Oxnard Muckdogs: Note for the Parents
Every kid is going to play and every kid is going to sit. There's no way around it. We will be as fair as we can be to every player, and not every player is going to be happy sitting. Also, certain players are going to have to play positions that they may not want to play. We all know this, and most of us have experienced this in our own lives. I remember playing first base and Pitcher in Little League and Babe Ruth Ball when I was a kid. For three straight seasons, I had to share first base with a kid who was heavy, left-handed, didn't run fast, and didn't hit very well, either, but he was on the team. The only position he could play was first base. My coaches had no choice but to put me on the bench for three innings or play me in the outfield for three innings because the other kid had to play.
Did I like it? No. Did I do it? Yes. do I still remember it to this day? Obviously, I do. Those were the rules; I knew it, I did it, and everything turned out fine. We still won games, we still lost games, and we all remained friends... even me and the kid I shared first base with. We have 11 kids on the roster and they're all great kids - they truly are. Regardless, only 9 can play in the field at a time. There's just simply no way around that, so please stick with us, be patient and everyone will have a chance to help our team win and have fun. round-Robin Batting Order
One thing we are going to do from now on is bat in a round-robin batting order, meaning that every player - whether he's on the bench or not - will hit. For instance, the two players who don't start in the field in the first inning will still get a chance to bat in the batting order. So while we start 9 players in the field, all 11 players will bat when their turn comes up in the batting order. So even if you're not playing in the field, you'll still be hitting in the batting order. Even after we bring those 2 kids in and sit 2 other kids, all the kids continue to bat in the same batting order. This should help keep every kid involved in the game in every inning.
We also want you to know that we're doing our best to be fair to the kids who are working hard: coming to practice, playing hard, listening, improving, keeping a good, positive attitude while building a good bond with their teammates. If kids aren't at practice, we literally don't know enough about their skills to blindly put them in the field at any, random position. It's also not fair to those kids to put them at a position where they aren't familiar and make them feel bad if they don't know how to play at that position. |
Oxnard Muckdogs: PlayersDaniel
Arturo Nolan Shandin Michael S. Sergio Michael R. Eric Roman Jorge Adrian |
The bottom line is this: we're out here to teach these kids how to play baseball the right way and to have fun while doing it. So far, so good. We can all agree that not every kid can play every inning of every game at the position where he wants to play. You can definitely rest assured that we're doing the best we can with them and we can see a lot of growth already. The kids are having a blast (and so are we!) and they also want a chance to win. They're a great bunch of guys and I couldn't be happier with the team we have.
If you have any questions or if you would even like to help out during practices, we would welcome you to do so. Feel free to call or text me, Coach Justin, or Coach Spiess at any time HERE.
If you have any questions or if you would even like to help out during practices, we would welcome you to do so. Feel free to call or text me, Coach Justin, or Coach Spiess at any time HERE.