Quote Originally Posted by Saltydog View Post
This happened to the son of a very good friend of mine. He literally got to where he hated the game. He was burned out by the time he was 14. He never had time to just be a kid. Travel ball is also extremely expensive and the truth is that not all families can afford it. People wonder why there aren't more minorities playing baseball. Truth is, many simply can't afford it and as a result don't aggressively pursue playing the game.
Educate me- do you have to play travel ball to be great at baseball? What's the development path for the Latin America players? Is travel ball a lifestyle? To get noticed? Or to become great?

A Puerto Rican coach told me that USA young players are far more polished than PR youngsters and PR destroys teenager arms as collateral damage to playing lots of games. But, he says PR players get far more Glove time and ABs. He says the Latin players thus have far more Twitch than polished USA players.

My kid is 4