2016 Sharks Baseball Thread

[johnson2113]

Ok.

I'll see if I can remember everything for you all!

The State Tournament started on Thursday, the 30th. The Sharks played two on Friday, and we won, both of them!

Saturday then rained us out. Probably could have gotten some games in.

We played on Sunday, and won! The Sharks were 3-0, going into pool play. We played on Monday morning, the 4th, Independence Day. Usually we spend the day floating in the pool, and then we shoot off fireworks. This year it was cold and raining and gray, and it looked like early October.

We had the first game at 8:00AM CDT. I'm scouting this team and they are all a lot smaller but they could play. We were the 4 seed, but we really had to bust our butts to win and we did. We got our 3rd home run of the season and we were close on 3 more hits during the weekend, including our Bub. He was about 5 more pound from putting over the fence. It sounded great.

We had the same umpied s from game one to game two, but they officiated on different rules, this was a dirty, cheating group of coaches. They threw a fit about our coaches adjusting the machine and caused the game to be delayed for 10+ minutes. Our boys got frustrated and ended up losing but finishing fifth overall.

Thankfully we are done with that machine, maybe some blowoff games, but now we got our superstar catcher who is going to be our superstar pitcher! I've been catching for him. He's amazing(without bias), he really his an amazing pitcher, too!

We also got another pop-up out to our superstar!

[johnson2113]

Oh, and just to prove what an A-Hole the other team's coach is, one of their players popped up to Bub as he was playing pitcher. He caught that guy out and doubled up their runner, who the coach sent from first because he didn't know who was playing at pitcher!

When he's the next MLB All-Star I'll make sure his extended Feeding Frenzy gets some great gear!

[johnson2113]

I have ranted and raved on here and I am embarrassed when I do that.

I have no excuse to freak out or get upset like I do. I feel like that I can come on here and vent to all of you but I still feel like a jerk. I haven't been able to get into a chiropractic appointment. I am stiff and sore. I have absolutely no right to act like I do.

One of the players on the team was in a car accident the other day. Him and his brother are alright, his mom, one of the nicest women I know & drop dead gorgeous, was not buckled in. She went through the passenger side window from the driver's seat. Thank GOD!, PHIN POWER!, whatever you want to credit, she is alright, she is beat up and has a few broken bones and some cuts, but it could have been so much worse.

I feel like I overstep my bounds from time to time, but I know how absolutely great the people on the team are. The players, the coaches, the parents, grandparents, uncles, aunts, friends, etc.

The whole team has jumped in to help the family. Fixing dinner, watching the boys, just being there while she recovers. I have to say, I don't get disappointed that the boys lose. They need to once in a while, as much as I don't want to believe that. This truly goes beyond being a team and being friends. I'm completely out of the picture and I would do absolutely anything for these people. I am truly fortunate to be a part of something so much bigger than myself.

We had an unfortunate series of events in the state tournament. We're doing the season finale tournament, now. And we are down players on vacation. Tonight's game and the CHAMPIONSHIP game, on Thursday.

We played a tough team tonight. We were tied in the season series and our Sharks stepped up big time and played, awesome! Our Bub, BN's and mine's and his parents and grandparents, Bub was an absolute black hole tonight. Who could have imagined the chunky little eight month old, sitting on plane in front of Jerry Jeff Walker, getting a personal concert would be the absolute best player in his league. And not even the best player in his league, the best player at three very specific positions.

He's head and shoulders the best catcher I have ever seen. I was catching for him. If he could pitch to himself, unstoppable.

We had a couple of boys on vacation this week, he stepped into third base. He played the greatest game of third baseman I've seen, this side of a World Series Champion. Two balls got past him. One was way over his head, the other he made a great play on, it was just well hit and he missed it by a quarter of an inch. He went 4-4 at the plate. He was a home run shy of the cycle. I want you all to be aware of him and saving his first baseball cards!

In the championship game we face a team that has had our number twice this season. I have watched these Sharks, I know they can beat them! So at about 5:45PM CDT if you can throw some PHIN POWER up, I know those boys would appreciate it. We're going to be down to 9 players. The league plays ten and I do not want to see the opposing coaches not agree to that and take the Championship on a forefit.

