All Metro Team:

[Cannonball]

..........................

 

[CoachKevin]

This only shows 1/2 of the player. So player #1 is batting .588, but as a 1B has a fielding avg of .300 with 29 errors.... wouldn't get my vote.

 

[sluggers]

Player 5 is the one I want on my team: 26 runs scored, 36 RBIs...total run production of 62.

Player 1 would be my second pick--I love the high OBP.

Player 4 is my 3rd pick. With 4 triples, she has to be fast.

Player 3 is next, followed by player 2.

 

[calgofo]

Here are some examples of statistic from an "All Area Team." When viewing these statistics, all made either the 1st, 2nd or 3rd teams. All play the same competition but do comprise 2 different conferences. These players all play the same position. Here are the stats:

Example:

Player 1:

.588 Avg., OB% 607, Slg % 667, AB – 102, R – 28, H – 60, 1B - 54, 2B – 4, 3Bs – 2, HR – 0, RBI – 19, 5 Ks, 4 - BB

Player 2:

.369 Avg., OB% 442, Slg % 381, AB – 101, R – 25, H – 31, 1B - 30, 2B – 1, 3Bs – 0, HR – 0, RBI – 4, 15 Ks, 10 - BB

Player 3:

.398 Avg., OB% 424, Slg % 496, AB – 113, R – 25, H – 45, 1B - 38, 2B – 4, 3Bs – 2, HR – 1, RBI – 22, 13 Ks, 4 - BB

Player 4:

.381 Avg., OB% 406, Slg % 505, AB – 97, R – 27, H – 37, 1B - 29, 2B – 4, 3Bs – 4, HR – 0, RBI – 13, 8 Ks, 4 - BB

Player 5:

.436 Avg., OB% 485, Slg % 702, AB – 105, R – 26, H – 41, 1B - 24, 2B – 12, 3Bs – 3, HR – 3, RBI – 36, 5 Ks, 9 - BB

Two of these players were the top offensive players in their conferences but only one has been nominated for All-State. 3 of these players are 1st team, one is second team and one is honorable mention. Can you decide who is where?

Trying to compare the relative value of one player to another is tall order. Measuring who is better relative to another depends on the metrics used and is at best imprecise and at worst ludicrous. In the above above example the stats being used are offensive, I would hope defensive statistics would also have been used in arriving at at any sort of conclusion.

Assuming this is a High SChool all-whatever, then there are thousands of other metrics besides offense/defense categorization. Some metrics in HS evaluation include (but not limited to) which player is related to the coach/ad/admin/etc, the cosmicly inexplicable coach metric both with/without pulse/brain, which player has parents are on the SB booster program and their relative position/tenure in said body/ which players
parent(s) have/are having/have had carnal knowledge of coach/persons envolved in the decision making process, etc. etc

Which is why trying to decide who belongs on "all-anything" team IMO is just an exersice in a form of jactation.

A far fairer/more presice method IMO would be to put all players names in a bag and draw at random until however many spots are filled with an explanation of how the reults were obtained.

 

[SnocatzDad]

I hate to tell you this, but it's the same all over. We had a stud Varsity Senior SS and 1B this year that had participated on National Champion (not just went to nationals, won nationals ) summer teams and our HS was ranked 3rd in the state at one point late in the season when we were the last team still unbeaten, Yet when the All Star Series was announced neither was chosen while 2 to 3 kids from schools who were not competitive, but whose coach is an annual coach for the all star series had kids selected.

Here are some reasons why they don't always get it right or even close to right.


#1 Some coaches do little or no politicing on their players behalf. Stats don't get you these type of honors, coaches have to work to get those kids recognized, sometimes that means getting other coaches politicing on your kids behalf while you support their kids.

#2 Some coaches are on the outside looking in of groups of coaches that have voting/influence blocks that determine these type of awards.

#3 Statistics mean nothing. I could have a pitcher with a regular season 0.00 ERA and 300 strikeouts, but if she plays in a weak conference and never progresses past state sections because her ERA against good teams is 15.0. Same goes for hitting. Bashing the ball around against weak pitching means less than getting a single against a pitcher that was a state champion the year before.

You can compare statistics amoung a single team, and sometimes a conference, but once you get significantly different quality of pitching it becomes impossible to use those statistics.

In our state I'd prefer that they chose one all star team from the final 8 teams that make the state tournament (at each division) and use the stats/performance from only the state tournament as their guide. This might overlook a great player from a small school, but it takes the politics out of it which is what you are guarnteed otherwise.

 

[calgofo]

Calgofo, however, these teams are selected and are nice accolades for players achievements. I only know the fielding statistic for Player 5. She had 1 error on the year when called in to play SS in the first game of the season. Othwise, she had some 40 chances w/o an error and also had 11 assists from Right Field. That would lead the entire area in assists for OF.

You point is a part of the point I'm going to make. The all area team was released today and so, players 1,2,3 were 1st team. Player 4 was 2nd team. Player 5 was HM. Yet, Player 5 led her conference in just about every offensive category and when taken in lieu of both "large school conferences," was in the top 8 in every offensive category regardless of position. Player 5 is also nominated for "All-State" and yet was HM All Area. All Area is chosen by 1 person. In a phone call to that person, yes, I'm hacked off, he didn't know Player 5's stats and that she had such a good year. He didn't know much of anyone's stats as per the fact that one young lady had 4 RBIs and 1 double on the year. 16 players were nominated from one conference which is the same conference his child's school is in and 5 from Player 5's conference. 2 players were nominated from each small school conference and none of them were 1st team.

The point, these various All Area Teams have little to no value. It is very disappointing as a parent to see my child (Player 5) slighted in such a manner and then to call and be told by that person who chosee team that he didn't even go to the team/conference site which is located on their own newspaper webserver to determine who had had productive years. He picked the team based mostly on conference and then on friends and games he covered and not on anything else.

Is the end of the world? No. Is it a valuable lesson for my child? Yes. Has a friendship been destroyed. You bet when I understand that little care was given, not only to my child, but to others as well. Believe me, I'm not the only one slighted. I can name at least 5 players who had better years than many on the 1st team. They are in the wrong conference.

CB,

I feel your pain bro. Been there done that, and as of now have not recieved my t-shirt. The process has been this way since long before we came and it, i fear, will probably remain so, long after were gone. I had a feeling where you were going with this....hence my post. Years ago I felt much as you do now (come to think of it I still feel that way). Before a game, I once threw a
$100 bill on the scorers table and walked off saying, "You don't have to inflate my kids stats, just report them accurately as they occur," leaving said scorer with a look on his face.

In my dd hs sb career she was placed on various 1,2,3,HM categories in all-district, city, area,state tournament, categories. In addition, she made it on the various, what i call, the-academy-award categories, such as best performance in RF by a player playing without a glove and best performance by a pitcher wearing red cleats playing in games between the hours of 3-5 on alternate thursdays in even numbered weeks. In the end, the only thing that made it on her college bio page was her being the pitcher in the championship game the year her team won state.

I wish I could offer you someting that would make you feel better but in the end I don't think I can. I would just say, Remember, in the vast majority of cases. whatever your dd does in hs sb, will have almost no bearing in obtaining a college scholarship.

At least you had the opportunity to vent here....

 

[sluggers]

Cannonball, I'm going to give you the advice that I'm sure you already know:

She shouldn't give anyone a choice next year. She should be so much better than everyone else that it would be insane not to make her "all everything".

A little chip on her shoulder won't hurt her.

Ray