Do the Orioles have a type? 😆

[BohKnowsBmore]

10 hours ago, NedFromYork said:

I had to go pick someone up at BWI so was off of social media for a while.  Wow, didn't see this coming at all that so many went to race. Yes, they are all white, but I took it as funny because they are all similarly baby faced, dirty blonde, mullet in the back (though maybe just a little for Adley).  Also, three are consecutive #1 prospects in baseball, the real glue to the meme imo.  And depending on MLB time Mayo gets this year he has a real chance to make it four #1's in a row.  Sure Basallo is more likely because he won't get any MLB time this year, but putting him in the pic takes away from the meme.  Maybe the poster(s) that have this on Instagram were insinuating race and it just went right over my head, but I don't think so.  It made me laugh.

Yea, it's funny because any one of them looks like a combination of the other three, when put in a grid like that. It's not a race thing (other than that they would be more likely to look similar, obviously).

[emmett16]

3 hours ago, spleen1015 said:

I spent $10k - $15k per year for 5 years on travel softball. Not to mention wear and tear on a vehicle traveling 400-500 miles most weekends. If you want to play against good teams and be seen, it's what you gotta do.

As for the original topic, hell yeah they have a type. Good, young players.

Nah.  Just play up an age group (or two).  Kid will be pushed and play players much better than anyone in the country the same age.  Don’t have to go anywhere.  Heck,  could even do rec if one’s ego could handle it.  Doing things cause you think “you gotta do it” is a terrible reason to do anything. 
 

Want to be seen.  Put something that’s worth seeing on video and and knock down doors.  Even if you “are being seen” and aren’t good, it doesn’t do anything except push you further down the list.

 

And hell yea.  These boys are awesome and freakishly similar looking lol.  

Edited March 10 by emmett16

[Can_of_corn]

8 minutes ago, emmett16 said:

Issue is they missed  the boat decades ago when MLB was on top, put out a sub-par Boeing product, and self canibalised while the other leagues marketed their biggest stars, changed the rules to make their games more exciting, and continued to be progressive. 

Are you saying MLB was grounded?

[emmett16]

Just now, Can_of_corn said:

Are you saying MLB was grounded?

Man.  On my phone I get 100 invisible ads per post and am constantly redirected.  I try to go back and edit but it’s maddening.  

[Can_of_corn]

10 minutes ago, emmett16 said:

Man.  On my phone I get 100 invisible ads per post and am constantly redirected.  I try to go back and edit but it’s maddening.  

And here I thought you were being topical. 

[emmett16]

1 hour ago, Malike said:

If only the MLB had something like the RBI program, you know, something that has over 300 programs in over 200 cities with more than 200,000 participants. Then maybe MLB could even provide college scholarships to the kids in the RBI program.

Heck, why stop there, make a Jr. RBI program for younger kids. I wonder why they haven't invested in something like that.

The audience won’t change until the product becomes more entertaining.  I’m a baseball ell nut and could easily get bored out of my mind watching games the last two decades.  Last year was finally a step in the right direction.  They need to not rest on their laurels but continue to push forward and make the game more exciting.  They need to market the hell out of their stars, market how fast the game actually is, highlight the athleticism, let the kids play and express themselves, and do anything they can to get people into the stadiums to experience the beauty and uniqueness of the game.  

Edited March 10 by emmett16

[Can_of_corn]

6 minutes ago, emmett16 said:

The audience won’t change until the product becomes more entertaining.  I’m a barbell nut and could easily get bored out of my mind watching games the last two decades.  Last year was finally a step in the right direction.  They need to not rest on their laurels but continue to push forward and make the game more exciting.  They need to market the hell out if their stars, market how fast the game actually is, highlight the athleticism, let the kids play and express themselves, and do anything they can to get people into the stadiums to experience the beauty and uniqueness of the game.  

They don't really need to.  Overall the game is in good shape.  The biggest issue I had was addressed last season.

I do agree with you on the marketing.

[Chavez Ravine]

Does Gen Z even care about watching live legacy sports? It’s going to be all parking lot condos and gaming sports books in a couple decades.

[emmett16]

21 minutes ago, Can_of_corn said:

They don't really need to.  Overall the game is in good shape.  The biggest issue I had was addressed last season.

I do agree with you on the marketing.

Last year was a breath of fresh air.  I think they can continue to push a more active and exciting game.   I really like the strike appeal rule they used in AAA last year.  I think they need to find a way to minimize the strikeouts and get the ball in play a little more often.  Anything to continue to encourage the running game would be great.  I’ll get roasted for saying this, but I like the idea of being able to steal first base.  

[wildbillhiccup]

9 hours ago, Malike said:

If only the MLB had something like the RBI program, you know, something that has over 300 programs in over 200 cities with more than 200,000 participants. Then maybe MLB could even provide college scholarships to the kids in the RBI program.

Heck, why stop there, make a Jr. RBI program for younger kids. I wonder why they haven't invested in something like that.

The budget for MLB's entire Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities (RBI) Program is just over $30M. 

The Rays alone just invested nearly $20M for a "facelift" to their Dominican Republic facility.

The population of the DR is just north of 11M. The population of NYC alone is almost 9M. 

If you want to argue that there's no hope for MLB to win over the African-American community that's perfectly fine, but they've really done little more than try to use a tiny water gun to put out a  blazing fire to try and fix the problem. 

[SemperFi]

10 hours ago, emmett16 said:

If you’re good you don’t pay.  Thats why organizations have so many teams, to pay for the players on their best team(especially players that don’t have the means).  Travel ball is all about FOMO, taking advantage of parents eager to spend whatever it takes to give their mediocre kid a chance.  Doesn’t take a dime to get your work in and play for the local high school team.  If you’re good, they’ll find you.  Dominicans, Cubans, Puerto Ricans, and Venezuelans spend $0 on travel ball and are very well represented in MLB. 