[lime rickie]

Who could have imagined the chunky little eight month old, sitting on plane in front of Jerry Jeff Walker, getting a personal concert would be the absolute best player in his league. And not even the best player in his league, the best player at three very specific positions.

BN could!

[johnson2113]

Who could have imagined the chunky little eight month old, sitting on plane in front of Jerry Jeff Walker, getting a personal concert would be the absolute best player in his league. And not even the best player in his league, the best player at three very specific positions.

BN could!

ABSOLUTELY!

[johnson2113]

All-State Showcase (All-Star game(s)) weekend stories!

The Sharks spent the weekend at the MO/KAN All-State showcase! Friday night was the festivities. They introduced all 72 teams. It took about 3 hours. Bub was featured in the USSSA video, that I can't find now.

At the meeting, the coaches told us that the previous year some teams were going to finish tied and parents and coaches threw a fit and raised hell. So, all the younger teams didn't have competitive games. They told us they had a 5 run rule per inning.

Bub wanted to know, "If they don't keep score then how do they know they have a 5 run rule inning."

We played the second game of the morning. Each team played two games. One of the Sharks played around 1:00 The sewer was backed up and at the start of TY's game the sewer had backed up into the field. After one half of an inning they called the game. Everything was pushed back and they could only use the one field. It smelled HORRIBLE. People were watching games with their nose covered. You couldn't get away from it. In front, behind, every direction you just smelled that mess!

But the Sharks players had a great time and made us all proud!!!! Big hits, bit plays and they got to meet some other players and OH YEAH, they did get a ring. I've been saving the picture until I'm done writing this up.

Here is where I have to rant. I am p*** at the parents of my generation. This is NOT a situation where a head coach picked his son and his son's best friend, the Sharks coach picked the players that played the best this season for this honor. I CAN'T post my pictures until everyone gets their hand held and their ego stroked. I understand they are only kids, but they are also buddies. They should be happy.

I want to shoot some pictures that I haven't gotten the opportunity to shoot yet. Every player has gotten everything that every other play has gotten in the way of pictures and cards. If they haven't gotten a special card...

Home Run
https://www.flickr.com/photos/thesharks ... 7310920150
Inside the park home run
https://www.flickr.com/photos/thesharks ... 9535922122

...then that's because they didn't earn it.

They got all got a Rifleman and a Field(er) of Dreams card.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/thesharks ... 8755338353

https://www.flickr.com/photos/thesharks ... 1695535875

Because at sometime during the season they earned those.

Just as our three Sharks earned their spot in the All-Star game.

The thing is right now, they have a large team. The fall season is going to be used to narrow the team down and everyone is freaking out about it. The team has let everyone play that wants to play. And at this point it's not getting fair. It's not fair to the boys that are playing and trying hard to get the same amount of playing time as the boys that don't care. I even heard one of the worst players on the team say he wants to go to another team because they are better.

Two of the Sharks All-Stars.


Check out the full-size picture to see that ring. It's the real deal. It's heavy and quality! And I can't say anything on Facebook about it.
https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8604/2864 ... 8f32_o.jpg

[johnson2113]

I just finished up my All-Star cards. It's the little details that I love on these!

The only thing I did for this one was change it to Little League and add the Sharks purple on it.


This one I took the 40 Years of Topps baseball and changed it to 4 Years. This is their 4th year of playing baseball. And over the All-Star, I put three stars for the three All-Stars the Sharks had.


And on this one I put the All-State Showcase logo in place of the American/National League logo.


The only thing I have left to do for the All-Stars is to make a couple of cards with them posing together. I have the template for the 88 & 89 Fleer cards but I need to get them together at some point and shoot the three of them.

I also have a few more that I uploaded.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/tankedpyr ... 1739739256

[johnson2113]

We finally kicked off real baseball, yesterday!

