How good is Tennessee baseball?

[XtremeLoco]

Tennessee baseball Rules all.... , maybe not but its not bad at all.

[OwlsBaseball]

I just moved to Chattanooga about 7 months ago from Tampa, Florida. Where I lived was the minor league haven of FL. The Yanks, Phils, Cubbies, Red Sox, and Blue Jays all trained in my vicinity. This obviously produced a lot scouts coming out to watch games, and a lot of "Average" players got drafted. However, after being here 7 months, I honestly think the players here are more stronger and faster than kids I played with in Florida. The caliber of play is about equal, but TN sure produces strong kids. Its funny, though, because we played year round in Florida, but I do think here in Tennessee the caliber of play is pretty darn good.

[mctigersportsfan]

Marshall County Dusters ( SR Babe Ruth) always seem to end up in run for the State each year. Also Marshall County has quite a few players in college and a couple in the Majors.

[bizazz]

This is strictly from a Knoxville perspective. Area teams have done very well in various "World Series."

 

The class of 2003, represented by Knoxville Thunder

 

Runners up in two world series as 12 & 14 year olds. Many of these players are now making significant contributions as college freshmen.

 

The class of 2004

 

Knoxville Stars

 

Won the AAU 11-U world series (this team became the Knoxville Yard team mentioned below)

 

Placed 5th in the AAU 16-U

 

Knoxville Thunder

 

Runners up in the AAU 17-U last year

 

Knoxville Yard

 

Made the medal round of both Senior and Junior National Wood Bat tournaments at East Cobb as a #1 seed.

[bigbadblue]

Tennessee has some of the best programs in the U.S. However, a lot of kids don't have the opportunity to be highlighted because of the areas they play in. For instance, Chattanooga is a softball city. There are very few baseball tournaments in Chattanooga, and for the amount of kids that play baseball in the area, there are very few summer teams in relation to Chatt's population. Knoxville has some of the best talent in the state, period, but when the high school season rolls around the talent is spread out amongst the school system (with the exception of Farragut). An example would be a kid playing for a team like Powell versus playing for a team like Knox Central or Farragut. Scouts are going to look at winning teams and find the players that are helping them to win. When you got a team that is 20-5 and another that is 13-12, you're going to look at the team with the better record. And a player that is on a team that is out in the sticks is going to get little recognition because there isnt as much media and other outlets to support them. Tennessee has tons of talent, and some of the better programs in the country (Oakland, Germantown, Farragut, etc). Take the time to look at SEC teams' rosters. Just about every team in the SEC has at least one player from Tennessee. If a college team of that calibur is going to recruit a player from out of state, you better believe he has potential MLB talent...Might I add that UT is HORRIBLE about recruiting in-state talent in baseball (and basketball). There is no reason for an instate player as good as the ones playing for Miss State, Auburn, Georgia, etc to not be highly recruited by Tennessee.

[bombboy]

I agree, we have some very good talent in this state that just simply goes unseen. Baseball is not a sport that is as glorified in the media as football or basketball so that in itself makes it harder for these kids to get the exposure that they deserve.

[dirk2525]

I think TN does very well, considering we have to compete against other states with year round better climates. That is a big factor. Just think how much better we could be if we had the weather of Cal. or TX. The sky could be the limit.

[Bulldog10]

Tennessee has to rank up there pretty high! but i say that the places like FL, TX, and CA prbly have are top 3! because they play year round in those places. if tennessee had the weather like FL we would rank up there.

[lvnnewbie04]

I don't know if I want to generalize, but here's my experience. My son played ball in Jacksonville, Fla., from third grade till junior year in high school. I always thought the mild climate was a real advantage, knew that a lot of good teams and players come from the Sunshine State and frankly expected a dropoff in talent when we moved to middle Tennessee last summer.

 

The first surprise was when tryouts for school ball were held in the summer. In JAX, conditioning was voluntary and didn't start until Thanksgiving, and the kids didn't even know if they were on the team till February.

 

His last-period class all year has been strength training with other baseball players. In Florida we had some sort of sophisticated block class scheduling that made that not even an option.

 

I was surprised by pretty much every school I visited having an indoor hitting facility, and with the long list in the newspaper of coaches and former players offering individual instruction at a price. In Florida, all I was aware of were camps at colleges during the Christmas break and summer.

 

 

All in all, I'd say the year-round focus on baseball is greater here, though as I suggested at first I have to admit it might be more a comparison of one specific program to another rather than between states in general. Perhaps I'll have a better idea about the quality of talent in a couple of weeks when the games begin.

 

By the way, I enjoy the site. Thanks for doing it. Sorry for the long post.

[BNA]

Nashville's Tennessee Athletics

 

2003 Qualified for their 6th World Series Appearance (NABF),

in as many years, but (due to team injuries) elected not to participate.

 

2002 Won the National Baseball Congress (NBC) World Series

 

2001 Third place finish in NBC World Series

 

2000 Third Place finish in NABF World Series

 

1999 11th Place Finish in AAU World Series (Played under the name Worth Copperheads)

 

1998 7th Place Finish in NABF World Series (Played under the name Worth Baseball Club)

[SkwerlSak4]

I'd say we fall about right in the middle. We're better than a lot of states, but a lot of states are definately better than us. It has to do with all kinds of demographics. Population is a major factor. Obviously Florida, California, Texas, etc are going to produce more and better athletes on average. There's just more to choose from. Same reason on average AAA schools have more talent than A schools.

I think the warmer climate states have a big advantage b/c they can be outside playing almost year round, where as in tn we have to deal with cold days that's it just insane to be out playing in 20 degree weather. So the temp. has to be considered.