One of my grandsons, age 6, started baseball. He has been obsessed with it. He's got a sharp analytical mind for his age but he's pretty small. He has apprently listened to coaches and dad. He seems to have some skills for his age at it. Of course every grand father thinks the same things. Here he is after only two months of baseball.
They use a pitching machine instead of T ball. At the batting cage they had it set at 45 which semed fast for little kids. Watching him play is going to be more fun than watching my kids.
Hats off to you. Several years ago I went to my other sons boy on his first day of LL. It was a zoo. A ball wood be hit and every kid on the team ran after the ball. All except my grandson. He was counting butterflys. I would never have the patience to deal with them at that age.
My youngest daugher holds the worlds record of counting butterflys during a game, while playing outfield.
However, she could hit that ball to the fence every time.
There was a handycapped girl, Lisa, that none of the other coaches wanted, so I chose her for my team. She had a birth defect in one leg, and could hardly run.
I would always bat my Daugher behind Lisa, because if Lisa could get on base, my Dughter would get them both home about 70% of the time.
Some parents and coaches lose sight of the fact that Little League is the time to teach the fundamentals of catching, throwing, hitting, sportsmanship, and rules.
If ya win the league penant, fine. If ya don't, then as long as the fundamentals, including sportsmanship, is taught, and everyone has fun, then the season was a huge success.
I did notice, that up until about the age of 9, that girls were usually just as good at baseball.
I also found it quite hilarious that T Ballers usually do not know who won the game, and always asked me when the game was over. LOL !
Coached and watched my son go from 5yo tball to his final season in HS. He plays in third round State finals this Wednesday. If they win 2 out 3 they play for the State 1A Championship. Would be a great way to go out in his last game. :-)
That is awesome. I've been coaching little league for 12+ years. It's a very hard thing to do, but watching those boys play the game makes it all worth it.
Not to brag but my oldest granddaughter is 7 and plays coach pitch. She's the only girl on the team, and she's the best player on the team....8^) Seriously though, just ask the coaches....
There is nothing better than watching youngsters play Little League. Especially when they have the right type of coaches....those that realize 6 year-old baseball is not life and death :-)
I was a asst. coach for years.....seemed very busy at the time but I wouldn't trade that time for anything now.
I tried to get my kids to play anything that interested them....lacross, baseball, softball, football, track, rugby, skeet, trap, hunting.......anything in the sports world beats having too much time on your hands.
Zbone when my boys played in the 80s there was a girl on a rival team that was the meanest player in the league. She played catcher and God help you if there was a play on the runner at the plate. She didn't tag you she would bury them. I watched her dive on a player sliding into home. Another time she was on third as a runner and third baseman had his foot on the bag. She didn't like it and stomped on his foot, Discretely.
"My youngest daugher holds the worlds record of counting butterflys during a game, while playing outfield."
-Tony, Ty used to pull grass, throw handfuls up in the air and let it fall on his head. Over and over...And that's a shame because he was often backing the infielders who were wrestling each other between the bases. Needless to say, it doesn't take Billy Martin to move base runners in Whiffle Ball or T Ball. :)
Ohhh, I spent many summers sitting at the ball diamond! Coached a few years.
I have a picture of my son just like your first one. It was the regional championship game for Junior High my son's 8th grade year. I caught him in mid swing right after the ball came off the bat. About a foot in front of it. He drove in 1 or 2 runs with that hit and secured the win.
My son was a decent player, but what he became known for was coming up to bat in the last inning with 2 outs. He almost never got out in those situations, and several times he either scored someone to win or started a rally that won or come really close to it!
He'd get two strikes and I'd be on the edge of my seat, but to him it was like he was still 0-0.
He shined at being an outfielder, usually center field, but his last two years of high school we moved to a smaller school where he had the most experience of any of the players, so they put him at short stop. He did OK, he knew where to be and where to go, but he just wasn't used to fielding the hard bouncers. He handled most of them cleanly, but some of them would eat his lunch. That's something that takes a lot of work to be good at.
Here was his last at bat for the season. They get three pitches from the pitching machine and your done at bat. He fouled off the first two and hit the third down third base line for a home run. Poor kids going to be bored for summer. He wants to play baseball in the fall. I thought he was 6 but he's still five years old.
My son was trying to teach him to catch a ball and he was having difficulty so he tried something different. He told him to hit the ball with his mit. It was either hit the ball with the mit or get hit by the ball. It clicked pretty quick for him after that.