It's a bit of a culture shock. First off they have these half bleachers to sit on. They s***. Everyone finally was standing and getting in my way of shooting pictures. It reminded me of the toilet we had in kindergarten. Great if you are 5, not so great if you are 15, 25, 35, 45, 55, 65 and so on. And we have a high fence. I'm shooting through the fence. I still have a lot of great pictures to go through.

Bub was awesome a catcher he almost threw out a base runner at third and came close at second a couple of times. He needs to work on his batting, but it's a whole different animal now, it will come. His defense is only better now.

One picture though, I shoot every pitch of every at bat of the Sharks. We had a full count and I was figuring we would probably get a walk. I shot one picture of this pitch. Maybe the best picture of all the baseball pictures I have shot.



He shook it off, took his base and came out and struck out a couple of batters.

[lime rickie]

Congratulations Bub, via Jerred! The rings are awesome!

[johnson2113]

Congratulations Bub, via Jerred! The rings are awesome!

Thank you!

I will pass your congrats along. He's a bit of showboat, but when I tell him all of my BN friends congratulate him and love his pictures he gets shy!

That ring is insane. Everyone that sees it is amazed. I still can't believe he got something like that.

[LIPH]

Congrats on the All Star team. I made the All Star team one year when I played Little League but I didn't get a ring. Everyone on the All Star team got a small trophy but I have no idea what happened to mine. I was 10 years old so that was 54 years and several moves ago, it might have gotten lost or broken in one of the moves.

[johnson2113]

Congrats on the All Star team. I made the All Star team one year when I played Little League but I didn't get a ring. Everyone on the All Star team got a small trophy but I have no idea what happened to mine. I was 10 years old so that was 54 years and several moves ago, it might have gotten lost or broken in one of the moves.

Yeah I've got a 2nd place trophy that we should have gotten a first place for one year, somewhere at my folks'. They had a great time until the sewer backed up on to one of the fields and everyone was trying to not puke everywhere.

Pitching has been fun and boring. Some things I am not understanding. What it boils down to right now, the good players are being screwed over and the bad players are not progressing. Tonight Bub sat two innings, and no one has a good reason why. After he came out of the game at catcher, he didn't go back in. The second catcher has not stepped up to play at the level he should be now. The third catcher will never see time behind the plate again. Every run scored against the Sharks tonight was on a passed ball by the catcher, that wasn't Bub. Now, this kid is a good player, but he's not putting in the effort behind the plate. Bub is missing out on a lot of good experience when he's not catching, let alone in the field. He should not be benched.

This is not me being biased by in stretch of the imagination. There are nine players that I would always be playing, maybe even 10, we are still shuffling 13 players in and out and like I said the the team is suffering because the good players are getting treated the same or worse as the bad players. I have seen one player step up from his time in machine pitch to now. I've seen at least two or three that not produced. They want to narrow down the roster, if I'm not involved in the decision I'm going to be p***.

Bub caught another foul pop up for an out tonight. That's his fourth this season. They have played 30 games, I've photographed 29, plus an All-Star game. I have seen only one player catch a foul at catcher. That's Bub, and I have done it four times, and the only reason he has four is because they pull him from catcher too F****** much. I like to think they are just 9, but damnit, they are also either playing hard or dancing and Fing around in the field!

Ok, rant over, he's pretty good pitcher, too.

[johnson2113]

So, I have had a gag order placed on me. But I don't think that applies here and I don't recognize it, anyway.

I feel like I get too worked up sometimes, and I know I get a little too worked up sometimes, but after what I heard this weekednd, after what I saw this weekend, I know I have been to calm about things.

The first game of the tournament, they rolled. After the first inning it wasn't close. The second game was a lot closer. We should have won that one.

Bub is in another stratosphere as far as his team. Bub doesn't just have good instincts, he is SMART. He's always looking, he's always analyzing the play, he knows who is playing each position. All of the coaches have called him the captain of the team. Mostly because he is the catcher, but as they have stepped up their level of play his play is the only one that has reached this level and even surpassed it.

