Looking at some of the trends, you'll notice that California is very, very, very strongly represented in the ABL. The western states in general have a good showing followed by the southeast. Also in there are some seemingly random states that kinda sneak their way in.
There are a couple obvious explanations for these trends. It seems like the ABL has always been west-coast heavy; there was a time when the summer ball scene was summed up by the Alaska League in the west and the Cape in the east. Now there are more leagues, the lines have been blurred, and it's just more of a free-for-all, but perhaps the tradition has stuck around a bit. With that in mind, it's obvious that you're going to get a lot more high-quality ball players in states that 1) have a lot of people in general, 2) have a great baseball/athletic tradition. Hence California and Texas being big winners on the board as western states with the largest populations and a record of turning out good baseball players.
Another thing to consider is the connections between the Alaska League and coaches and baseball personnel in general in a particular area. Goldpanners Associate GM Todd Denis chimed in on my preview of Tony Cingrani and mentioned that the manager of the Rice Owls baseball club is a former Panner. It's no wonder, then, that Rice is sending about half of it's team to Alaska this suer. Coaches who have come up to Alaska and know what's going on are more likely to recommend their top players than a coach who doesn't really know about the league or what it's all about (obviously).
One last question: why is there only one recruit from Alaska in the ABL? Well, this is more due to the methodology of my research; we're looking at the schools which players are recruited from, not their state of residence. Considering that no Alaska colleges have a baseball program it's not surprising to see Alaskans under-represented. The one player in the Alaskan category was actually one of the very few high school players.
So there we have it. It might be interesting to do some long-term comparisons and see what the trend is over the years for each state. That may make an interesting post for another day, but now I'd love to hear your thoughts on this breakdown.
I think your right when you talked about the new league all over the country attracting players that may have come to alaska.
ReplyDeleteI also think players generally come from where coaches are from. If a coach is from California he will probably recruit more players he knows, which would be CA players. A coach from the mid-west might have more players from that area. Not sure if that is true, just a thought.
There were more then 1 player from alaska last year in the league.
Thanks for your comments. Some more thoughts:
ReplyDeleteI think you're right about the coaches, at least to some extent. I could see that happening, and especially if they need to fill a roster hole at the last minute. I'm sure when that happens it's not uncommon for the manager to call on one of his college players.
Regarding Alaskan players: yes there was more than one player from Alaska last year, but not more than one who played for a school in Alaska. Keep in mind this list is broken down by the school for which they played when they were recruited. The one Alaskan was Colin Cloud from the Bucs. He was not a collegiate player, but a local recruit who played for Bartlett High in Anchorage.
It might be fun to break down the list by hometown but as far as providing some insight on how and where ABL teams recruit I think the breakdown by school is more useful.
All this has got me thinking about why Alaska schools don't put baseball teams on the field. The obvious answer is that the baseball season starts in February when AK is still under two feet of snow. But I know that junior colleges pretty much start whenever they want and play in geographically closed conferences. Couldn't some of the CC's in Alaska put together some teams that play each other during an April-May season? Maybe it's a pipe dream, but a fun one.
Good comments. NCAA coaches can not coach their own players. NCAA coaches can not coach JC players either. There are a lot of rules in place to prevent eligle recruiting, which the NCAA has put summer baseball into.
ReplyDeleteYour idea about baseball in alaska is a good one. Instead of the CC's, how about UAA? Couldn't they join some D2 conference in the northwest?
Where would they play though? It would have to be an all road schedule due to weather? No teams would want to travel up to AK during the months of Feb to May. I just talked myself out of that idea.
Thanks for your insight. I know that, as a fan and a blogger, I'm always interested in learning about the intricacies of things.
ReplyDeleteDoes that rule apply to assistant coaches and volunteer assistants? If so, I think that would put summer ball teams in a very difficult position regarding coaches. Especially if no NCAA coach can coach any JC player. That's crazy. What's the reason behind this rule?
Moving on to Alaska baseball...UAA (and I'm assuming UAF if they wanted in) would have to play in their D2 conference (hockey has different division rules which is why they play in D1 conferences; for the "big 3" sports including baseball they have to play in conference). The GNAC has a baseball season which started on Feb. 4th. As you said, that's not really feasible.
That's why I suggested that the CC branches could start teams and maybe form an in-state JC conference? Or schools, including UAA & UAF could start club teams. They would have more freedom to set their own schedule and could run the season during April and May to accommodate AK's late spring.
A followup question: I'm assuming that NJCAA coaches can coach NCAA players in summer ball? That would make sense looking at the team rosters....
ReplyDelete