SoCal Batting Center

When the umpire has been missing calls

Dad’s reaction to his son’s 1ST HOME RUN is everything (via byrnes22/tw)

Japanese baseball teen refuses walk after getting hit by pitch, follows up with home run...

High School Players join us Saturday, December 12th for a private infield clinic hosted by Royals Minor Leaguer and USD alumni Brhet Bewley! Please contact 619-207-9587 to reserve your spot! #TrainHard #CanesWest

Love the message from this commercial! : Foundation for A Better Life

Forrest Gump never stopped running

Here’s more knowledge from Tony Gwynn! Please listen KIDS! This man is a LEGEND! #shegone #MLBNetwork #Certifiedhittingguru #judythehittingguru #hittinggurus #shegonenation #yougoprobaseball #jefffrye #hittingguru

Mike Trout is great for the game of baseball. The look on this kid’s face is absolutely priceless. This is what the game of baseball is all about via: Los Angeles Angels

. Happy Halloween from the team at SoCal Batting Center! . #baseball #life #baseballmom #sports #sport #sportscenter #homerun #dodgers #padres #mlb #trout #active #activelifestyle #tryouts #coach #play #player #bball #ball #ballislife #glove #underarmour #nike #addidas #adidas #training #live #livestream #life

See the young man in this picture? He was 18 years old when it was taken at the train station in Mobile, Alabama, in 1952. There is $1.50 in his pocket. In t...hat bag by his foot are two changes of clothes. (And if his mama was anything like most other mamas in the South, probably some sandwiches and other snacks.) He was on his way to Indiana to take a job. He was going to play baseball for the Indy Clowns of the Negro Leagues. Apparently, he was pretty good at it. A couple of years later, he was signed by the (then minor league) Milwaukee Brewers. He played for the Brewers for 2 seasons, then moved across town to the Braves, and later followed them to Atlanta. Eventually, he was the last Negro League player to be on a major league roster. He still hangs around the baseball world. At the moment, he's the senior vice president of the Atlanta Braves. Even though the team has changed stadiums (twice) since then, his retired number, 44, still hangs on the outfield wall of the old Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium near where he belted a homer to break Babe Ruth's all-time record (which he held for 33 years). Happy 85th birthday to "Hammerin' Hank" Aaron. Cal Davis- #BLM #hankaaron

. Who could use a fun night out? . #baseball #life #baseballmom #sports #sport #sportscenter #homerun #dodgers #padres #mlb #trout #active #activelifestyle #tryouts #coach #play #player #bball #ball #ballislife #glove #underarmour #nike #addidas #adidas #training #live #livestream #life

