Getting moved around in the batting order? Discuss

ImminentDanger

Up and Over
Top 6 Reasons (perceptions) that you are moved to -or-
always at - the wrong place in the lineup


1) Coach plays favorites - puts good friends up top
or tries to satisfy egos of needed players

2) Coach or League has a policy of 'must play all' who
show up for the game

3) Coach is too stupid to know how to utilize his players
to make the best performing lineup

4) The player is delusional - thinks he's in the wrong place
because he has a better opinion of his skill than it is

5) Too many good players on the team to place you higher

6) Too many poor players on the team to make a difference
No matter where you bat, the team is going to lose anyway



%%%
 

stang7222

Addicted to Softballfans
Hitting is contagious. So is not hitting. If the guys in front of you don't hit, you probably won't either.

I like to bat behind guys that can hit so I can relax and pass the bat. I never really liked leadoff (even though I hit leadoff for a decade) bc after the first ab, you're stuck behind the bums of the order.

Thats my take in league ball. Tournaments and good teams, i'll hit wherever.
 

chleb

Addicted to Softballfans
Lots of good stuff here. If this is the league I am thinking about, Bobby is correct. If you show up, everyone hits. 11 fielders, senior rules, 5 run limit per inning until last "open" inning - all you can get. Wide range of skill level. Really good to not so much.
 

r8dr_rider

Well-Known Member
Back to the actual question. When I started managing it was because nobody wanted to. I was the most consistent hitter and would take a walk anytime. I was lead off. Fast forward to current time when I actually have real ball players on the team. I bat 8-9 now. I keep my top hitters on the top and everyone else on the bottom. When guys complain I show them the stats. Hey guy you have one HR but your 1 for 8 in you last ABs. Go home or manage your own team if you don’t like the order.
 

ImminentDanger

Up and Over
What league team even has 15 guys showing up? Getting 10 anymore is hard enough....
This is true - Reliable players are hard to find - BUT....

That is the very reason that teams have 15-20 guys on the roster - because every week you spend an hour calling guys to get 10 out of the 20 to show up for games on various weeks...

THEN --- WAM! Maybe toward the playoffs or just fate causes 15-16 to show up one week. Now you have a problem.

You don't want to piss off the reliable guys by benching them to limit the batting order. The unreliable guys expect to play because they showed up. If you don't play them, they don't want to be available in the future (on the roster). To top it off, one or more of those unreliable guys is better than 1/2 of the reliable ones.

Guys commit to playing on a team, but then schedule weeks of vacation in the middle of the season. Or they have a kid just joining soccer, baseball, football and they knew before joining the team they were going to go to the kids practices & games instead. Or they had a late night of drinking (or they're just lazy) and Sunday morning, they couldn't get out of bed.

There are a million and one headaches for coaches due to player attitudes.

BEING UNRELIABLE AT KEEPING YOUR COMMITMENTS IS A CURSE ON SOCIETY!
Not just for softball teams.

When you can't get 10-11 guys who have an organized life and keep their commitments to be at every game, the extra players are necessary evils. But I think there should be a clearly designated CORE group and a clearly designated BACKUP group. The team commits to play the CORE player because they are going to be there 90% of the time (and notifies ahead when going to be missing). The BACKUP player is going to get playing time ONLY IF a core player is going to be missing. If the CORE player says they're going to be missing & the BACKUP player is called, he gets to play even if the CORE player decides to show up.

Knowing this ahead of time should hopefully settle what is going to happen as the season plays out. But there are always guys who think they are SPECIAL, an exception to the rule, and should be treated as a STAR.

As the Softball Turns...

%%%
 
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TheKid33

Star Player
This is true - Reliable players are hard to find - BUT....

That is the very reason that teams have 15-20 guys on the roster - because every week you spend an hour calling guys to get 10 out of the 20 to show up for games on various weeks...

THEN --- WAM! Maybe toward the playoffs or just fate causes 15-16 to show up one week. Now you have a problem.

You don't want to piss off the reliable guys by benching them to limit the batting order. The unreliable guys expect to play because they showed up. If you don't play them, they don't want to be available in the future (on the roster). To top it off, one or more of those unreliable guys is better than 1/2 of the reliable ones.

Guys commit to playing on a team, but then schedule weeks of vacation in the middle of the season. Or they have a kid just joining soccer, baseball, football and they knew before joining the team they were going to go to the kids practices & games instead. Or they had a late night of drinking (or they're just lazy) and Sunday morning, they couldn't get out of bed.

