Hooray! It’s nearly that time of year. In the spirit of observing our national pastime, here’s a revealing story. Imagine a beautiful night in Houston just after the 1998 All-Star break. You’ve settled in with a hot dog and a cold beverage to catch the early innings as the hometown Astros take on the St. Louis Cardinals. Suddenly, St. Louis pitcher Todd Stottlemyre comes to the plate in the eighth position. 

There must be some mistake, right? Pitchers bat ninth! 

That was almost always the case before the designated hitter rule became universal, but Tony LaRussa had a different plan in mind. As a tactical master, he’s widely hailed for innovations in managing professional baseball teams. For the second half of the 1998 campaign, he took a novel approach. He batted his pitcher eighth, a lineup not even tried once in the 19 previous seasons. Although fans have debated LaRussa’s move ever since, it did have some success — pitcher Kent Mercker even hit a grand slam. 

Of course, like all LaRussa’s interesting player moves, there was a method to his madness. Speaking to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch about his “Great Experiment,” LaRussa explained, “I don’t see how it doesn’t make sense for the ninth-place hitter to be a legitimate hitter. This gives us a better shot to score runs. It’s an extra guy on base in front of Ray (Lankford), Mark (McGwire) and Brian (Jordan). The more guys who are on base, the less they’ll be able to pitch around Mark. I don’t have a problem with it.”

What does this story have to do with youth sports? Quite a bit. 

An incredible baseball mind, LaRussa was supported by a large organization of assistant coaches, scouts, and statisticians. Youth sports lack such resources. Instead, coaches must create their own batting orders, starting lineups, and make other play decisions without the luxury of a supporting staff. They must make these important decisions on the train home from work or in between busy work meetings. 

But technology is transforming the old way of doing things. GameChanger’s tools can now act as your own support staff, using data to help make lineup decisions — while just as importantly, enabling your players to develop their athletic skills. The key idea is empowerment. Coaches can analyze data in profound ways impossible just a few years ago to make more informed team decisions. No more having to rely on guesswork and your gut!

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Data-Driven Softball Coaching

Jennifer, a busy marketing executive at a biotech company, offers an instructive use case. When she’s not managing a staff spread across 12 states, she’s busy coaching her daughter’s 11U softball team. Jennifer faces the usual time constraints of a youth sports coach, juggling her busy career, endless mom duties, and a host of daily errands and tasks. For months, she struggled to keep her players fairly involved, often making lineup decisions through costly trial and error. 

That was before she turned to GameChanger for help.

Jennifer now finds GameChanger invaluable. That’s because it provides data and statistics to guide decisions, replacing hunches and the desires of her players. Instead of agonizing over choices, she can generate a suggested lineup and position for each player between work meetings. 

Recently, after a successful presentation to her company’s CEO, Jennifer reviewed GameChanger stats on her team, comparing them to her original lineup thoughts. Although she had considered starting a player named Amanda at first base due to a great play she made the week before, the helpful season statistics showed she actually belonged at the “hot corner,” locking down third base defensively.

Even so, the stats did agree with Jennifer that Amanda is a natural No. 2 hitter in the lineup. When her own daughter Emily asked to play second base, GameChanger’s statistics suggested she would perform better in center field. “Your league rivals have powerful hitters,” Jennifer told Emily. “Your team needs your speed to cover center.” 

This explanation satisfied Emily. But the statistics revealed deeper information about the team driven by more than player performance. Jennifer found by reviewing GameChanger data that Kayla had played the least number of innings over the past few weeks of anyone on the team. Jennifer hadn’t planned to start Kayla due to her weak batting, instead favoring one of her power hitters at shortstop. But Kayla’s defensive skills made her a clear choice against their rivals who almost always put the ball into play. Combining the data with her own knowledge of the team and her sense of the players’ feelings, Jennifer set her starting lineup. She felt more confident than ever that she had built one that gave her team its best chance at winning — yet was also fair to all players, giving them space to shine. 

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GameChanger Stats in Action

The next day it was time to put her stats-driven plan to the test. The big game revealed the power of combining well-intentioned coaching with analytics. The moves Jennifer made paid off well. Amanda caught a screaming drive down the third base line, saving a run. Kayla made an acrobatic play at shortstop, clinching the first double play in the team’s history. And in the ninth inning, Jenny’s daughter Emily seemingly covered the whole outfield as she successfully chased down a towering fly ball. 

That afternoon every player and parent felt thrilled with the team’s win. But just as important as the triumph itself, every player felt involved and engaged. They were growing as individual players and as a team — and that is the ultimate victory. With GameChanger’s assistance, today’s coaches can make stronger decisions this coming season, ensuring our young athletes thrive.