1moreDBmom

Blame that on the parent as much as the coach.... a coach will only do what the parents let him get away with....if my son I'd be in conference with the superintendent, principal, and coach the morning after the first outing that went that many pitches. No game is worth ruining 2 years, or possibly more, of a young mans life. Sew um back up and keep um throwing is not the answer and a coach that works this way needs to be run out of town.

I cannot imagine the pain and heartache Jordan's parents have gone through this week. God Bless you and may you know that you have an extended baseball family lifting you up in prayer during this time.

I fully agree with you on this one gunz. The world is in "powerplay" mentality. From the coaching on up it is about what can I do to get noticed and climb another rung on the ladder! And it matters not who gets stepped on along the way.

shoot...take that advice a step farther...when getting out of bed or standing up from sitting in the lazy boy watching the CWS in Omaha, or anytime you've been still for a while, by all means stretch before and after you stand up. It does make a difference in whether you walk, waddle or drag yourself to the coffee pot.

Attendance = Money As usual it all boils down to all being about the money and not the student athletes and their families..... We live in a world that has things all mixed up. For instance the world will tell you that money makes a man... I always thought that man made the money. We have also been taught that that if something is said long enough and loud enough it must be true. I have lived long enough to learn that the majority is not always right. They may carry the final decision(enough to turn a majority rules vote) in the end but they are not always right! Unfortunately once that decision is made we then revert back to the archaic ways of traditionalism..."we've always done it that way" and then it becomes even more engrained in the majority (who carry the vote) that it must be the right way because we've always done it that way! About the comment "if it breaths charge it" I've been around a long time and have found that Kids 10 and under will never be seen sitting in the stands watching a baseball game. They play catch over behind the stands or in a nearby open field. They will be the very ones retreiving the foul balls and "SAVING" the school money on lost baseballs, and yet the schools charge them a gate fee so they can do that? (some do give out penny candy to entice them to return the $3.00 balls.) We live in a mixed up dollar hungry world folks... Baseball camps.... most parents think they are taking their son to a place where the college coaches and a couple local MLB scouts that drop by during the week will see their kids and want to sign them in a few years....holding my sides and laughing my head off.....these summer camps are designed for the sole purpose to get more money in the pockets of underpaid assistant coaches and for NO OTHER PURPOSE. MONEY, MONEY, MONEY It all revolves around the almighty GREENBACK. I have yet to meet a single umpire who would call a game for free, no matter how much they claim to love the kids, and the sport..... Money Folks...... Oh, I mean attendance.... or wait...what I really meant to say was "breathing". I get confused...... They do it all for our kids...that's what it's really all about....just ask them and they will tell you "it's all for the kids!"

It would depend on the position you play in baseball how lifting an hour or 2 before a game effects you. Standing in the outfield and chasing on average 1.75 balls per game...along with coming to bat 3 maybe 4 times as opposed to throwing from the mound between 80 to 100 pitches or catching those pitches are very different workload levels in baseball. If you do either upper body workouts or lower body workouts the last period of school and then take the mound less then 2 hours later at 5:00 and can honestly tell me your pitches are at 100%....well, lets just say I am going to need to see this to actually believe it... and not just 5 pitches....what I want to see is your pitch numbers 50 to 75...and beyond. If you become stronger after a good weightlifting session then why do football players not have full lower body workouts the last hour before a game in place of the gentle stretching exercises or riding stationary bikes? Many young men do play dual sports and I applaude them. I also suspect that the football coaches work with the baseball coaches in the off season conditioning when that off season overlaps the other sport.

Rod Delcomonica's son Tony was a sophomore this year at UT. He was listed as the starting SS this season but he was mostly used as the Designated hitterafter getting off to a rocky start with a .175 BA through the first 8 games. He pulled out of the season with astounding numbers however. Rod's younger son Joey was a Junior this year at Farragut. Like his older brother he too hit out of the DH spot for Farragut most of the year. There is a third son to watch for as well in the upcoming years. It looks like Delmonico knows a thing or 2 about hitting! Tommy Pharr has been the head coach at Farragut for a few years now. I do understand why everyone was screaming that UT does not select local players. Of the 45 boys on the roster 4 were Farragut boys and 5 were from Miami. A total of 18 of the 45 boys were from Tennessee. Perhaps this was one of the reasons Delmonico was relieved of his duties. There may have actually been 2 roads into the UT Baseball program, Miami and Farragut seem to have been the ticket to land on the UT team.

