FINAL Standings (6-8-06)

[hogdog]

bazeballmom3 said:

I figured I have more people commenting on this subject

I can't wait for All-Stars to start myself

[bazeballmom3]

Why would you think that?
By this time last year that's all people could talk about.

[bazeballmom3]

oops on the why would u think that

[greeneagle]

All-star selection....great topic....what great about this year is that the last year 9's allstars will not make the 10's due to the second season 10's....I'm just hoping that the league developed the necessary pitching to complete in these up and coming tourneys........I did not see the increase in new pitchers this year.........so the 9's will be in trouble......10's look good if the coaches will use them.......you have six (6) 10's that can go the distance....but what of the 9's.............two (2) maybe three (3) at most...out to these one can go the distance......any opinion?

[Outlaw85]

greeneagle said:

All-star selection....great topic....what great about this year is that the last year 9's allstars will not make the 10's due to the second season 10's....I'm just hoping that the league developed the necessary pitching to complete in these up and coming tourneys........I did not see the increase in new pitchers this year.........so the 9's will be in trouble......10's look good if the coaches will use them.......you have six (6) 10's that can go the distance....but what of the 9's.............two (2) maybe three (3) at most...out to these one can go the distance......any opinion?

The 10's will be solid in pitching for All stars. Having followed this years 11's the last 2 years I will say that having at least 3 pitchers that will give you a solid 3 innings is what you want. That's what worked for last years 10's. They had a good rotation and kept fresh arms. only 1 of my pitchers has thrown more than 4 innings this year and did that just once. Hard to pull a kid that strikes out 13 in a game. If they all make all star this years 10's will have at least 5 good arms. the 9's only have a couple that have gotten to throw consistently. I will say i have seen improvement over the course of the season with all the 9's. The potential is there they just need the work and confidence. Where the 9's will be hurting is catcher. there is a very good 9 yr old catcher but I understand his parents have opted to not be put up for all star.

At any rate get out and support your all stars. the 9's will play state in El Dorado, the 10's will play district ai Parkers chapel and regionals in Crossett, The 11's will play state in Camden and the 12's state in Lonoke.

[mdr]

I have been reading your posts to the list and I would like to put my two cents in because the parents of these kids need to know what to expect

Outlaw's assessment of the 9's and 10's is pretty accurate. As I see it:

10's: There are 3 dominant pitchers in the league, Jr. Ray, A. Williams and A. Gilliam. There is one dominant catcher, T. Keith. Your best first baseman is Wilkerson though F. Wade has turned in a good performance his bat has not kept up with S. W., not really an issue, very few players in the league have put up the kind of numbers as S.W. at the plate. As I see it Randa'ls best set up is with Wilkerson on 1st, Williams on 2nd, Gilliam on SS and Taylor on 3rd. You put Jr. on the mound and T. Keith behind the plate. From there you add the outfield according to their bats. Once you get your pitcher and catcher in place the next key is putting the ball in play, Randall knows that as does every other manager or coach who has participated in an All Star Tournament. Randal has said that none of the 9's will make the cut for the 10 yr. old team. There are at least 3 whose goves can compete with just about anyone on that list of infielders. Having said that please understand I A MNOT IN FAVOR OF ANY 9's playing on the 10 yr. old team and if I have a vote in that will vote NO to placing any 9 on the 10 yr. old team. Enough said.

The weakness on this team are the emotions. T.K., J.R., A.G. and yes A.W. are all emotional ball players though each is differant. It will take a considerable effort to keep all of these outstanding players under control. Any one of them could make or break any game at any time. If Randall puts any one of them on the mound or behind the plate when they are under the influence of an emotional downtourn his game is over period. This is not a major problem because of the depth of the 10's. You can pull any one at any time and sub in and move your player who is struggling out of one of the two key points to give them time to swing back into the proper mental state. (The two key points being P and C. the game is one and lost in the 48 feet that seperates these two players).

I predict that the JR, AW and AG have yet to play their best games and that those will be seen in the tournament this year and if they all gel together at the same time the 10s will do well. If Randall will give AW and TK the support and praise they need and will monitor JR and AG and keep them calm he will be fine.

The 9's are tougher. As Randall said, there is only one catcher in the league with any significant experience along with ability at this time. Logan Fife is currently trying to master this position and is showing promise but expectations for him must be kept reasonable. You don't climb behind the plate and become an instant master of this position and this position is critical to the 9's. I am told he is doing well and that bodes well for the 9's. Unfortunately the situation does not get better. There are no dominant 9 yr. old pitchers. T. Rindt has promise but lacks experience, Fife can pitch but lacks overpowering speed, B. Hughes has overpowering speed, (over 50 mph) but lacks accuracy. This problem can not be ovecome by coaching it is a given. You either have a dominant pitcher or you don't and so far the 9's don't. Is that the end of the story, I wish it were.