There are a million and one headaches for coaches due to player attitudes.

BEING UNRELIABLE AT KEEPING YOUR COMMITMENTS IS A CURSE ON SOCIETY!
Not just for softball teams.

When you can't get 10-11 guys who have an organized life and keep their commitments to be at every game, the extra players are necessary evils. But I think there should be a clearly designated CORE group and a clearly designated BACKUP group. The team commits to play the CORE player because they are going to be there 90% of the time (and notifies ahead when going to be missing). The BACKUP player is going to get playing time ONLY IF a core player is going to be missing. If the CORE player says they're going to be missing & the BACKUP player is called, he gets to play even if the CORE player decides to show up.

Knowing this ahead of time should hopefully settle what is going to happen as the season plays out. But there are always guys who think they are SPECIAL, an exception to the rule, and should be treated as a STAR.

As the Softball Turns...

%%%
I had a problem 2 years back with a few on my team who didn’t communicate with me whether they’d be at our games or not. I’d text the day before and get no response. Then text again multiple times the day of. So I get subs. Game time comes. Now have 13 players.

First couple times it happened I sat myself. Just to keep everyone happy. Well, then it happened again but this time 14 show up., I told the 2 who couldn’t be bothered with responding to my texts that they were welcome to coach the bases and keep score, and if one of their teammates wanted to could let them pinch hit. One guy understood and stayed.. he is still on the team and now communicates better. Other guy left that day and I ignored his texts after that. He’s someone else’s problem now.
 

swingnmiss

#1 IN YOUR HEARTS
What league team even has 15 guys showing up? Getting 10 anymore is hard enough....

We get it at tourneys..........Like Vegas. We get 11, 12 or so for regional stuff or Reno/Salem and ****. But, the whole world wants to go to Vegas. Then we 15 guys and they all want to hit. If I saw a lineup where I was in the 14 hole...........I'd just be like, "Nah, it's cool dude. I don't need to hit. I'll coach some bases and hit the buffet at MGM Grand later.........." But, no!! These fools want to hit. Hit like ass and get pissed off when we get to the championship rounds and they're sitting and not playing. Like GTFOH!!! You didn't see you go 3-12 the last 4 games?
 

defos

Well-Known Member
This is true - Reliable players are hard to find - BUT....

That is the very reason that teams have 15-20 guys on the roster - because every week you spend an hour calling guys to get 10 out of the 20 to show up for games on various weeks...

THEN --- WAM! Maybe toward the playoffs or just fate causes 15-16 to show up one week. Now you have a problem.

You don't want to piss off the reliable guys by benching them to limit the batting order. The unreliable guys expect to play because they showed up. If you don't play them, they don't want to be available in the future (on the roster). To top it off, one or more of those unreliable guys is better than 1/2 of the reliable ones.

Guys commit to playing on a team, but then schedule weeks of vacation in the middle of the season. Or they have a kid just joining soccer, baseball, football and they knew before joining the team they were going to go to the kids practices & games instead. Or they had a late night of drinking (or they're just lazy) and Sunday morning, they couldn't get out of bed.

There are a million and one headaches for coaches due to player attitudes.

BEING UNRELIABLE AT KEEPING YOUR COMMITMENTS IS A CURSE ON SOCIETY!
Not just for softball teams.

When you can't get 10-11 guys who have an organized life and keep their commitments to be at every game, the extra players are necessary evils. But I think there should be a clearly designated CORE group and a clearly designated BACKUP group. The team commits to play the CORE player because they are going to be there 90% of the time (and notifies ahead when going to be missing). The BACKUP player is going to get playing time ONLY IF a core player is going to be missing. If the CORE player says they're going to be missing & the BACKUP player is called, he gets to play even if the CORE player decides to show up.

Knowing this ahead of time should hopefully settle what is going to happen as the season plays out. But there are always guys who think they are SPECIAL, an exception to the rule, and should be treated as a STAR.

As the Softball Turns...

%%%
That's a well written post!
Except for the last 2 sentences, this is how my team works, thank God. We have 12-13 regulars, knowing that most weeks 1 or 2 of them will not be available. Then there are a few others I contact when we'll have fewer than 10 or 11. We rarely have 13 or 14 show up, but there are also rare weeks I'm in a panic trying to find the 10th guy.
 
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