The Blue Board

You'd be surprised. Traveling teams recruit kids just like any college, and the phone calls start when they're as young as 11. Once upon a time I was having teams around the midwest trying to get me to play, so I can't even imagine what it's like for a kid in a baseball hotbed.

There may not be an official ranking, but these teams you see on TV in the Little League World Series have an idea of where the talent is.

I guess I am not surprised but I am sure a greater percentage of pro players developed later. I do not necessarily agree with the year round specialization model with such young kids, but then again it's not my kid.

That same year we lost out in state to a Yellow Jackets team that eventually had Jeff Francoeur, Brian McCann, and Kyle Davies. They knocked us out, threw two games, and went and played their AAU postseason. Even though none of them were from there, they played out of Moore's Mill and got the league there banned from AABC postseason play for a couple years.

By the time you hit 14 it wasnt uncommon to see kids from as far away as Louisiana on Atlanta area travel teams.