Has anyone seen a seasoned 1st baseman in the 9 yr. old division? If so, I haven't been so fortunate. After your pitcher and your catcher the 1st baseman is your most critical position. This means a 1st baseman will have to be trained in less than 3 weeks to compete on an all star playing field. LOL.

There are some outstanding 9's this year, B. Courson and G. Harrington appear to be having good seasons from what little I have seen of them as well as those listed above as pitchers. J. St. John is probably the 2nd best catcher in the league but will be unavailable for all stars. I am sure there are others whose names I have missed here, please forgive me I did not mean to slight anyone. I am sure that after I see the stats at the end of the year there will be others who deserve praise and public recognition. Understand I have only seen 9 of the games all the way through so it is to early to make any conclusions on who is or should be on that final roster.

What does all of this mean for the 9's? They are going to have a tough All Star Season period. They can and should win games and with time they should do well together. The age change will be a positive thing in the future but for now they are going to have to fight against some pretty tough obstacles. With the support of their parents, friends and teammates there is hope for a good season but please be reasonable, this is not pitching machine league and this is a WHOLE differant ball game as anyone with any sense can tell.

The most important 5 games of the season are coming up. This is where the coaches and managers will get the last good look at where the players are as they end their season. These kids need all the support and encouragement they can get. Randall is right, please come out and cheer them on. Having stood on the practice field with them all season I can tell you for a fact, they have earned it.

mdr (michael d. ray)

[greeneagle]

very well put there, mdr, very well put

[Outlaw85]

With 4 games remaining the Red Sox clinched the league title with a 13-5 victory over the Braves. Second place is turning into a real battle between the Tigers and Rays. Looks like it's going to come down to the wire between these 2 teams. Still lots of good baseball on tap. Come on out and catch a game or two.

[tanksley10]

Great job on the season red sox,s in the 9&10 yr olds.

[bruth]

Hello. This is my first time to post after a month of "lurking".
As you can tell I'm a HUGE Yankee fan. The REAL ones in NYC, not the local team. No offense intended, just making myself clear.

I've been reading some of the posts on the forum. I'm a little disturbed that everybody is attempting to pick All-Stars for some divisions on a PUBLIC forum such as this. It appears............unseemly, in some way. There are even coaches on here adding to the mix. I realize that everybody has their opinion, and that is all this is, but still. Is this the place to do this?

That being said, let me become part of the problem. I have seen every team in the league play at least twice. There seems to be more discussion about 9-10 year olds than any other division.

I have no child playing, nor any relative playing. I do have several friends who's children play. I have played Baseball from tee-ball to college. Wasn't good enough to play pro-ball. Have umped some, but not loads. Watch baseball every chance I get, on all levels.

I'll not put down any child here, but some of the picks that baseballmomz and mdr mention don't stand out in my mind from what I have seen.

Here are the players I have seen that stand out above others in the 10 year olds.

Yankees- A. Gilliam, good pitcher, good glove, good bat

Tigers- A. Williams- Good catcher, good pitcher, decent bat, super hustler

Rangers- R. Tanksly- runs well, good bat,
T. Clark- good bat, good glove, decent pitcher

Devil Rays- B. Ray,Jr- Good overall player
B. Hughes- good bat, FAST, decent in the of ( may be 9)

Red Sox- A. Taylor- good glove, bat,
T. Keeth- Excellent catcher
J. Outlaw- good player (may be 9, not sure)
S. Wikerson- good bat, decent glove
I know that this is not a full team, just the one that impress me.

If you wonder why some names are not on my list and on some of the others? Well, PM me and I will tell you, one on one. Not on a public forum.

I'll do 9s later if I get back from out of town business in time.

[mdr]

BRUTH: As you have publicly addressed me in your post I will pay you the courtesy of a public reply.
1. I am a coach and I stated my opinions publicly. You know this because I signed my name to my post. Something you neglected to do.
2. My opinions are not secrets, I post them publicly because I have no reservations about my opinions, they are based on my observations of the kids I listed, (13 in number). I based my praise on their performances in the games I saw and will base my vote on the same criteria without regard to who the child is or who his parents are and I limited my comments to praise.
3. I am sorry if the fact that I don't mind stating my opinion publicly has put anyone off, I didn't post my response to aggravate anyone and I plainly stated that the most important games were yet to come and that I was not attempting to list all of the kids who deserved to be on either the 9 or 10 year old team. Truthfully I have not committed myself to vote for any kid in the league at this point. I can't do that because I haven't seen all of their games which is why I will need to look at their stats at the end of the season just as the other coaches will need to look at mine so we will know how well the kids did overall. Some kids simply stand out and you know before the season ends that their performances have been exceptional. The kids I listed have all played well against me and I anticipate that they will continue to do so. I look forward to seeing the rest of their games to see if that level of play continues.
4. As for the kids you listed that I did not. , R. Tanksley is a good 10 yr. old and I would not be surprised to see him make it. In my opinion he is probably the best all around player on the Rangers. I have played them twice and he has been solid both times. T. Clark has a good bat and a good glove, I know b/c he robbed my kid of a base hit thursday when he plucked Drew's line drive out of the air. J. Outlaw has pitched against me in two games along with Alex Taylor and I lost them both. For your information Josh is a 10 yr old. I never met a kid that loved baseball more than Josh, my own included.