A little catty even for you don't you think catsbackr?

You are assuming something here Riverdaleman.... you are assuming he has a rule book or that he knows where to find one ***wink*** How bout a head start for him.... runners are found in the OBR section..... no wait, that would spoil all the fun wouldn't it.

Congratulations South Doyle for 3 draft picks. Hawn in round 23, Bell in round 25, and Brentz in round 30. It was reported that Trent of DB could posibly be picked in rounds 5 through 10 by KC but he had let then know ahead of time if he did not draft below the 10th round that he would opt for college. I think Derek made a very wise choice in college over a low round draft selection. In 3 years if he puts together the same numbers at ETSU that he did for DB we will see him in round 1! I certainly hope that Hawn, Bell and Brentz realize that a college education is a lot more valuable then a 250k signing bonus! It is an honor to get drafted but not necessarily the wise choice to sign when drafted that far back in the crowd.

It might be time for these athletes to decide....football or baseball! My son made the decision and went strickly baseball for that very reason. They were asking him to work out the last period of the day and then 2 hours later he was on the mound for a conference game....he said hummmm one day after a bad pitching outing because his arms were too tired to lift let alone pitch and he walked off the football team. If the football program and baseball program cannot work together with these dual sport athletes then the athlete needs to stand up and make a desision himself.

Here is the way I heard the "tie at first" explained once and I liked it. There is never a tie at first because the umpire determines it was either safe or out. If the ball gets there first the runner is out, if the runner gets there first he is safe. Runner is either out or safe....but never tied. No place to put a tie in baseball except on the score board...and even then we play all night if we have to because there is no ties in baseball...we play until somebody wins the game. I have never heard the umpire say...thats a tie at first so I'll let the runner stay. Or that's a tie at first lets back up and redo the entire play again to see if we get an out or a runner.... no tie...either safe or out.

Oh your certainly right rdaleman, I forgot about the extra large girth size...that does leave a lot of pant in the hindquarters area. Splinter repair is about all that's left!

How does a 50u tear a uniform? I am assuming the repairs are not in the knees from sliding, but rather in the seat from bending over to wipe the mustard off the top of his shoe that dripped off his double cheeseburger.

I can tell through your comment that you learned a hard lesson the hard way. I am glad that there are people out there who care more about the kids on both teams then the game at hand. I did notice one thing you said that can't be farther from the trugh however. I think you were perhaps defending the coaches who make decisions in game situations to try to pull out a win but I have one problem with the "living in the moment..." theory. That kid was not taught the curve ball in the heat of the moment between the 2nd and 3rd out on a coach visit to the mound. Somewhere along the way somebody planned ahead of time and taught these kids how to throw curves. No way that could be a heat of the moment decision in a tough game.

I love these young men David. I love their energy. I love their excitement. I love to watch them working out before the games...why If I can't get there an hour and a half ahead of the game I don't even waste my time going...the best stuff happens while they are warming up and before blue steps onto the field. I love their pranks between each other. I like to see their eyes light up and the teasing and joking that goes on in the dugout...hiding a hat, or a special pair of sunglasses...then the chase around the dug out... checking coaches back pockets just in case he is in on the trick. Man what fun memories that dugout brings back...I love to see them peeling out of sliding pants soon after the put them on....because they "overheat in the seat from the icy hot applied there ahead of time. ....That alone almost makes me want to go find a fat /50 co-ed slow pitch team to join...I could keep the books and juggle for them in the dugout....and straight-faced...you have no idea...I could hid anything and never crack a smile. I once went to the parking lot during warmups (bathroom break you know) and in less then 8 minutes I had jacked a friends car up high enough to get blocks up under the tyrods and hidden behind the tire out of sight...the wheel was just close enough to the ground to appear at first glance to be on the ground.....but the car would not go when they put it in gear.......my floor jack was safely hidden out of sight by this point....and I was big eyed innocent! Limbaugh..... These are the real guys of baseball.... they are out there because they truly love this sport and not because someone is paying them to roll around in the dirt. When baseball season starts right after Christmas they put the old truck up on blocks, toss the steak to the dog, and kiss the girls goodbye....it is time once again for the love of their life to take over and control every waking breathing moment! You can see the love in their eyes. Check out these photos at this link and you will see the twinkle in a bunch of 18 year old boys eyes! TriCitiesSports.com They worked hard at this game....but they danced too! That is great joy which those who never play the sport will never understand!

