball and basketball, batted the tennis ball around and swam all summer long at the local park and in the fall played pick up football in the outfield of the little league baseball diamond. Exposed briefly to soccer in phys ed but never even heard of lacrosse. Tried to play hockey on a swamp in the woods but kept falling in, including one time right before serving at the Stations of the Cross. I was still dripping under my Cassock and Surplice but I made it.
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Post by hchoops on Jun 16, 2020 8:52:59 GMT -5
Austin still unsigned
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Post by purplehaze on Jun 16, 2020 9:51:27 GMT -5
As mentioned elsewhere Austin has committed to Richmond for his 5th year of eligibility - works out well for him as there looks to be no (or very little) minor league baseball this summer. Hopefully he has a good year and things get back to normal in '21 with all of pro baseball. (Declan Cronin is caught in this web of baseball selfishness this year and has nowhere to pitch.)
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