It's the first year of kid pitch, they are narrowing the team down to cut players. Of course they are going to cut the wrong players. There are 13 players on the team, I think they want to cut 2 players and they are going to cut the wrong two players. And even then it will still be a fight. The four I would put at the bottom are at the bottom of everyone's list. But I have seen two of those four improve, improve enough to stay on the team.

The coaches are still running this team like a machine pitch team. They play every kid, and Bub has sit two innings in more than one game and bad, Terrible, HORRIBLE, players have played more than him. I want to say they are saving Bub for tournaments and making sure he is rested, but when the same BS is pulled in every tournament game I don't buy it.

Players are not paying attention, players are not ready. And the coaches are not making an example out of them. They are hurting the good players and they are not motivating the bad players.

The two best players on the team sat one inning of a game we could have won, and they didn't understand why the were benched. It's going from being unfair to being criminal.

Bub was pitching this weekend, he struck out the first two batters. He "gave up" more than sever runs that inning with two outs. He came out and told me he gave up all those runs. His defense didn't back him up. At least three outs were blown by the rest of the team. Easy grounder, fly ball to outfield and a third strike dropped by the backup catcher and botched throw to the first baseman. He is taking the blame for his team not picking him up.

Anyways I've got almost 7,000 pictures to go throw and ton of great shots of Bub, making most of the outs of the game.

[Dr.Corona]

Quick question for you Jerred.....what's the age group for this league?

[johnson2113]

Quick question for you Jerred.....what's the age group for this league?

LOL I hope you don't think I'm a lunatic!
They are 9. And there are all kinds of leagues A, AA, AAA.

All I really know is that this is 9 and they are playing up.

My problem isn't with players or our coaches. My problem is the other coaches playing dirty, throwing fits and telling the umpires to make calls that umpires didn't see and only our opposing coaches saw.

I'm old school! I played in the country on old farm grounds, with parents that would call coaches and umpires bad names. That are tamer than the things I say now. There is a finned up NeNe that is losing her damn mind during games and I saw her do the same thing back in the day.

I believe the dialogue, went something like this.

AHOLE COACH: What are you going to do about it?

PANTHER MOM(FUTURE SHARK NENE): Me? Nothing. See him? He will escort you out. (That was after she called him the no good SOB he was)

That him in question was my old man, is Bub and Gunz Papa! He would and could and may do it yet I saw him as an umpire escort a coach out and he would do it again. I'm waiting for him to do it still, now.

I watch these opposing coaches debate calls and throw fits ON the field. Doc, I don't mean to highjack your question with my rantings and ravings. Here is one example.

The opposing coach threw a fit and screamed, "IT WASN"T EVEN CLOSE!"



The camera doesn't lie! I see anything and everything! I'm going to start calling for an instant replay! And if that doesn't work then I'm going to Kenny Powers.

YOU'RE F'ING OUT!!!

[Dr.Corona]

J-Man, I love your passion and the support you throw Bub's way!! Great for his confidence & a way to show him how much you care for him! The pics & the ball cards you've been producing are spectacular. You really outdo yourself. To be a part of this growing process in his life at this time must be exciting & a real thrill for you.

It's great that he is so skilled, puts in the extra effort to be good & shares the passion for the game....making him one of the better players. It also is important that he understands that not all are as passionate about the game as himself at this age. There just out there having fun but not using the passion level that he does. Some kids will not be as good as him and some may actually be better, but he should try to except them as teammates or rivals & respect the effort they give. I guess the million dollar question is at what age should the kids take it serious & be held ultra accountable? I just believe that elementary age kids shouldn't be held to that high of a standard yet.

I wish parents could chill a bit with their antics while these kids are playing ball though. There is rarely a need for anyone to be calling anyone an SOB while kids are playing a ball game. Ball Game! These are elementary school kids. Competition is good, I'm definitely all for it, but so is sportsmanship & the idea that lets get as many kids involved as possible in sport at a young age. There is time later in Jr. High or High School to take things a bit more serious & refine their talents in sport to see if they can use it for scholarships (important) or greater.

GO SHARKS!!!

