GameChanger is a mobile app and website that provides scorekeeping, stats, live GameStream plays and game recap stories for thousands of amateur baseball and softball teams.  According to GameChanger, they are on the verge of revolutionizing the world of youth baseball scouting. GameChanger provides comprehensive score keeping for the nation’s youth baseball coaches while offering players’ families a readily accessible mobile scoreboard with live updates. The basic app is free, and a premium version,…

Any suggestions on teaching sliding? It is time to teach Lefty to slide.  Up until now, Lefty has been getting by with a “fake” slide.  He does more of a drop down when he gets close to the base, there is no real SLIDING going on.  I have never spent any time teaching him how to slide.  So I figured now is the time.  I found two large pieces of cardboard.  We put them out…

Have you heard of  “Relative Age Effect” (RAE)? Canadian psychologist Roger Barnsley coined the phrase. He asserts that players whose birthdays are right after their league’s cutoff date have a competitive advantage because they get a little more time than do younger players to physically mature and develop their skills. Barnsley says that a six- to twelve-month age advantage can make a big difference in a child’s physical and mental development–enough to boost that child’s chances…

Do you know which eye is your dominant eye? Here is a simple test: Extend your arms in front of you. Bring your hands together to form a hole that you can look through. Choose a small object about 15 feet away from you. With both eyes open, focus on the object as you look through the hole. Keep looking at the object through the hole while you close one eye and then the other….

Little League volunteers from across the United States send in entries that are evaluated at Little League International and three winners are selected.  This is the 14th year the contest has been conducted. The voting, conducted over several days last month, asked Little League Facebook friends to decide on the top three photos from 10 finalists.  The first-place winners tied with more than 1,000 votes cast each.  More than 5,000 votes were tallied, and the…

< Lefty Behind the Dish I have always had a lot of admiration for catchers.  It may have a lot to do with the fact that I pitched for most of my years playing.  I saw first hand the dedication it takes to be a good catcher.  Besides the obvious trait of being physically tough, catchers have to be mentally tough.  They have to be smart and a quarterback on the field.  Higher up in…

It was time to get Lefty a new gear bag.  This long bag was used and abused for a few years.  It did the job okay but one of the biggest issues he had with this bag was that it was difficult to carry over the shoulder.  Also, since it was so long, he had trouble hanging it up and it would end up on the dugout floor or on the ground at home.  I…

We are very fortunate to have such a great facility right in our back yard.  My son got the chance to play in the San Marcos 2012 Memorial Day Tournament in May which was hosted at Mission Sports Park.  It was so nice for our family to enjoy the weekend of baseball at such a beautiful and LOCAL field.  We spoke with many parents from surrounding cities and they were downright jealous of our home park….

I am looking forward to watching the Little League World Series with my son, Lefty.  I think he is getting to the age where he can relate more to the players.  In the past, they may have appeared to be “big kids” to him.  But now, they are just a few years older than he.  Although, the size of some of these 12 year-olds may still make him think these are adults. The United States…

I enjoy the Summer Olympics.  This year is especially exciting for me because I can   watch with Lefty, my son.  Lefty is old enough now and loves sports.  This is the first time he he can really understand and follow the Olympics.  We stayed up late on Friday (and every night since) watching the coverage.  He is thrilled and so am I.  But then he asked me, “Hey Dad, is there baseball in the…