I think energy, cheering, being "hype" for your own team is completely fine and often needed.. its the disrespect to your opponent that I have an issue with.

YES to all of THIS! Well said, Dan!

It’s not just in high school…it’s common in college baseball as well.

Great summary ! NFHS just started a national campaign addressing this a couple of weeks ago. A couple of years late, but still started it. It's hard to slow the HS game antics down. So I started with the LL and 14u and below teams. 6 tournament games on Saturday full on noise bugs the shit out of me. I say so at the plate meeting. Who wants an annoyed ump. Then I reference the NFHS rule book Rule 3-3-1 My observations. The coaches that aren't yelling and shouting at errors and mental mistakes are the one's with the best dugouts. Kid's follow the leader. If you have well intentioned daddy-ball coaches loosing their shit at players and umpires it follows in the dugout. Ex-college and pro youth/HS coaches know the game and keep their voices minimal during games. If they do get mad it usually shows up in after game running where they still don't raise their voices. The difference? You can't demand respect while loosing your adult ass shit in public. You command respect through your emotional maturity and understanding the game. My recommendations to parents looking for a good travel team? Go watch the coaches in action. Watch their response to errors, and listen to them speak when they disagree with umpire calls. Emotional coaches means emotional kids without muzzles. Bad recipe....move along.

Best and most accurate description of what I’ve seen here and I can’t believe what I’ve been seeing from high school and collegiate baseball players. The disrespect for every part of the game is non stop now. Thank you! This absolutely needed to be said!

Agree 100%- It all starts with the Head Coach….unfortunately he was probably taught that or was a “chirper” himself. It’s a bad look.

This post was overdue

But it’s not a game anymore. It’s a 24/7/365 obsession. It’s tens of thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours. It’s dog eat dog and if there’s a better player we’ll fly them in for the weekend fk your dedication. There’s no reset button.

Agree… but that’s on coaches more than the players.

Love this. Well said.

There is a 24 year old HC coach at Daniel Boone (my son) who almost follows that perfectly. Respect All, Fear None

Love this 🔥, and you are spot on. All Facts

I covered you at Lake County. I’m glad you want to teach kids to play the game the right way a lot of coaches don’t.

Best tweet of 2026! I’m all for the players having fun but it has gotten out of hand. Respect the game.

Nice Dan I also did just about what was profess. Not sure this country can come back however we should try and hope Stay safe

At the start of every season I preach to the kids about respect: The umpires Your opponent Your coaches The game Every year, the kids understand it less.

The Covid Era middle schoolers are juniors and seniors now. That's what happened. Zoomed and masked to death, lacking social skill development. That's my theory. Plus the efforts by umpires to give multiple warnings before giving consequences isn't helping.

When companies like PBR/Perfect Game/"Elite Travel"/Lessons started pricing out the tough kids who could police this stuff themselves, during or after a game...it allowed a lot of pillow fighters to talk nonsense

I agree but I like the team chatter on every pitch as long as it's chatter for your own player and never against the pitcher. That energy is great for the game and definitely adds to the outcome.

This ain’t just in HS…. A lot of today’s players woulda got educated when baseball “policed” itself

I’ve played, coached, and worked with high school baseball. It’s sad to see where the game is at. I don’t mind a bat flip in a big moment or getting fired up for a K or web gem, but they’ve lost their meaning because kids just want to get clips to post on Snapchat. Hard to watch.

Starts with the coaches. They set the standards for the team and if there is a captain, they represent those standards and players look up to them. If there is no respect for the coaches, the captain (if there is one), the umps, and your opponents then expect the disrepct.

It’s allowed by the coaches is the reason it happens.

They’re spoiled… that’s the difference.

Where is this stuff commonly occurring? I haven’t seen much of it really in HS at any level. Middle school? Much more likely to occur but even then only some programs/clubs.

Well said! I had coaches when growing up who would bench you if you acted like the kids do today during games.

Not to mention - transferring to a different school every year!!!

Seems I got out of coaching high school baseball at the right time. Is that what the H.S. game looks like now? What a shame.

Its the Jester generation. They are all jesters.

Exactly. But society is about being heard and showboating today. Will it change? Color me skeptical.

💯

Thank you!

This starts with the parents and coaches, not the kids. Kids mimic what they see. Baseball hasn’t gotten as bad as 7on7 or basketball, but it’s headed that way.

Couldn’t agree more! Humble & Hungry!

This is creeping into the softball world as well. Something I noticed last season.