Who do you want the Orioles to pick at 1-1?

[Luke-OH]

1 minute ago, ChuckS said:

It’s a tough one. If I had a boy I would lean towards the latter. But with a girl, the decision might have to be more academic based. Girls’ brains tend to mature faster as well, so there is that to consider. 

We are leaning starting her early, she's pretty advanced with counting, writing, sight words, etc. She'll be more than ready academically. But we're going to see how see does socially in preschool this year (she hasn't been in a school environment yet).

[mdbdotcom]

37 minutes ago, Luke-OH said:

My daughter is a September kid and we are trying to decide whether to have her be one of the youngest or one of the oldest in her class.

I was born in September and my parents asked me if I'd prefer to start school a year later and be older than the other kids. I was adamant about not wanting to do that. That conversation was 60 years ago and this is the first time I've thought of it since it happened. Must have made an impression on me.

[BohKnowsBmore]

52 minutes ago, DrungoHazewood said:

Is it really helping when we know he's basically a college freshman playing against high school kids?  I guess if he still goes in the top 2-3 picks...

It’s not just about his senior year. Earlier in life he was likely bigger and better than all of the other kids. Typically gets more attention from coaches at every level, etc. 

there was a study/stat a few years ago about a disproportionate number of hockey players having January birthdays which related to some age cutoff for youth hockey. Pretty interesting stuff. 

[DrungoHazewood]

54 minutes ago, ChuckS said:

Witt’s not that old. September kids are typically the oldest in the class so really they just held him back by three months. He’d be one of the younger freshmen if he was in college.

Bet they probably wouldn’t have if he was born a couple weeks earlier. Turning 19 before you graduate H.S. can be embarrassing for some people. Wouldn’t want it for my kid. 

He's almost a year older than average for his grade.  He was born June 14, I was born June 19th.  I was pretty average for my grade, a guess a few months younger than average.  Witt is a year older at the same grade level than I was.  I registered for selective service and to vote after I graduated, he did it before his senior year.

[DrungoHazewood]

11 minutes ago, BohKnowsBmore said:

It’s not just about his senior year. Earlier in life he was likely bigger and better than all of the other kids. Typically gets more attention from coaches at every level, etc. 

there was a study/stat a few years ago about a disproportionate number of hockey players having January birthdays which related to some age cutoff for youth hockey. Pretty interesting stuff. 

Yea, but that study was within normal age/grade levels.  I wonder what the impact would be of always being 8, 10, 12, 15 months older than everyone else.  As a good athlete you'd probably dominate your level, but there have to be some advantages to being challenged.  And did he always play on-level, or did he play up?

[mdbdotcom]

3 minutes ago, DrungoHazewood said:

He's almost a year older than average for his grade.  He was born June 14, I was born June 19th.  I was pretty average for my grade, a guess a few months younger than average.  Witt is a year older at the same grade level than I was.  I registered for selective service and to vote after I graduated, he did it before his senior year.

At his age he should be facing the best pitchers in the Big 12 every Friday night, not high school pitchers. Scouts can still see his tools, but he probably never has to make adjustments. How would he react if he had to?

 

[DrungoHazewood]

16 minutes ago, mdbdotcom said:

At his age he should be facing the best pitchers in the Big 12 every Friday night, not high school pitchers. Scouts can still see his tools, but he probably never has to make adjustments. How would he react if he had to?

 

That's my concern.  A year of development time is huge as a teenager.  As a pro, a 20-year-old in AA probably has 30-50% more projected career value (on average) than a 21-year-old with the same performance at the same level.

[maybenxtyr]

I guess I don't understand the age thing. I was born pretty much in the middle of summer and I graduated at 17. It would be different to have a bunch of people "pushing", or over 19 as we graduated.

[DrungoHazewood]

6 minutes ago, maybenxtyr said:

I guess I don't understand the age thing. I was born pretty much in the middle of summer and I graduated at 17. It would be different to have a bunch of people "pushing", or over 19 as we graduated.

The only 19-year-olds that graduated with me were the ones who failed a grade.  I'm pretty sure a year or two before me someone graduated high school at 21. Athletics were not involved.

[Frobby]

1 hour ago, DrungoHazewood said:

Is it really helping when we know he's basically a college freshman playing against high school kids?  I guess if he still goes in the top 2-3 picks...

I don’t think it’s necessarily done with a pro career in mind.   Just to give a kid an advantage in youth/high school/college sports.    I should add, it’s not always sports that drive it.   My brother had twins (fraternal) and one was more developmentally advanced than the other.    His daughter stayed on the standard track but they held their son back a year to develop more.  

[DrungoHazewood]

2 minutes ago, Frobby said:

I don’t think it’s necessarily done with a pro career in mind.   Just to give a kid an advantage in youth/high school/college sports.    I should add, it’s not always sports that drive it.   My brother had twins (fraternal) and one was more developmentally advanced than the other.    His daughter stayed on the standard track but they held their son back a year to develop more.  

I don't have any knowledge either way about Witt.  But it doesn't seem to be too much of a stretch for his father, the former MLB pitcher, to try to optimize his kid's chances of following in his footsteps.

[btkidd01]

I’m still trying to figure why people think he was held back. He’s still 18. Am I the only one here that graduated with a bunch of 18 year olds? I’d be willing to bet that most people when graduating are 18. Calm down guys, he’s really not that old. 

[Frobby]

Just now, btkidd01 said:

I’m still trying to figure why people think he was held back. He’s still 18. Am I the only one here that graduated with a bunch of 18 year olds? I’d be willing to bet that most people when graduating are 18. Calm down guys, he’s really not that old. 

His birthday is June 14, same as my niece/nephew mentioned above and a day after my own birthday.    My niece and I were on the normal track and turned 18 right around graduation day.    My nephew was held back a year and, like Witt, turned 19 around graduation day.  

As I said, holding kids back is more common in some areas of the country.    I know Texas is that way and I suspect Oklahoma is too.    

[atomic]

1 hour ago, ChuckS said:

Witt’s not that old. September kids are typically the oldest in the class so really they just held him back by three months. He’d be one of the younger freshmen if he was in college.

Bet they probably wouldn’t have if he was born a couple weeks earlier. Turning 19 before you graduate H.S. can be embarrassing for some people. Wouldn’t want it for my kid. 

My daughter is born at the end of August.  I couldn’t imagine holding her back a year.   I think the being held back for sports and then not going to college  are all read flags to me.  Sounds like his family has the wrong priorities and he will have the same mentality when he becomes a pro. I would take the first baseman over him.

[atomic]

6 minutes ago, btkidd01 said:

I’m still trying to figure why people think he was held back. He’s still 18. Am I the only one here that graduated with a bunch of 18 year olds? I’d be willing to bet that most people when graduating are 18. Calm down guys, he’s really not that old. 

He will turn 19 in June. I am guessing none of the kids you graduated with turned 19 in June of graduating year. If he were born in September you could go either way but June is a long time.  He will be between 3 month and 15 months older than everyone in his class.