[johnson2113]

J-Man, I love your passion and the support you throw Bub's way!! Great for his confidence & a way to show him how much you care for him! The pics & the ball cards you've been producing are spectacular. You really outdo yourself. To be a part of this growing process in his life at this time must be exciting & a real thrill for you.

It's great that he is so skilled, puts in the extra effort to be good & shares the passion for the game....making him one of the better players. It also is important that he understands that not all are as passionate about the game as himself at this age. There just out there having fun but not using the passion level that he does. Some kids will not be as good as him and some may actually be better, but he should try to except them as teammates or rivals & respect the effort they give. I guess the million dollar question is at what age should the kids take it serious & be held ultra accountable? I just believe that elementary age kids shouldn't be held to that high of a standard yet.

I wish parents could chill a bit with their antics while these kids are playing ball though. There is rarely a need for anyone to be calling anyone an SOB while kids are playing a ball game. Ball Game! These are elementary school kids. Competition is good, I'm definitely all for it, but so is sportsmanship & the idea that lets get as many kids involved as possible in sport at a young age. There is time later in Jr. High or High School to take things a bit more serious & refine their talents in sport to see if they can use it for scholarships (important) or greater.

GO SHARKS!!!

Absolutely, I 100% agree and I have two problems. I'm standing by the dugout shooting pictures and the boys that really care are always coming up to me. They get out, they come up to me and I tell them "Shortstop made a great play! You made great contact and "he" just got you" I do absolutely everything in my power to tell every single Shark they are doing good.

My other problem is shooting so many pictures during a game I basically get to relive them all over again. I know that we have great coaches and great fans. I also know that other teams have jerk coaches who will take absolutely any advantage they can. I've seen it time and time again.

I may cuss like an oilman in my everyday life, but you won't hear me doing that during a game. If I ever get upset, or obnoxious, it's "quietly and shyly" with people that feel and are thinking the same way.

No matter how bad a player is, I don't want to discourage them from being out there, I love this game. I've stayed up until damn near 3AM to watch a Royals game. And I know how far beyond fortunate I am to have a main man, like Bub and Bub's best buddy, the two best players on the team, that are at levels beyond everyone on them team.

My only problem is there is a lot "friend" bias, there is a lot of just plain bias. I get as many moments captured as I can.

My bias is:
1. Bub
2. Bub and Bub's parents friends
3. Great players
4. Passionate players
5. Good players

I would put the number of players that don't care at around 2 at maximum. And I've seen those two players step up and play.

I may get upset, to put it mildly, but I don't put that on any single player. I've had Sharks have a great play and the first thing they do is come in the dugout and give me a big high five. My main problem is with the umpires and opposing coaches. Followed by our coaches.

All you have to do is look through my pictures, naturally some players who get more action than others will get more pictures. I have had right field get more action than left field. Eight players have gotten special cards, only because they have earned them.

I hope you all understand I come here to vent and I feel bad that I do that. We were hanging out after a game one evening, listening to the police scanner and the ball fields called the police on someone there based on their behavior. You will never see me on that list.

[johnson2113]

I'm the most miserable person on Earth and it just gets worse after reliving these games. But to the good stuff.

One day they will learn to NOT steal home on Bub.






Bub and our ACE pitcher make a great duo.


This is an example of poor officiating. The kid at bat struck out. Bub saw the runner going for third and threw the ball down there. Third missed it and left field threw the ball into Bub. He tagged the runner for the 4th out of the inning.


The runner took him down, but he still got the 4th out. It took him a second to get his bearings.


The next game.

Bub is still the only catcher I have seen catch a popup. I think this was his 5th one. Like my sister said, she loves watching the opposing teams fans.


He definitely has gotten aggressive out there, he's not shy about running a player back to the bag.


Nope. Check out the fans in the background.


He hit a monster shot right here.


This is the team with the bad coaches. The first base coach was throwing a fit, screaming that it wasn't even close. He's right, Bub had him dead to rights.


If he doesn't get the tag on a dropped 3rd strike, he's in front of the batter throwing to first.


He had step in and be our Wade Davis.

