Fall baseball works fine in college…when you’re trying to determine the pecking order of a 35 man roster…and they only play one sport. But it can’t work in high school when athletes attempt to play multiple sports. (Press Pros Feature Photos)
It makes all the sense in the world until you unwrap the issues…those who advocate playing high school baseball in the fall. It cannot be done, or done well, and here’s why.
I had a very enjoyable conversation recently with another baseball fan while watching OSU fall workouts at Bill Davis Stadium.
“I agree with what you write,” he said. “The weather in Ohio is lousy and every point you make about competitive disadvantage because of rain and cold is true. But instead of playing in the summer, after school is out, why not play high school baseball in the fall when you have several weeks of good weather?”
As an option, fall baseball has been talked about for years. I think it’s even been experimented with in some of the northwest states, like Idaho and Montana…maybe North Dakota. I’m not sure if they’re doing that now. But the person who suggested it was almost eighty years old, long past the romance of breaking in a new glove and cleats come spring, and I made three cogent points to him – and anyone else who questions – why high school baseball simply isn’t a good solution.
One, there is a tradition involved here. Baseball has always been played in the spring, synonymous with phrases like “hope springs eternal.” I’ve never heard someone say, “hope falls eternal.” It just doesn’t have the same ring to it. People want to watch baseball and softball in the spring. And, baseball in the spring eliminates some obvious conflicts – too many sports happening at the same time in the fall, and probably too few athletes available to make them all competitive. But trust me…kids do not want to play baseball in the fall.
Two, what if your best pitcher in baseball happens to be the quarterback on the football team? Now you walk the line of asking him to choose between baseball and football. And what if he likes both? And many do. In fact, many I’ve asked do play both sports and many say they prefer baseball because you can play every day…and the high school schedule allows for 26 regular season games, instead of 10. Kids will also tell you that they’re rather ‘play’ baseball, than ‘practice’ baseball. For generations we’ve extolled the virtues of having kids play multiple sports, but that’s hard to do if too many of them come in the same season.
Three, most schools’ athletic budgets depend on the revenue sports like football and basketball. And recently, the popularity of girls volleyball actually competes with girls basketball as a money maker. Volleyball is quickly becoming a national attention-getter because it’s fast-paced, it’s athletic, and there’s a point scored on every serve. It’s very entertaining to watch. But if you borrow athletes from football and volleyball to play baseball and softball, it threatens the competitive attributes of two of your best revenue-producing activities…while creating that situation for kids who would like to play both, just not at the same time.
Publisher/Editor Sonny Fulks writes OHSAA and Buckeye baseball for Press Pros Magazine.
Last, in a day when more people question how much sports is too much sports, it’s unrealistic to believe that there’s enough athletes in a given school to play both football and baseball – volleyball and softball – in the same season and have them get adequate rest. You want your best athletes out there for the sake of being competitive, but not at the risk of simply getting worn down.
I know that there’s a segment of people who believe that it opens competitive opportunities for kids who aren’t good enough to compete for playing time in the spring…and that they would improve if given more opportunity to play in the fall. But the off-season is when you become a better player. The season, itself, is when you become a better team.
There are other things about baseball that I absolutely support for the sake of change. I would love to see a bigger strike zone – shoulders to the knees – and even expand the width of home plate. This would create more strikes, more swings, more offense, fewer walks, and more fielding opportunities for the defense. – a quicker-paced and more entertaining game. It would make those cold April afternoons go faster.
But playing baseball in the fall? I don’t have much ‘hope’ for it, eternal, or otherwise.
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