I'm assuming you don't have children or that was hyperbole?  As someone who coached "travel ball" and had the joy of watching those kids become productive members of society (the main point of youth sports)-some even go on to scholarships and even to the majors I take offense to your statements.  In my experience rarely is there a kid that "plays" at a good HS program that the coaches don't know through travel programs.  Historically similar programs have been around for over a hundred years but they were club or business sponsored.  Many Dominicans play in a highly structured environment (more regimented than travel) from a very early age witness the academies-a strong argument can be made that is why they are so successful.  There are very few MLB players that didn't play structured ball from an early age.

 

 

Edited March 10 by SemperFi

[Ripken]

21 minutes ago, SemperFi said:

I'm assuming you don't have children or that was hyperbole?  As someone who coached "travel ball" and had the joy of watching those kids become productive members of society (the main point of youth sports)-some even go on to scholarships and even to the majors I take offense to your statements.  In my experience rarely is there a kid that "plays" at a good HS program that the coaches don't know through travel programs.  Historically similar programs have been around for over a hundred years but they were club or business sponsored.  Many Dominicans play in a highly structured environment from a very early age witness the academies.  There are very few MLB players that didn't play structured ball from an early age.

 

 

All of this.  He doesn't know what he's talking about.  I coached travel baseball for five years with my oldest son and it was a great experience for all of the kids.  You want to get better you have to play a lot and do so against good competition.  I had one kid who's about to make the majors and a couple others that eventually could (going to major D1 schools).  It was a very tight group of families, all of whom enjoyed the time together.  Of course, we started traveling way before high school, too.  I get constant emails to this day about camps, clinics, tournaments, etc. from many places.

[emmett16]

40 minutes ago, SemperFi said:

I'm assuming you don't have children or that was hyperbole?  As someone who coached "travel ball" and had the joy of watching those kids become productive members of society (the main point of youth sports)-some even go on to scholarships and even to the majors I take offense to your statements.  In my experience rarely is there a kid that "plays" at a good HS program that the coaches don't know through travel programs.  Historically similar programs have been around for over a hundred years but they were club or business sponsored.  Many Dominicans play in a highly structured environment from a very early age witness the academies.  There are very few MLB players that didn't play structured ball from an early age.

 

 

 

6 minutes ago, Ripken said:

All of this.  He doesn't know what he's talking about.  I coached travel baseball for five years with my oldest son and it was a great experience for all of the kids.  You want to get better you have to play a lot and do so against good competition.  I had one kid who's about to make the majors and a couple others that eventually could (going to major D1 schools).  It was a very tight group of families, all of whom enjoyed the time together.  Of course, we started traveling way before high school, too.  I get constant emails to this day about camps, clinics, tournaments, etc. from many places.

I was over generalizing as to why travel ball costs so much.  Of course there are some good coaches and good programs out there that aren’t trying to take advantage of the youth sports market, but that’s a small minority.  Sounds like you are one of those, so good on you.  But let’s not kid ourselves into thinking the goal of travel baseball is to “make kids productive members of society”.  It’s a money grab part of a multibillion dollar youth sports market and the lessons kids are being taught are that winning is the only thing that’s important.  
 

My point was, you do not have to do that.  It’s a perception and there are other ways to play a higher level of competing (like playing older kids).  There are plenty of players that didn’t go through the travel ball circuit or even start playing baseball until an older age.  Once you get to the higher levels, it doesn’t matter if you’ve played 800 travel ball games and are the most drilled and aware player on the field.  At high collegiate levels and pro all the players are incredible athletes with physical skills required that no amount of games at a high level can compensates for.  
 

I do agree with you that for players that lucked into a good coach and a good program, and can afford to spend a ton of money that the experience can be absolutely wonderful.  And if the goal of the program is to make lifelong fiends, enjoy experiences, and have fun that’s fantastic.  But to say that’s the only way to have future success is to be part of a $15k a year program is flat out wrong and part of the problem at hand. 

[Jammer7]

11 minutes ago, Ripken said:

All of this.  He doesn't know what he's talking about.  I coached travel baseball for five years with my oldest son and it was a great experience for all of the kids.  You want to get better you have to play a lot and do so against good competition.  I had one kid who's about to make the majors and a couple others that eventually could (going to major D1 schools).  It was a very tight group of families, all of whom enjoyed the time together.  Of course, we started traveling way before high school, too.  I get constant emails to this day about camps, clinics, tournaments, etc. from many places.

Yeah, Emmett isn’t completely wrong, just very over-generalized. I’ve had two sons play at the highest level of travel ball here in Florida. One is still playing 13U and the other was recruited by UF, Stanford, Virginia and many others. They’ve been with FTB, Scorpions, Heat and others at various levels. Older son played for free often, though I did coach, but all of the kids played for free because of sponsors. We had kids from all over the states and DR. Our main competitor, CF Gators, who we used to beat regularly, did the same as us. They also had three first round picks in 2018, Gorman, Liberatore and Denaburg. We had a kid by the name of Lyon Richardson who was a supplemental round 1 pick. Others went later, but just a ton of talent. 

We’re at a PG tournament right now for the 13U son. Team full of kids from Orlando, though many are here from DR and Venezuela. We’re very good, and the cost is really low for all. The development is key on this team. That should be the actual point. Anyway, cheers!

[byrdz]

Missed opportunity to include Spicoli in the fourth box. 

Edited March 10 by byrdz