Is it just me???

[Guest Yo Gabba]

Ford Park baseball tournaments are becoming a joke. Teams are allowed to sign up with players that should be ineligble (premier players dropping down to elite teams for purpose of World Series Tournament), the prices are an OUTRAGE $3.50 for (a large drink), $7.00 to get my younger son in to watch his brother play, contstantly running late, none of the umpires are on the same page as far as courtesy runners and general playing rules (one of our games ended in a tie, while the game next to us played an hour over to end the tie, both in seeding play on Tuesday). I have better baseballs in my batting practice bucket than the kids are getting to play games with. Morgan NOWHERE TO BE FOUND.

Sad to see such a great facility getting mismanaged and ran into the ground. Evidently from the number of teams signing up for tournaments we are not the only ones that are disgruntled.

[pngpurple4ever]

It's not just you. Our family shelled out around $100 this week in gate fees and at least another $100 for drinks. Also several of our games ran over 2 hours behind mostly due to having no time limit. This was not a good tournament. At the least there should be a reasonable weekly family pass instead of $25 per person and drinks should be half the price. Also a time limit should be in place.

[walktheplank]

I am very disappointed in the up-keep and appearance of the fields.  To be such a tremendous facility, the fields are extremely under-kept.  There is a similar facility in nearby Sulphur (Frasch Park), whose fields are immaculate.  They also just hosted a well managed World Series.  In the future, just know there is another option and they may actually put some of that money back into the product.

[Guest gladiator2]

I don't believe that the classification of player's has anything to do with Ford Park or Morgan, that would be with Nation's or USSSA. Ford Park is in such a financial bind that they are trying to make all of their profit's off of the baseball and softball tournament's. The concession's is really a joke compared to other place's but that complaint should go to the county as should the upkeep of the field's. I believe the man's name is Bo Alfred, he is the county commishioner. Gate fee's are pretty much the same at any other World Serie's, select ball is not cheap anywhere. Pool play game's alway's have time limit's and bracket play alway's have to have a winner so there will be plenty of game's that do not start on time. Yes, being from Texas you can go to LA and get screwed by the umpire's when you are playing a LA team. So umpire's are good and bad anywhere you go (a job I would never consider).

[Guest Yo Gabba]

Games, I beg to differ. Classification is the tournament directors responsibility, when they are not on a team's roster within 72 hours of a tournament starting they are ineligible (this is Nation's rule). Gate fees are not the same I am not just talking about World Series our team played at 5 different venues this year Spring, Baton Rouge, Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio all with the exception of Dallas were free admission (Dallas cost me $10 and that got all 4 of my family in). I know the difference between pool play and bracket play, and still stand on my previous comment. As a 20 year veteren of umping I find that the ump's at Ford Park "generally" call a good game, as well as the ump's in LA. It saddens me to hear SO many kids complaining about umpire stirke zones, calls, etc...you know that is coming from the parents. Stop blaming the umps on every loss you have.....sorry soap box of mine. I should clarify that my comments where not just directed at Morgan but Ford Park in general, the county better wake up, baseball and the fair is all Ford Park has going for them so they better start working on making some happy baseball moms are they will lose this buisness also.

[Texantagonise]

[quote name="walktheplank" post="820125" timestamp="1279944692"]
I am very disappointed in the up-keep and appearance of the fields.  To be such a tremendous facility, the fields are extremely under-kept.  There is a similar facility in nearby Sulphur (Frasch Park), whose fields are immaculate.  They also just hosted a well managed World Series.  In the future, just know there is another option and they may actually put some of that money back into the product.
[/quote]
I just want to explain one of the MAJOR differences between Sulphur and Ford Park.  There is a special tax that every Sulphur resident pays for parks and recreation. So as far as putting money back into the parks the funds are already there.  Jefferson county on the other hand is having financial troubles largely due to Ford Park.  Maybe Jefferson county could ask for a tax like Sulphur has to help maintain Ford Park and other areas in the county.  Everyone knows that a tax like that would never pass.

[Guest gladiator2]

A player can drop down 1 classification and be elgible to play. I have seen this happen several time's and it will not change no matter what part of the country you go to. They will tell you as long as the player is on the roster before the tournament begin's than he is good to go. As for as gate fee's go, I guess your team was pretty lucky to play in place's where there was no gate fee, but in a lot of tournament's you have a entry fee and then a gate fee. For just about any World Serie's tournament the week pass will be about the same anywhere you go. I take it that you have not been involved in select ball for too long. The county has been getting away with it for this long and I don't see it changing and the team's will keep playing. I have spent thousand's of dollar's on select ball and will spend thousand's more on girl's softball, it is a choice that you have to make. You can alway's go back and play strictly league ball and save a lot of money. I have proved team's to be illegal to the head guy of Nation's and USSSA and nothing never changed because the bottom line is they want that money. I have complained to the county commishioner about several issue's and nothing at Ford Park has changed except the further Ford Park goes in debt the higher the price's go on the field's and concession's.

[DW28]

Actually if the teams rosters have been frozen, like most are by the time you get to the State and National Tournaments, a player cannot drop down a level to play. Our roster was frozen in April and shortly after we had a kid quit. We found a replacement that had been playing on an elite team that had also had their roster frozen and Nations would not allow him to play with us.

[Long Ball]

There is a special tax that every Sulphur resident pays for parks and recreation. So as far as putting money back into the parks the funds are already there.  Jefferson county on the other hand is having financial troubles largely due to Ford Park.  Maybe Jefferson county could ask for a tax like Sulphur has to help maintain Ford Park and other areas in the county

I'm sorry TexanTAG but how did Ford Park get built? I'm pretty sure it was on TAX PAYERS dollars...

[TradinUp BH]

I would love for our teams over here to play in Sulphur, but it's hard locating when tournaments are. I've been to the USSSA website and it doesn't show alot of the tournaments in Sulphur and Lake Charles?

[td]

[quote name="Scalp'em" post="826643" timestamp="1282101229"]
I would love for our teams over here to play in Sulphur, but it's hard locating when tournaments are. I've been to the USSSA website and it doesn't show alot of the tournaments in Sulphur and Lake Charles?
[/quote]


My experience has been that those guys won't post who is coming. therefore, you don't know if you are going to a tournament that has 10 teams or 2 teams. Personally, I'm not interested in which teams, just the fact that I won't be playing a round robin with 2 other teams.