From Sandlot to Moneyball: Youth baseball goes big league

Travel baseball teams give kids a chance to play against elite competition, but the big business brings financial strains and injury concerns.

York, PA - Youth baseball games are not always played just down the road anymore -- and certainly not on a vacant lot.

Youth baseball tournaments are played hundreds of miles from teenagers' hometowns. And these games are played in stadiums, some of which have been built to resemble major league shrines like Wrigley Field and Fenway Park. One stadium in Aberdeen, Md., is modeled after Camden Yards and seats about 2,500 fans.

Youth travel baseball has become big business, and it continues to grow in York and Adams counties.

Parents can fork over thousands of dollars in the summer for their children to be members of teams labeled Elite or Select or Travel or Tournament. The costs aren't just

Gamers of Backyard University players, from left, Kyle Daugherty, 9; Connor Dewees, 13; Channing Bratton, 12; Julian Bailey, 12; and Cole Daugherty, 12, relax during a lightning delay at a game in May. Jason Aspito, the team's coach, said the growing popularity of travel baseball comes with a price. 'The cost of it is getting ridiculous,' Aspito said. (Daily Record/Sunday News -- Chris Dunn)

monetary: Players not even old enough to drive are encouraged to invest more time and commitment in a sport.

It's no longer enough to play Little League and townball and American Legion baseball. Playing youth baseball in the 21st century now often means to spend and spend and spend -- in order to play and play and play. And, oh yeah, all these added games can tax a young shoulder or young elbow.

Local coaches explain their No. 1 goal is player development. But with the amount of money and time being devoted to a sport, some families might see future dollar signs -- even when the odds of securing even a partial college scholarship are low.

* * *

Travel baseball's rise: The explosion of youth baseball is based in logic: If an athlete plays more games, earns more at-bats, fields more balls or throws more pitches, he should become a better baseball player. Travel and tournament teams offer players more games, thus more opportunities to improve. So summer youth baseball schedules -- which 20 years ago might have included only a six-week American Legion baseball or a recreation league schedule -- now bring the potential to play 75 tournament games depending on the team's success in the opening rounds of elimination tournaments.

The investment of money, time and commitment can skew the reason youngsters and their families agree to the schedule. Some see future dollar signs, a scholarship or contract. Some become obsessed with winning tournaments.

"There's too much emphasis on winning," Gamers of Backyard University travel baseball coach and onetime Triple-A outfielder Jason Aspito said. "We play to win, but I think fathers forget it's about player development and making kids better players. ... It can get ugly. Parents can get competitive with it. ... Kids feel pressure."

Forget about reaching the professional ranks; it's difficult enough for high school players to reach the

Travel baseball teams such as the Gamers of Backyard University are growing in popularity as players strive to pitch more innings, take more at-bats and field more balls against quality competition in the hope of getting a prized college baseball scholarship. (Daily Record/Sunday News -- Chris Dunn)

college ranks. The NCAA limits each Division I baseball team to 11.7 scholarships per year, while Division II teams are limited to nine scholarships. But local coaches emphasize the end reward should be player development, not scholarships.

"I think a lot of (the benefit) is the level of competition that you face constantly with tournament baseball," said Matt Spangler, who is president of the Mason Dixon Ruffnecks and also serves as the head coach for the Ruffnecks 11-and-under team. "When you travel, like we do up and down the East Coast, facing the best teams only makes you better as a player.

"And there's a lot of work that goes on behind the scenes, we practice two or three times a week."

Players also can

Julian Bailey, 12, center, gets advice from coach Jason Aspito, left, between innings during a recent Gamers of Backyard University game. (Daily Record/Sunday News -- Chris Dunn)

supplement their summer baseball season by playing on more than one travel team, or continuing to play in a rec league as well as travel ball.

"I'm a big believer in more games means you have more chances to progress as a player," said Aspito, who had a 10-year minor league career, which he finished with the York Revolution in 2007-09 before making Red Lion his home.

Winthrop University redshirt freshman Kaden Hepler played tournament baseball one summer, after his junior year at West York. A three-sport varsity athlete at West York, Hepler opted to play travel baseball before his senior year of high school because he believed he needed to be seen by college coaches.