[johnson2113]

Another game tonight, another DEVASTATING loss.

I will try to be a little more P.C. on this post. But man it's hard when I see two players that play HARD and SMART and they both tell me they it was their fault for the loss. The main thing, if this team didn't have bad luck, they would have no luck.

The takeaways from this game. The batting lineup needs a big change and now.

Bub has settle into actual pitching and his crushing the ball and on top of that he's such a smart base runner.

It was a little crazy, tonight. They tried a pick off play on him and he saw that no one was covering second and took off. No chance of even getting him out at second. He stole home tonight and they called him out. He slid under the tag, he was safe. I know the guy that runs the sports complex, I'm this close to calling him and getting some quality umpires out there for their games for a change.(I wouldn't do that, but man these Sharks are getting shortchanged)

Bub had another phenomenal game, it's really disappointing they bench him and the other good players as often as they do. We have good coaches, they know what is going on.

The one thing I will say that I'm most worried about is, the players that aren't the best on the team but are trying their absolute best might get cut. Right now there are just too many players, but I worry that they might cut the wrong players. I'm worried the coaches are going to make sure they don't upset their friends as opposed to encouraging the good players.

I don't want to pretend like I'm an integral part of the team, but I have also invested a lot of time and get to see a lot of the game that no one else does. If they are going to upset a player or parent, I don't want to sit it out. It's another problem, a difficult choice that needs to be faced and I feel like I can contribute.

[johnson2113]

I don't think any of us have mellowed out. It seems like the bad calls and worse decisions seem a little more harsh and non of us really seem to care. Everyone is exhausted and tired and worn out and beat down and broke.

The only ones that don't seem to be as affected are the players they keep giving it their all. And now on top of the second half of the baseball season some players are playing soccer and most of the baseball team is playing football now. I am ONLY doing football and baseball pictures.

Friday night we had about 2/3 of game that got rained out and not just a little. It was an insane electrical storm and the fields were bleeding out on the sidewalk. Bub started at pitcher and plunked the first batter, hard. Those boys were a little hesitant to stand up their against him and in the two innings he pitched, he struck out 5.

Saturday at noon we had another baseball game. The pitching is exceeding everyone's expectations. The starting pitcher went 4 innings and only 58 pitches. Unbelievable start. Two innings were 8 & 11 pitches by the starter and the reliever. Now, this isn't some crazy stat that I'm following. We have at least 4 people monitoring pitches. The USSSA and everyone else has so many rules about the number of pitches that can be thrown. Pitches and innings have to be turned in after every game.

One of the teams we played against, a pitcher threw over 60 pitches and the coach didn't realize it, I thought he was going to have a panic attack.

Saturday evening we hit the gridiron for the start of the Ravens football season. The offense was shaky to say the least. First game totally understandable. The defense though, the defense was a monster, a multiple headed monster and the biggest one was Bub! He was literally unstoppable. There is a term I want to use for him, but today, I can't use it. I don't even want to use it, ever. He is the shortest guy on the baseball team and the second shortest on the football team. He is playing defensive and blowing up offensive lines. And then he is getting in the backfield eating up QBs and RBs.

I know I have a tendency to say how bad other coaches are, this football team is by the worst. Last season their fans got an unsportsmanlike penalty called against them. Their head coach cannot even be on the field this year. The coach they had on the field berated the players for the entire game. Their parent that was on the chain gang got removed from the game and they had to bring in another parent. He was warned on the first play of the game by the line judge.

We went to OT and we scored on the drive and got the 2 point conversion. We were up 8-0 nothing. The defense took the field. Stopped them on the first drive, next one penalty against the offense, second attempt at second down we stopped them. Next play stopped them, second attempt at 3rd down, Bub blasted through the offensive line, ran down the running back, dropped him for a loss of 6 and they had one more attempt. A bumbled hand off, the defense touched the downed player for a loss and the Ravens finished the game with their first win of the season.

So, in the next 6 days it will be 1 football game and 4 baseball games. Maybe a touch of phin power for parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles and coaches and PLAYERS because we are all exhausted.