The grown-up pressures of a little-boy’s game.

A great article from the New York magazine about baseball. I don't have any kids yet, but if I have any someday that are interested in baseball I'll have to wonder: how much is too much?

Opinions from anyone with children in the Little League or baseball systems?

over 2 years ago soco 8 comments 0 recs |

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That is the Extreme

but too many kids (my own included) play year-round. The kids should play different sports during different seasons just to get a break, make different friends, and exercise different muscle groups.

by older fart on Sep 24, 2009 5:46 PM EDT reply actions

I would

tend to agree. Or even have different types of activities, balancing sport with intellectual, artistic, or community service.

You know how you get to Carnegie Hall, doncha? Practice.

by soco on Sep 24, 2009 6:39 PM EDT up reply actions

for a kid to pick and choose what he/she wants to do, switching from sport to sport at Mom and Dad’s behest as the seasons change offers variety but sometimes kids just wanna play kickball in the street or go riding a bike or take a swim in the pool or …. well you get the gist.

I used to be disgusted, now I try to be amused....

by piratedan7 on Sep 24, 2009 7:01 PM EDT up reply actions

Agreed

You know how you get to Carnegie Hall, doncha? Practice.

by soco on Sep 24, 2009 8:26 PM EDT up reply actions

I refer you to

An earlier review of Little League, Big Time. It’s the parents that are definitely the issue here.

"Win, or die" -- Marquise de Merteuil

by Jim McLennan on Sep 24, 2009 7:21 PM EDT reply actions

Well

I don’t think that’s really the angle of the New York story. It’s just an interesting profile inside the elite touring teams (of which I’ve never been close to being qualified for, nor was anyone else I ever played with), but I’ll have to check out that book at some point.

It, and so it would seem Little League, Big Time, suggests something that I don’t think I could begin to empathize. The question of whether the kids are having fun when pressured at this high level is nothing I’ve ever had experience with, as I’ve never been remotely talented (especially as a child) to be put in that kind of pressure. In the case of KB, he seems to or at least claims to have fun. I wonder if that is the truth.

You know how you get to Carnegie Hall, doncha? Practice.

by soco on Sep 24, 2009 8:32 PM EDT up reply actions

Definitely worth a look

True, the angle was definitely different, but reading the NY piece, I was never convinced that the subject was genuinely all that committed. I seriously doubt anyone at that age can have the necessary focus and drive without serious parental encouragement. I also doubt that any leisure activity, to the apparent exclusion of just about everything else, can be good for a kid. That’s whether it’s baseball, computer games or whatever.

"Win, or die" -- Marquise de Merteuil

by Jim McLennan on Sep 25, 2009 2:21 AM EDT up reply actions