"Everyone says the summer after your junior year is huge," Hepler said. "It was more than just going and playing baseball. Me and my dad, we would drive 10 hours or six hours or four hours together. I spent time with him and saw schools I wouldn't have seen otherwise. It was more than just baseball. It's a good experience, and it's a chance to play against kids you will play against at the next level anyway."

When West York reached the state championship game in 2012 against Lampeter-Strasburg, Hepler already knew one of his opponents. He was a travel baseball teammate.

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A big business: Money can be spent in a lot of ways in the travel baseball game. Money isn't spent just on tournament registration fees or hitting lessons or a new glove. Just traveling to watch the games can add up.

"I hear from a lot of parents," Aspito said. "Adding up hotel costs and dinners, they spend close to a grand a weekend."

Spending in youth baseball, for teams as young as 8-and-under, has become commonplace, and not just in places like Florida or California. Teams composed of players from York and Adams counties routinely travel to play in tournaments at complexes in Aberdeen, Md.; Cooperstown, N.Y.; Flemington, N.J.; and Myrtle Beach, S.C., each summer. Florida is another destination.

The cost for one 12-and-under tournament that guarantees a team will play a minimum of three games at Ripken Baseball in Aberdeen, Md., is $1,200. Ripken Baseball finds plenty of customers: The Aberdeen, Md., facility has hosted 81 tournaments through June this year. The facility typically hosts youth baseball tournaments from March through November, and already this year the site has hosted 892 teams and 1,710 games, a Ripken Baseball spokesperson verified last week.

Growing up in suburban Chicago, Aspito played travel baseball with a group that included several future professional baseball players and an NFL player.

"Back then travel baseball was about making kids better, playing against better competition," Aspito said of the philosophy he continues to preach with his team. "You'd play tournaments here and there. Now it's a money maker."

Many teams, like the Mason Dixon Ruffnecks, attempt to incorporate fundraising into the equation. Spangler said parents from one of his teams raised almost 100 percent of its on-field expenses through fundraising. Still, with one 12-and-under team budget approaching $35,000, that's a lot of fundraising. Spangler leaves the decision on fundraising up to his players' parents, but he only credits families that do the work. That way if one family wants to pay all of its expenses out of pocket, it can. If one family opts to raise more than $100 in sandwich sales, only that family will see a corresponding drop in out-of-pocket expenses. Bottom line: It's going to cost money.

"However you look at it, tournament baseball is costly," Spangler said.

Teenagers and tweens play games in uniforms with their names emblazoned across their backs. They wear spikes and batting gloves, many produced from the same name-brand companies major leaguers don in the big leagues. Oakley sunglasses sit propped up on several caps in the dugout. Parents hand sports drinks to their children through the fences between innings.

"The cost of it is getting ridiculous," Aspito said.

* * *

A dangerous game: Renowned orthopedic surgeon Dr. James Andrews repairs some of the most famous shoulders, elbows and knees in sports. He founded the nonprofit American Sports Medicine Institute. Its recent work opened eyes in the youth baseball world. The 2001 report "Risk of serious injury for young baseball pitchers: a 10-year prospective study" found that overuse could be proven to increase the likelihood of shoulder and elbow injuries in youth baseball players. It also noted the act of throwing curveballs before the age of 13 could not be proven to increase the risk of injury.

In other words, throwing a curveball at a young age -- one of the game's biggest fears -- couldn't be proven to increase injury. But doing something as simple as playing more games -- something thousands in travel baseball do willingly at sometimes great costs -- could be damaging. A study released by the University of North Carolina later in 2011 came to a similar conclusion: Overuse could be proven as a risk factor, while throwing curveballs could not.

ASMI's study found that pitchers throwing more than 100 innings in a year were 3.5 times more likely to be injured.

Little League Baseball has taken steps to limit overuse injuries, implementing pitch limits six years ago. But travel baseball is a different animal.

Travel teams do not fall under a governing body's umbrella. Some tournaments don't limit the number of innings thrown. Some distribute pitching recommendations. Some limit the number of innings pitchers can throw, but no tournament official is checking to see if a pitcher who threw for his rec or travel team earlier in the week is now pitching for another tournament team on the weekend. That responsibility falls on coaches or parents.

Local coaches try to explain to parents the importance of finding a coach who values player development over victories.

"I have come against coaches that will throw and throw and throw and throw a kid," Spangler said.

