Baseball??

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The kids who are attracted to baseball vs lacrosse at the high school level tend to have different personalities. I'm going to guess your son with a year or two under his belt will naturally select or will want to play which ever his friends play. I would definitely recommend against picking a school based significantly on a sport.

What do you think are the personality differences? My kid plays football, lax and baseball. I guess football and lax tends to be played more aggressively?

[Anonymous]

My kid also played multiple sports through middle school and enjoyed them all. It was in high school that kids started to considwr themselves baseball vs lax. Baseball tends to attract more cerebral kids and it's truly a power sport in that there's a lot of waiting and then bursts of athleticsm are required. Patience is part of the game. It's also more of an individual sport in a team environment. Players have to be okay with havng all eyes on them while hitting or pitching or fielding. There's no hiding. I admit I know little about lax but from what I've seen, it seems to appeal to kids who like constant movement and less individual pressure. And yes, I think the sport attracts players that find releasing physical aggression really fun.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone have a thought as to whether it is more difficult to become good at baseball or lacrosse, or does it totally vary from player to player? They're both spring sports so would ultimately conflict with one another, I imagine.

Do you have a very young son, and you're planning things out years in advance? My suggestion is to let him try both sports (and others too) and see what he likes. If he likes a sport, he will be much more interested in practicing, and sticking with it until (and through) high school.

In my view, the key skill in baseball is the ability to hit the ball well. It's a skill that most kids don't have, and never will have--and if you don't have it, you won't play high school baseball. Lacrosse has more positions, and different positions require slightly different strengths and skills. My guess is that your odds of seeing a five year old boy through to an eventual high school lacrosse team are maybe a little better than eventually getting on a high school baseball team. But this is all a little silly because the key question is what sport does your child actually like to play? And PLAY is the key word. Once your son views it as work and not play, it's over.

No. I have a middle schooler who enjoys playing both.

The nicer boys seem to play baseball over lax. The lax group seems to be involved in a lot of trouble and often can have attitude problems.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kid also played multiple sports through middle school and enjoyed them all. It was in high school that kids started to considwr themselves baseball vs lax. Baseball tends to attract more cerebral kids and it's truly a power sport in that there's a lot of waiting and then bursts of athleticsm are required. Patience is part of the game. It's also more of an individual sport in a team environment. Players have to be okay with havng all eyes on them while hitting or pitching or fielding. There's no hiding. I admit I know little about lax but from what I've seen, it seems to appeal to kids who like constant movement and less individual pressure. And yes, I think the sport attracts players that find releasing physical aggression really fun.

This is a very rough and extremely broad generalization, but it matches up with what I've experienced with my son playing in an independent high school. And matches up with my own observations when playing 30 years ago.

[Anonymous]

Yes, the player is more in a spotlight in baseball and has to be okay with that, especially when batting and pitching. It is very psychological; I've watched many pitchers wash out on the mound, only to be replaced while everyone watches. Or a batter striking out when bases are loaded, costing the team the game. Not that people aren't going to take notice when the player fails to catch the ball in lacrosse or the goalie lets everything get past him.

As far as skill, you have to be able to catch/cradle in lacrosse, pass well, and be fast. Baseball requires more fine tuning of a variety of skills. It is not easy to hit a fast-pitched baseball, and it gets harder as the pitches get faster. It is also not easy to react quickly enough to catch a ball being hit at you at a high speed in the field.

[Anonymous]

Yes. You have to be able to "field" the humiliation of being replaced mid-inning while trying to pitch or striking out at a critical moment in the game.

[Anonymous]

Baseball is a tough sport. Lot's of life lessons. My son has remarked that those have been valuable skills as he took on new challenges in his life.
Schools are having a harder time fielding teams as the popularity of lacrosse has grown. I hope baseball remains viable in youth sports.

[Anonymous]

Baseball tends to be far more racially integrated at my son's school. It takes patience, concentration and a strong ego. Most of the lax boys are white, so my AA kid, although he enjoys playing, didn't feel like he would feel at home with the team, and his coaches in other sports discouraged him from trying out. At his school, the football players are viewed as the best athletes overall -- many football players also do track and field because they are fast and strong. When he was younger, he also tried ice hockey, competitive swimming, (which is by are the biggest time commitment) and basketball. He enjoyed them all, but by high school the time commitments were such that he decided on doing two.

[Anonymous]

SJC has a great baseball program but it attracts very good players from a wide geographic area, so unless your child is a star, he might not make varsity at a school like SJC.

But, if he does, almost every baseball player who graduates from SJC has the opportunity to play in college.

One other consideration. At a school like SJC, playing varsity baseball means not being able to do other ECs, because baseball is all consuming between summer ball, fall ball, winter camp, regular season, and year-round mandatory conditioning.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:SJC has a great baseball program but it attracts very good players from a wide geographic area, so unless your child is a star, he might not make varsity at a school like SJC.

But, if he does, almost every baseball player who graduates from SJC has the opportunity to play in college.

One other consideration. At a school like SJC, playing varsity baseball means not being able to do other ECs, because baseball is all consuming between summer ball, fall ball, winter camp, regular season, and year-round mandatory conditioning.

No ability to do both football and baseball? Maybe that would make him give up football. I can see that he would only be able to do lax as a low-key winter club sport/league if he did baseball. They already overlap too much in middle school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes. You have to be able to "field" the humiliation of being replaced mid-inning while trying to pitch or striking out at a critical moment in the game.

Also, the batting order lineup. They are keenly aware where they are in it and if they move up or down.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Baseball is a tough sport. Lot's of life lessons. My son has remarked that those have been valuable skills as he took on new challenges in his life.
Schools are having a harder time fielding teams as the popularity of lacrosse has grown. I hope baseball remains viable in youth sports.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Baseball is a tough sport. Lot's of life lessons. My son has remarked that those have been valuable skills as he took on new challenges in his life.
Schools are having a harder time fielding teams as the popularity of lacrosse has grown. I hope baseball remains viable in youth sports.

Interesting; I'm not aware of any of the local private schools that lack a varsity and a JV with good numbers.

[Anonymous]

As far I know, there is still enough in the area school pipelines for JV and Varsity teams. My recent exposure to that pipeline is a few years old but even then the feeder system from travel teams and little leagues was feeling the competition from lacrosse. The game and the skills aren't easy to pick up on the fly so I think for baseball that feeder system is really important. Despite it's reputation among the masses, to play baseball well you have to be a good athlete. It's a lot easier to pick up a lacrosse stick and hide in a running crowd as a beginner, We have the Nats though to inspire the little kids!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As far I know, there is still enough in the area school pipelines for JV and Varsity teams. My recent exposure to that pipeline is a few years old but even then the feeder system from travel teams and little leagues was feeling the competition from lacrosse. The game and the skills aren't easy to pick up on the fly so I think for baseball that feeder system is really important. Despite it's reputation among the masses, to play baseball well you have to be a good athlete. It's a lot easier to pick up a lacrosse stick and hide in a running crowd as a beginner, We have the Nats though to inspire the little kids!

All good points. I played lacrosse myself but love baseball as a fan and would be very sad to see it die out. There are kids for whom baseball is a great fit athletically for whom lacrosse is not, and vice versa. It's also good to get those early throwing and catching and hitting skills to make the splash in rec league softball. I hope both sports will thrive.