The Miami-Dade Baseball Player

[AntwanJ306]

Is he soft? Does he come in with inflated hype that isn't really ready for elite college baseball? Take a look at some numbers:

There are 16 teams remaining in the 2014 NCAA Baseball Tournament. On those 16 rosters combined - approximately 480 players - there are ZERO players from Miami-Dade.

In last year's College World Series, there were two players from Miami-Dade: a backup catcher for LSU and a little-used reliever for NC State.

In football, we hear about how we lose local kids to other programs. That isn't happening in baseball. The elite teams in college baseball have no interest in our area anymore. FSU and Florida hardly have any representatives from Miami-Dade either, and the ones they do have aren't impact players.

This is problematic because of our recruiting philosophy. It has been said for several years that Miami coaches are hardly ever seen at the national events. They kick back and let the local travel ball guys tell us who the prospects are. So we end up with a roster full of Dade kids, and that has us on the worst six year stretch since the early 1970's.

Is it time to go out and get the real baseball players that are flourishing around the country?

 

[cowboycane]

Was actually reading in ESPN the Magazine that even though you would assume that playing year round in warm weather states makes you a more polished, well rounded player...players from the southern U.S. actually have a higher fail rate in the draft than their northern counterparts.

I agree with OP. That is why having Gino helps so much...he helps expand the recruiting footprint out of Dade, and always has.

 

[Angry Ibis]

Was actually reading in ESPN the Magazine that even though you would assume that playing year round in warm weather states makes you a more polished, well rounded player...players from the southern U.S. actually have a higher fail rate in the draft than their northern counterparts.

I agree with OP. That is why having Gino helps so much...he helps expand the recruiting footprint out of Dade, and always has.

Work ethic?

 

[BWCD]

Was actually reading in ESPN the Magazine that even though you would assume that playing year round in warm weather states makes you a more polished, well rounded player...players from the southern U.S. actually have a higher fail rate in the draft than their northern counterparts.

I agree with OP. That is why having Gino helps so much...he helps expand the recruiting footprint out of Dade, and always has.

Work ethic?

I think part of it is burnout. I know it was with me. I played so much baseball in VA growing up I was sick of it by the time I got up to HS. I used to take BP in an indoor cage during the Fall/Winter months, and started playing when the snow was almost done and didn't stop until the leaves were almost fully changed in Fall. So even in a less-baseball-friendly climate than FL, I got sick of it and dropped it.

You take a similar guy that can do that outdoors 24/7/365, then a 9 inning ballgame is a blip on the radar, doesn't have as much meaning...and the motivation/passion isn't there as much as someone who it's still fresh to (Northern guy who might get to play 6 months out of the year, if that).

One thing I see is that your Northern players tend to just play naturally, and get the job done on the field by whatever means they can...they get dirty, and don't care if they look ugly making that catch, throw, or run. They lean less on honed technique and more passion/intuition/aggressiveness--I've always called those guys "Dirtbags". The Southern players have had SO much time to tirelessly work on their craft, that they treat technique like their religion. They're married to it, and it's what they're all about. If it works, great. If it doesn't, then it's still right and "it will come back around". They tend not to freelance or take chances as much on the field, either.

I think it also has to do with the room to develop. Northern guys who have played about half the baseball at the same age as the Southern guys aren't as developed and have room to grow--and are motivated to do so. By the time you get a Southerner...they're pretty much developed into the kind of ballplayer that they're going to be, and you're lucky if they do develop any further.

I'm not badmouthing those players from the South, but those are the differences I see.

 

[cowboycane]

Was actually reading in ESPN the Magazine that even though you would assume that playing year round in warm weather states makes you a more polished, well rounded player...players from the southern U.S. actually have a higher fail rate in the draft than their northern counterparts.

I agree with OP. That is why having Gino helps so much...he helps expand the recruiting footprint out of Dade, and always has.

Work ethic?

I think part of it is burnout. I know it was with me. I played so much baseball in VA growing up I was sick of it by the time I got up to HS. I used to take BP in an indoor cage during the Fall/Winter months, and started playing when the snow was almost done and didn't stop until the leaves were almost fully changed in Fall. So even in a less-baseball-friendly climate than FL, I got sick of it and dropped it.

You take a similar guy that can do that outdoors 24/7/365, then a 9 inning ballgame is a blip on the radar, doesn't have as much meaning...and the motivation/passion isn't there as much as someone who it's still fresh to (Northern guy who might get to play 6 months out of the year, if that).

One thing I see is that your Northern players tend to just play naturally, and get the job done on the field by whatever means they can...they get dirty, and don't care if they look ugly making that catch, throw, or run. They lean less on honed technique and more passion/intuition/aggressiveness--I've always called those guys "Dirtbags". The Southern players have had SO much time to tirelessly work on their craft, that they treat technique like their religion. They're married to it, and it's what they're all about. If it works, great. If it doesn't, then it's still right and "it will come back around". They tend not to freelance or take chances as much on the field, either.

I think it also has to do with the room to develop. Northern guys who have played about half the baseball at the same age as the Southern guys aren't as developed and have room to grow--and are motivated to do so. By the time you get a Southerner...they're pretty much developed into the kind of ballplayer that they're going to be, and you're lucky if they do develop any further.

I'm not badmouthing those players from the South, but those are the differences I see.

Burnout is huge, happened to me too. Another thing that year round ball does is create a sense of "this is a job" early on for these kids....which is the exact opposite of what you need when it comes time for Game 7 of a regional. Guys need emotion. I know the whole Saber Metrics crowd will argue against that, and in Game 36 on a Wednesday in April I would agree with them, but how the **** else do you explain a team that won 27 of 30 headed into the postseason getting shutout twice in a HOME regional, with a HOME Super Regional on the line, by a team with a 5.71 team ERA for the season? That speaks to leadership, both from the staff AND from the players.

Finally, I hate year round baseball for another reason: it does not create dynamic athletes. I went to high school in Wisconsin. My favorite sport was baseball and I was on the varsity, but because year round baseball was impossible I also played basketball and football and ran cross country at various times throughout high school. It made me a better all around athlete and competitor. That is stripped away when you specialize in one sport starting at age 12.

 

[caneaddict]

dont know but the ones that are coming here avg 5-8 160 and cant get the ball out of the infield

 

[AntwanJ306]

dont know but the ones that are coming here avg 5-8 160 and cant get the ball out of the infield

That's exactly what I see. If we were getting the leftovers, I might understand. But we are allegedly getting kids who are among the best that Dade has to offer. And they can't hit.

 

[RBhurricane87]

dont know but the ones that are coming here avg 5-8 160 and cant get the ball out of the infield

That's exactly what I see. If we were getting the leftovers, I might understand. But we are allegedly getting kids who are among the best that Dade has to offer. And they can't hit.

The problem is, all of the ones who CAN hit are getting drafted and signing with MLB teams.

 

[AntwanJ306]

dont know but the ones that are coming here avg 5-8 160 and cant get the ball out of the infield

That's exactly what I see. If we were getting the leftovers, I might understand. But we are allegedly getting kids who are among the best that Dade has to offer. And they can't hit.

The problem is, all of the ones who CAN hit are getting drafted and signing with MLB teams.

But that isn't true either. Miami-Dade high school players aren't exactly dominating the draft. We always hear about how much talent there is in this area, but that theory is not holding true as of late.