I promised myself years ago, every time I saw this I would re-post, I didn’t write it but it’s awesome and worth the share! Happens about twice a year. Rings tr...ue EVERY.SINGLE.TIME.... Here goes!!! Most people won't take the time to read this all the way to the end. I hope that you will. 17 INCHES" - you will not regret reading this An excellent article to read from beginning to end. Twenty years ago, in Nashville, Tennessee, during the first week of January, 1996, more than 4,000 baseball coaches descended upon the Opryland Hotel for the 52nd annual ABCA's convention. While I waited in line to register with the hotel staff, I heard other more veteran coaches rumbling about the lineup of speakers scheduled to present during the weekend. One name kept resurfacing, always with the same sentiment John Scolinos is here? Oh, man, worth every penny of my airfare. Who is John Scolinos, I wondered. No matter; I was just happy to be there. In 1996, Coach Scolinos was 78 years old and five years retired from a college coaching career that began in 1948. He shuffled to the stage to an impressive standing ovation, wearing dark polyester pants, a light blue shirt, and a string around his neck from which home plate hung a full-sized, stark-white home plate. Seriously, I wondered, who is this guy? After speaking for twenty-five minutes, not once mentioning the prop hanging around his neck, Coach Scolinos appeared to notice the snickering among some of the coaches. Even those who knew Coach Scolinos had to wonder exactly where he was going with this, or if he had simply forgotten about home plate since he’d gotten on stage. Then, finally You’re probably all wondering why I’m wearing home plate around my neck, he said, his voice growing irascible. I laughed along with the others, acknowledging the possibility. I may be old, but I’m not crazy. The reason I stand before you today is to share with you baseball people what I’ve learned in my life, what I’ve learned about home plate in my 78 years. Several hands went up when Scolinos asked how many Little League coaches were in the room. Do you know how wide home plate is in Little League? After a pause, someone offered, Seventeen inches?, more of a question than answer. That’s right, he said. How about in Babe Ruth’s day? Any Babe Ruth coaches in the house? Another long pause. Seventeen inches? a guess from another reluctant coach. That’s right, said Scolinos. Now, how many high school coaches do we have in the room? Hundreds of hands shot up, as the pattern began to appear. How wide is home plate in high school baseball? Seventeen inches, they said, sounding more confident. You’re right! Scolinos barked. And you college coaches, how wide is home plate in college? Seventeen inches! we said, in unison. Any Minor League coaches here? How wide is home plate in pro ball?............Seventeen inches! RIGHT! And in the Major Leagues, how wide home plate is in the Major Leagues? Seventeen inches! SEV-EN-TEEN INCHES! he confirmed, his voice bellowing off the walls. And what do they do with a Big League pitcher who can’t throw the ball over seventeen inches? Pause. They send him to Pocatello ! he hollered, drawing raucous laughter. What they don’t do is this: they don’t say, ‘Ah, that’s okay, Jimmy. If you can’t hit a seventeen-inch target? We’ll make it eighteen inches or nineteen inches. We’ll make it twenty inches so you have a better chance of hitting it. If you can’t hit that, let us know so we can make it wider still, say twenty-five inches.' Pause. Coaches what do we do when your best player shows up late to practice? or when our team rules forbid facial hair and a guy shows up unshaven? What if he gets caught drinking? Do we hold him accountable? Or do we change the rules to fit him? Do we widen home plate? " The chuckles gradually faded as four thousand coaches grew quiet, the fog lifting as the old coach’s message began to unfold. He turned the plate toward himself and, using a Sharpie, began to draw something. When he turned it toward the crowd, point up, a house was revealed, complete with a freshly drawn door and two windows. This is the problem in our homes today. With our marriages, with the way we parent our kids. With our discipline. We don’t teach accountability to our kids, and there is no consequence for failing to meet standards. We just widen the plate! Pause. Then, to the point at the top of the house he added a small American flag. This is the problem in our schools today. The quality of our education is going downhill fast and teachers have been stripped of the tools they need to be successful, and to educate and discipline our young people. We are allowing others to widen home plate! Where is that getting us? Silence. He replaced the flag with a Cross. And this is the problem in the Church, where powerful people in positions of authority have taken advantage of young children, only to have such an atrocity swept under the rug for years. Our church leaders are widening home plate for themselves! And we allow it. And the same is true with our government. Our so-called representatives make rules for us that don’t apply to themselves. They take bribes from lobbyists and foreign countries. They no longer serve us. And we allow them to widen home plate! We see our country falling into a dark abyss while we just watch. I was amazed. At a baseball convention where I expected to learn something about curve balls and bunting and how to run better practices, I had learned something far more valuable. From an old man with home plate strung around his neck, I had learned something about life, about myself, about my own weaknesses and about my responsibilities as a leader. I had to hold myself and others accountable to that which I knew to be right, lest our families, our faith, and our society continue down an undesirable path. If I am lucky, Coach Scolinos concluded, you will remember one thing from this old coach today. It is this: "If we fail to hold ourselves to a higher standard, a standard of what we know to be right; if we fail to hold our spouses and our children to the same standards, if we are unwilling or unable to provide a consequence when they do not meet the standard; and if our schools & churches & our government fail to hold themselves accountable to those they serve, there is but one thing to look forward to With that, he held home plate in front of his chest, turned it around, and revealed its dark black backside, We have dark days ahead!. Note: Coach Scolinos died in 2009 at the age of 91, but not before touching the lives of hundreds of players and coaches, including mine. Meeting him at my first ABCA convention kept me returning year after year, looking for similar wisdom and inspiration from other coaches. He is the best clinic speaker the ABCA has ever known because he was so much more than a baseball coach. His message was clear: Coaches, keep your playersno matter how good they areyour own children, your churches, your government, and most of all, keep yourself at seventeen inches." And this my friends is what our country has become and what is wrong with it today, and now go out there and fix it! "Don't widen the plate."

. Work or play...we are OPEN! . #baseball #life #baseballmom #sports #sport #sportscenter #homerun #dodgers #padres #mlb #trout #active #activelifestyle #tryouts #coach #play #player #bball #ball #ballislife #glove #underarmour #nike #addidas #adidas #training #live #livestream #life

From Frazier to Bellinger, here are some of the best plays from Little Leaguers who you may have heard of!

. Work hard. Play hard. . #baseball #life #baseballmom #sports #sport #sportscenter #homerun #dodgers #padres #mlb #trout #active #activelifestyle #tryouts #coach #play #player #bball #ball #ballislife #glove #underarmour #nike #addidas #adidas #training #live #livestream #life

. SoCal Batting Center is OPEN Need a fun night out or staying in shape for baseball season? We have you covered! . #baseball #life #baseballmom #sports #sport #sportscenter #homerun #dodgers #padres #mlb #trout #active #activelifestyle #tryouts #coach #play #player #bball #ball #ballislife #glove #underarmour #nike #addidas #adidas #training #live #livestream #life

. SoCal Batting Center is now open! Whether you are looking for a fun night out or working on getting ready for baseball season, SoCal Batting Center has what you need! . #baseball #life #baseballmom #sports #sport #sportscenter #homerun #dodgers #padres #mlb #trout #active #activelifestyle #tryouts #coach #play #player #bball #ball #ballislife #glove #underarmour #nike #addidas #adidas #training #live #livestream #life

Park View (Chula Vista, Calif.) Little League came to Williamsport in 2009 and hit 19(!) home runs. The most ever in a #LLWS for one team. Here are all 19.