5. Now I hope that unruffles your feathers because I have a question that I think you will find contorversial and will elicit a considerable debate for those who don't have anything better to do than read my posts. HERE GOES::::: So far we have been discussing talent and nothing else. I have not based my comments on this list on anything other than the players physical abilities, I have not raised the subject of "attitude" and have not seen anyone else comment on this either. Here is my question for this list. Even if a player is an exceptional player, gifted in all the ways a ball player can be, IF his attitude and conduct during the regular season has been abusive, rude, aggressive and insulting to his teammates should that be taken into consideration by the managers at the end of the year when they conduct the draft for the allstars??

It is not my nature to ask others to comment on a subject I would not address my self so before you answer I will tell you my feelings which I know you are dying to hear. I personaly would take an average player with a good attitude over a star with a bad attitude, my theory being a baseball coach is charged with teachiing his kids the value of team work. This can not be accomplished if one of the team is demeaning or derogatory to other players. You have not and will not see one of my players speak to a teammate in a negative way, period. Not that it hasn't happened early in the season, but the consequences were dire enought that it hasn't happened since. This isn't about winning ball games it is about building character and instilling strong work ethics in kids i.e. you work hard and you get results. This is undermined when players are derogatory to one another. What about the rest of you??? Any takers.

Oh and by the way, if you aren't prepared to sign your name to your post, don't bother.

M. D. Ray

4.

2. I am not sure which of the kids on my post failed to stand out to you. Perhaps we were watching differant games.
3.

[bruth]

Perhaps we weren't and we just see thing from a different viewpoint. I post the way I do for MY satisfaction, not to please you.

To respond to your question about attitudes. I think considering attitudes are part of the process. Kids who get mad and sling bats, gloves, hats, or whatever create problems on a team. I, like you, would rather have 12 boys with average ability and GREAT attitudes any day. You may have noticed a post I made about the success of private schools on the state level in HS sports. These students are motivated and very easy to coach.

You seem a little upset because I questioned people here posting about all-stars and specifically naming names. Outlaw refused to, to his credit. Parents, fans, and observers can and should post whatever they wish. Coaches can too, except for this exception. Players on these teams read these post, too. And if THEY don't their parents do. When coaches come on here and name SPECIFIC players that they think should or could be on the team, younger kids who might have thought they had shot (rightly or wrongly) are going to feel that they have been eliminated from the mix. It is improper for coaches to discuss in an open forum who THEY think will or should make all-star.

As I stated (which I get the feeling you don't believe) I have no connection to these kids other than friends to parents. My kids did not attend school here and in fact live in Georgia. I am about an impartial observer as there is here. No brag, just fact. I WILL NOT name kids here on this forum, other than a general way as I did earlier. I stated my opinion. You stated yours. No need to get upset.

[mom]

How about the 11 and 12's this year, how are they doing? How about all stars for them?

[bruth]

"Oh and by the way, if you aren't prepared to sign your name to your post, don't bother.

4.

2. I am not sure which of the kids on my post failed to stand out to you. Perhaps we were watching differant games. "

Don't bother posting? Don't bother you? Don't bother.......what? You have less posts here than I do, yet you tell me if I should post or not? Stand down, my man. Who promoted you to CO of this outfit?

PM me if you want to know why I did not mention certain kids.

[jenkins]

how about timothy smith as an allstar, he was last year in jonesboro, la, he was also the 3rd pick in the first round, first pick on gary and rices team, hes and excellent backcatcher, but has been pulled after five games from backcatching, and put in centerfield, hes probably the best backcatcher on the team, and hes a good pitcher that never gets to pitch cause his father isnt a coach i guess, he won 2 metals at funday for a 50 mile an hour fastball and was 5 for 5 hitting on the pitching machine, hell probably be on the bench after this post, but if you have time watch him play for the tigers, 9-10 years, see what you think, hes hitting some balls to the fence,

[hogdog]

mdr said:

BRUTH: As you have publicly addressed me in your post I will pay you the courtesy of a public reply.
1. I am a coach and I stated my opinions publicly. You know this because I signed my name to my post. Something you neglected to do.
2. My opinions are not secrets, I post them publicly because I have no reservations about my opinions, they are based on my observations of the kids I listed, (13 in number). I based my praise on their performances in the games I saw and will base my vote on the same criteria without regard to who the child is or who his parents are and I limited my comments to praise.
3. I am sorry if the fact that I don't mind stating my opinion publicly has put anyone off, I didn't post my response to aggravate anyone and I plainly stated that the most important games were yet to come and that I was not attempting to list all of the kids who deserved to be on either the 9 or 10 year old team. Truthfully I have not committed myself to vote for any kid in the league at this point. I can't do that because I haven't seen all of their games which is why I will need to look at their stats at the end of the season just as the other coaches will need to look at mine so we will know how well the kids did overall. Some kids simply stand out and you know before the season ends that their performances have been exceptional. The kids I listed have all played well against me and I anticipate that they will continue to do so. I look forward to seeing the rest of their games to see if that level of play continues.
4. As for the kids you listed that I did not. , R. Tanksley is a good 10 yr. old and I would not be surprised to see him make it. In my opinion he is probably the best all around player on the Rangers. I have played them twice and he has been solid both times. T. Clark has a good bat and a good glove, I know b/c he robbed my kid of a base hit thursday when he plucked Drew's line drive out of the air. J. Outlaw has pitched against me in two games along with Alex Taylor and I lost them both. For your information Josh is a 10 yr old. I never met a kid that loved baseball more than Josh, my own included.

5. Now I hope that unruffles your feathers because I have a question that I think you will find contorversial and will elicit a considerable debate for those who don't have anything better to do than read my posts. HERE GOES::::: So far we have been discussing talent and nothing else. I have not based my comments on this list on anything other than the players physical abilities, I have not raised the subject of "attitude" and have not seen anyone else comment on this either. Here is my question for this list. Even if a player is an exceptional player, gifted in all the ways a ball player can be, IF his attitude and conduct during the regular season has been abusive, rude, aggressive and insulting to his teammates should that be taken into consideration by the managers at the end of the year when they conduct the draft for the allstars??

It is not my nature to ask others to comment on a subject I would not address my self so before you answer I will tell you my feelings which I know you are dying to hear. I personaly would take an average player with a good attitude over a star with a bad attitude, my theory being a baseball coach is charged with teachiing his kids the value of team work. This can not be accomplished if one of the team is demeaning or derogatory to other players. You have not and will not see one of my players speak to a teammate in a negative way, period. Not that it hasn't happened early in the season, but the consequences were dire enought that it hasn't happened since. This isn't about winning ball games it is about building character and instilling strong work ethics in kids i.e. you work hard and you get results. This is undermined when players are derogatory to one another. What about the rest of you??? Any takers.

Oh and by the way, if you aren't prepared to sign your name to your post, don't bother.

M. D. Ray

4.

2. I am not sure which of the kids on my post failed to stand out to you. Perhaps we were watching differant games.
3.

I go along and agree that there are attitudes some that are worse than others but to me as long as these attitudes don't reflect to dis-respect to the coaches and other players I feel nothing is wrong. I think that if a player gets upset for striking out or for making an error it just shows their luv for the game and how they strife to do good. As far as the all-stars I think they will pick a good group of kids to represent Crossett well

[bruth]

Being upset is not a problem. That is expected. Throwing things, pouting, and, more importanly, letting things affect hpw you play afterwards is. I've seen kids get hit hard by somebody, then walk 3-4 people because they got shook. Strike out, then make2-3 errors because they can't get over it. Level headed kids who hang in there and do thier job after adversity is good.

[hogdog]

well @ this age that is a problem that really doesn't concern me . But when they turn 12 and 13 that's when u start molding them. At the age of 9 and 10 all they care about is doing good and wondering if mom and dad are watching

[Outlaw85]

I'm going to make one final post on this subject. Parents and coaches be aware that we do have some of our players that are reading these posts. I know this for a fact! While I think what has been posted was with good intentions it is about to turn sour quickly. Alot of good players have been named but some have been left off also. It is those that have not been mentioned who are getting people upset. There is nothing wrong with stating ones opinion but please remember that while you are praising one child another may feel slighted because he/she was not mentioned. I would hate for any team to lose a player this late in the season because his or his parents feelings were hurt because of what was said or not said on here. I have found it best ,especially as a coach, to refrain from dropping names whether good or bad.

I'll issue one warning now. Bashing of players who make all star will not be tolerated. You bash and you are gone, simple as that. Seems like every year someone makes it that shoudln't and someone doesn't that should. But we will not allow a public thrashing of someone that makes it that someone thinks shouldn't have.

[Eddie Goodson]

outlaw67 said:

I'll issue one warning now. Bashing of players who make all star will not be tolerated. You bash and you are gone, simple as that.

Everyone take heed to what Outlaw is saying. This is how it is and how it will be.