Totally classless sandbagging

[dbronstein]

Two years ago, DD was cut by her previous rec team because the coaches decided to play comp/TB so they dropped DD and some other of the lesser players. She's been on her current team (now second year 12U) since then. In the spring, we (I'm an AC so I can say we) play in a Babe Ruth league. Most of the teams aren't at a very high level. They just posted the schedule and we found out her old team is in the league, and we're playing them three times. We thought it was odd that the old team is slumming it in our league.

My wife is good friends with one of the moms from the other team and got the scoop. The coaches are playing in the league because they figure they'll roll through it, then be able to qualify for the national Babe Ruth tourney. I don't think they'll have a problem running away with the league.

The kicker is when DD was on their team two years ago, we were playing in a different rec league (10U) and got second place. The team that won was a TB team that was sandbagging. The coaches weren't very happy about it. But I guess sandbagging is okay when you're the one doing it.

There is a bright side to it. DD is now extra motivated to work on her pitching so she can show them what they missed out on.

 

[quincy]

We have 1 team in particular that has a different team at the start of the year then the end of the year, something about timing.

I wish I could say we beat them but we didn't have a chance with thier early team.

I do not know what the leaque or parents are thinking.

 

[Me_and_my_big_mouth]

There is a bright side to it. DD is now extra motivated to work on her pitching so she can show them what they missed out on.

I am rooting for your DD! I hope she knocks 'em all down AND steals their lunch money! We have a coach who used to tell my DD that, on the field, they're just "9 girls named Sally," but I'm pretty sure DD always dug down just a little deeper when a couple of those "Sallies" had it coming.

 

[MNDad]

Doesn't Babe Ruth have geographic requirements?

 

[CoogansBluff]

How does the league work? Can you enter a hand-picked team?

If it's legal to do that, and the league serves as a qualifier for a national event, then I'm not sure that I can blame the team. If Babe Ruth sets up a national tournament, and pathways to get there, then I would expect teams with that goal to find the best path available.

 

[quincy]

Our leaque is really flexible. Some teams we play have tryouts and cut players most are like us though, whoever signs up 1st is on a Team.

 

[JAD]

I always get a kick out of parents complaining about teams sandbagging on our local message boards. They are some of the more active threads as everyone chimes in and either complains or tries to defend their actions. All I can tell you is it gets better as your DD gets older.

 

[quincy]

The Team I mentioned earlier had a few good pitchers but 1 that was really good. I ask the coach about her.

He said for some reason she wanted to pitch an spent all off season working on it. Just showed up pitching lights out.

He had 3 good pitchers already, all of a sudden he had had a problem.

 

[Ksphenom]

I'd like to see if a director of this league might intervene if the team started dominating the competition.
I'm sure some dominating 2nd year teams would be required to move up. Good way to get the sandbagging title is to win 3 out of 4 qualifying tournaments. Probably going to be mandated at some point.

 

[dbronstein]

How does the league work? Can you enter a hand-picked team?

If it's legal to do that, and the league serves as a qualifier for a national event, then I'm not sure that I can blame the team. If Babe Ruth sets up a national tournament, and pathways to get there, then I would expect teams with that goal to find the best path available.

Yes, you can enter a pre-formed team into the league. Most of the teams in the league are full or partial teams, and the league will fill out your open spots via the free agents who sign up, which is what we are doing. We're bringing in 9 players and they've given us 3 more. There are one or two teams that are completely put together by the league. Needless to say, those teams are generally at the bottom.

I'm not totally clear on the process for qualifying for the national tourney, but my understanding is there is a separate qualifier tourney that is outside of regular league play. But you still have to be a registered Babe Ruth team to be eligible. IMO, there are enough tournaments to choose from that you can skip the one that requires you to play in a league with significantly inferior competition. And for what it's worth, my wife's friend said that most of the team parents would rather not play in the league because they'd prefer to play against better competition.