Jimmy Key plays pro ball????

Amen David. Argue on , but if one parent sees this and a lightbulb goes on it is worth every breath it took to argue the point! Tell me how many of the 12 year old wonder pitchers from Little League world series who were ptiching wicked curveballs and 65mph fastballs are currently playing at the pro level? I would love to hear about just one of those kids going on to great baseball careers if you can find one for me.

Delmonico and Cox both stress the importance of grades to the boys who attend their UT Summer Baseball Camps. They talk about the limited number of athletic scholarhips available and how when they do spend those scholarships they want to use them on a kid who will still be academically eligible his sophomore year. If you can't get it done in the classroom at high school level, (where they spoon feed you), how on earth do you expect to make it academically at the college level while spending even more time on the field practicing or traveling to play? I have seen some really good (REALLY GOOD) athletes come out of high school with a 2.8 GPA and a 17 on their ACT. Coaches would give give their #3 assistant coach up in a heart beat to to get their hands on such talent...but if you can't make the grades you might as well kiss upper level college sports goodbye because they sure are not going to BUY academic trouble with their limited scholarship money.

Rice is a fantastic coach. We will one day see him coaching at the college level I suspect.

The neat thing about high school baseball is when you lose X number of pitchers/players at the end of one season...the following year you will get a new set of Juniors becoming Seniors, Sophomores becoming Juniors..etc.... Everybody gets a whole summer to grow, pass a grade and move up.... I do understand that sometimes it hurts when the graduating class is big...look at Dobyns-Bennett. They actually graduated 12 seniors from their varsity team this year.... They had 12 Seniors, 1 Junior and 4 Sophomores on the Varsity squad, but they had juniors and sophomores back on the JV squad getting actual playing time instead of sitting the bench at varsity games. So those guys will be coming into next year better because they saw that playing time this season. High School baseball seasons is like opening a brand new box of chocolates every season...you get something new and different from year to year. Good luck to everyone as they reload for next year!

Now that's interesting. Wasn't Dale Ford the plate umpire in the District game between Science Hill and Dobyns-Bennett? Science Hill is located in Washington County???? Dale Ford is from Washington County??? Oh well. Just an observation.

I listened to the game on the Bartlett Radio station with Bartlett Announcers.... If I heard them say "wow, I wonder where that one missed" once, I heard it 50 times. And it was just as even for both teams from what I was hearing them say on the radio... in the bottom of the innings (South Doyle batting) they would say "where in the world did the corners go?" " That was a strike just last inning but I guess it has changed for this inning." Then in the top of the next inning (Bartlett hitting) " the announcer would say "strike on the outside....well, it has been a strike all night folks...it must have missed a little low this time." Then the very next pitch..."Same place as the last one folks but this time it's a strike again." So just going on what the announcers were saying over the air, it was not your imagination but it was indeed a moving strike zone. But it did appear to be even for both teams. That goes back to how an inconsistent umpire frustrates the hitters and pitchers and the radio announcers...it may all come out even when you count the calls missed for both sides...but somewhere during the game it starts to frustrate players, and how do you know which side will get frustrated first and start swinging at everything because they have no idea what the umpire is going to call... Atlanta lost a player and Bobby Cox just yesterday over an umpire that according to the TV announcers has been inconsistent for several games now when he is behind the plate... Those announcers stated that you know something is wrong when you got both pitchers and batters from both teams jawing by mid-game over your strike zone. Consistency Consistency CONSISTENCY Please get consistent back there blue...we don't mind if you think a low ball is a strike and we think it is a ball...what kills us all is when it is a strike one pitch and a ball the next..... Ok...I know this was the wrong thread...we are ripping umpires in another thread alltogether...so I will put my soap box up. Both teams played remarkable games... Bartlett may have been up 11-1 but in a blink of an eye South Doyle was back in the game with the score 11-6. That is a close game regardless of what the final score was. Both teams had a magnificent season in 2007. Congratulations to everyone envolved and supporting them this year! Thank you for a fantastic 2007 AAA Championship game.

Well, unfortunately time did run out for them. But there is nothing to hang their heads over. They had a stellar season and there is nothing but better things to come for them in the future. A wonderful season Cherokees and we are all proud to have you represent East Tennessee for us this year. Bring back what you've learned from this season and do it all again next year!

Next batter strikes out looking then a 6-4-3DP Congratulations Bartlett!