Letters to the Editor
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Youth Baseball
My son is twelve, playing his last year of Little League. He loves baseball, and I love baseball, but realistically, this is probably it for him. We simply can't afford the lessons, camps, and league/tournament team fees that will be necessary for him to continue.
In our area, you can't hope to get onto a Babe Ruth League team if you aren't a known quantity. And how does that happen? You spend about $3,000 hitting the various camps and training facilities so the powers-that-be know who you are. Nothing wrong with lessons and camps, but if you don't have the cash, you simply can't do it. Scholarships are unheard of.
If you haven't been to the requisite camps, even if you have talent, there is no point in even showing up for try-outs. Our local Babe Ruth and tournament leagues will actually say that. "Don't bother."
In theory, a kid can play in high school, but around here, high school ball is simply an exhibition camp for the real baseball teams, American Legion and still more tournament and travel leagues. My son might be able to get onto a high school team, but that won't get him onto a team when the real season starts. Once again, it'll be the camps and lessons, which by the time he's in high school push $5,000 a year. Then the leagues themselves in high school are even more money. The real focus, the tournament or travel team leagues start at $2,000 per season, and if you don't commit to two seasons (kinda mid-summer and then late summer/early fall) teams won't take you.
So we're talking $8,000-9,000 per year just to play youth baseball. That's not even counting equipment costs, batting cage time, and travel costs.
Then there's the mindset of organized youth baseball leadership. Here we're talking about the adults the sit on the tournament and league boards and coach the teams. To say that they are mostly unrelenting arrogant is being generous. Power-tripping fuckwards is what they are, just about all of them. They can look at a 12-year-old and proclaim, "Don't bother, he doesn't have what it takes."
For what? Kids just want to play ball. Some of them are more talented, some less. Some, given a chance, can get better, but most won't get that chance. Between the money and the figurative blow jobs their parents have to give the baseball authorities, it's just not possible.
My son loves baseball. But after this year, he'll be limited to catch with me or his friends, or maybe an occasional pick-up game. And actually, probably not even a pick-up game. The baseball kids aren't allowed to play pick-up games. Might get hurt, and that could hurt the multi-thousand dollar team.
Oh well. When he gets to college, I suppose my boy can play co-rec softball. It's fun (I still play some myself), but that's a long way off for the poor fellow. Sad.