Dr. Brian L. Bixler, based primarily out of the OSS Powder Mill Campus in York, specializes in sports medicine and pediatric orthopedics. He expected to see an increase in the number of adult-level pitching injuries (torn ulnar collateral ligaments, torn labrums) in youth players after seeing the explosion of youth travel baseball in the area. But it never happened.

"When (the increase in travel baseball) first started, I was worried," Bixler said.

He suspects those types of adult-style pitching injuries might become more prevalent with college-aged athletes, but so far he has not seen an increase at the high school level.

West York's Hepler took an injury redshirt his freshman year at Winthrop after suffering a torn ulnar collateral ligament and undergoing Tommy John surgery. He threw just 12 pitches, and faced three batters in college, before suffering the season-ending injury. Doctors could not tell him what specifically caused the injury other than to say wear and tear.

Adding to injury concerns, players at younger and younger ages are opting to specialize in one sport. Many times, this leaves little to no offseason or recovery time for young athletes. For instance, a swimmer who also plays soccer can benefit from multiple sports because while the shoulder and upper body are taxed in swimming, the legs and lower body can be taxed in soccer season -- allowing for soft tissue and muscle recovery. For this reason, Bixler used to urge all his patients to remain in multiple sports. But he has stopped, because he encounters few multiple-sport athletes.

"It's not a reality (anymore)," Bixler said. "What I tell them is, 'That's fine, but prepare to play baseball year round,'" Bixler said.

Bixler's own family has experienced the trend to concentrate on one sport -- all his children opted to specialize in one sport.

That's where strength training comes in. If an athlete decides to specialize in one sport, Bixler said they also need to add a strength training program to prepare their body for the rigors of playing a sport year round.

"It's like everything else in life, you need to adhere to principles," Bixler said. "Athletes have to prepare for the sport, and know how to take a break. ... Your body needs rest time, and you need to listen to pain. Playing year-round can be -- can be -- as safe as multiple sports or changing sports if you do it the right way."

One of the reasons Bixler believes injuries have not skyrocketed in local travel baseball is the number of coaches with collegiate and professional experience. Coaches not only know the sport and correct training techniques, but many are focused on player development -- and not short-sighted goals of winning tournament titles. He said it's not uncommon for him to field calls from concerned coaches asking for his opinion.

Still, if a player specializes in a sport, the parents should be educated and involved with their child's development. If a child is pitching in a rec league during the week and might be needed to pitch for a tournament team on the weekend, who can best communicate with both coaches the workload a player is carrying?

"It's got to be the parent," Bixler said.

* * *

The end of the game: Aspito raved about his team's ability to beat a quality opponent at a big tournament earlier this year. His players hit, and they hit the ball hard. The other team didn't know what to do.

But playing against a travel team from the Harrisburg area in May, Backyard University lost. His team allowed home runs. His players got picked off base. He opted to rest some of his normal starters. It was a rough night.

Still, he kept talking between innings, always encouraging. By the end of the night, he was standing in the middle of a huddle, his players staring intently up at him as he explained what could be improved.

The message was simple: This is not the end result. That's coming. Down the road. And there are a lot of games to be played before then.
@jimseip; 771-2025

Local travel baseball teams

Here's a partial list of some of the travel baseball teams in York County:
Gamers of Backyard University
???---?Team: 12-and-under
???---?www.backyard-university.com

Dallastown Cougar Baseball Travel Teams
???---?Teams: Ages 8-10; ages 11-13; ages 14-16
???---?http://www.dallastowncougarbaseball.org

Mason Dixon Ruffnecks
???---?Teams: 8-and-under through 18-and-under
???---?http://masondixonruffnecks.com

Pennsylvania Diamond Nine
???---?Team: 10-and-under; 12-and-under
???---?www.padiamondninebaseball.com

Red Land Travel Baseball
???---?Teams: 7-and-under through 13-and-under
???---?http://www.redlandtravelbaseball.org

Southern PA Outlaws
???---?Team: 14-and-under
???---?http://www.southernpaoutlaws.com

York Rampage
???---?Team: 14-and-under
???---?http://yorkrampage.com

York Spartans
???---?Team: 18-and-under
???---?www.leaguelineup.com/yorkspartans

Young York Revolution
???---?Teams: 8-and-under through 15-and-under
???---?www.yorkyoungrevolution.com

Source: http://www.ydr.com/sports/ci_23696096/from-sandlot-moneyball-youth-baseball-goes-big-league?source=rss

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