1. Welcome to SportsJournalists.com, a friendly forum for discussing all things sports and journalism.

    Your voice is missing! You will need to register for a free account to get access to the following site features:
    • Reply to discussions and create your own threads.
    • Access to private conversations with other members.
    • Fewer ads.

    We hope to see you as a part of our community soon!

Pitcher throws too hard, banned? Check. Coach refuses? Check. Lawyers? CHECK!

Discussion in 'Sports and News' started by TheSportsPredictor, Aug 25, 2008.

  1. kingcreole

    kingcreole Active Member

    In my daughter's now infamous softball league this summer, one team had a pitcher that was virtually unhittable. She threw so hard and accurate that for most of the girls, it was impossible to get around.

    Princesscreole fouled off a pitch against her. It was one of the proudest moments of the season for me. What's more, after seeing a pitcher like that, it made all the other pitchers seem not so tough.
     
  2. RedSmithClone

    RedSmithClone Active Member

    Can't the kid at least stay with the team on the bench. I mean they all get first place trophies in the end anyway?
     
  3. Mizzougrad96

    Mizzougrad96 Active Member

    Exactly.
     
  4. Mizzougrad96

    Mizzougrad96 Active Member

    Noble sounds like someone who was picked last in first-grade dodgeball and hasn't recovered.
     
  5. Bob Cook

    Bob Cook Active Member

    To me, there are so many holes in the story:

    -- With the league being only three years old, was it founded specifically for kids who have never played before?
    -- How are rosters distributed? How are kids getting "invited" onto one team or another?
    -- How often is the kid allowed to pitch, anyway?
    -- Did anyone recommend to the mother that her son be placed in a more competitive league, for his own good?
    -- Does the league have its own bylaws to dictate what happens if someone is deemed "too good?"
    -- Why the heck was the mother of the player calling the police?
    -- How come this only became a problem at this point in the season? Was the kid NOT throwing 40 mph before?

    Just because the parents complained does not make it the pussification of America. If this was a league formed specifically for 8- to 10-year-olds with no baseball experience, I could understand the shock and surprise of seeing a flamethrower "invited" onto one team. It makes me thing a few coaches knew this kid was good and were interested in bringing him in as a ringer, and the coach who didn't get him got pissed about it.

    I'm starting to think the problem with organized youth sports is that they're not organized enough.
     
  6. Captain_Kirk

    Captain_Kirk Well-Known Member

    fixed
     
  7. Mizzougrad96

    Mizzougrad96 Active Member

    -- With the league being only three years old, was it founded specifically for kids who have never played before?

    I doubt such leagues exist.

    -- How are rosters distributed? How are kids getting "invited" onto one team or another?

    They hold a draft in NYC. Mel Kiper Jr. moderates.

    -- How often is the kid allowed to pitch, anyway?

    Most little leagues won't allow a kid to pitch more than once a week.

    -- Did anyone recommend to the mother that her son be placed in a more competitive league, for his own good?

    Most leagues are setup by age, not ability.

    -- Does the league have its own bylaws to dictate what happens if someone is deemed "too good?"

    People weren't complete pussies until this year.

    -- How come this only became a problem at this point in the season? Was the kid NOT throwing 40 mph before?

    He developed that arm swimming here from Cuba.
     
  8. Rhody31

    Rhody31 Well-Known Member

    When I was in little league, if a kid was in the minors and was too good, they moved him up to the majors.
    I wonder why they didn't do this with this kid.
     
  9. qtlaw

    qtlaw Well-Known Member

    If this is a developmental league and there is/are alternatives available, why is this kid playing in this league? I could then see why the parents would have a beef.

    I was always the kid assigned #1 on my teams (you know, the smallest dude) and there were some huge guys on the mound but I enjoyed hitting off those guys, just take it right back up the box. You have to have some challenges in life.
     
  10. Bob Cook

    Bob Cook Active Member

    Ha ha.

    However, there are leagues that exist specifically for players who are beginners. That was part of the blowup with the cancellation of the all-star game for that league in Beachwood, Ohio. The more experienced players were in other leagues, so not having an all-star game at all (rather than having one and canceling it) made sense if the stated purpose was to introduce relatively late-arriving kids to a competitive version of a sport. The problem so often now is that if your kid hasn't discovered a single-sport passion by age 6 (or, shall I say, the parents haven't discovered it for them), it's discouraging for kids who are still dabbling at age 9 to find something they enjoy. Eventually the kid at 9 can catch up in a few years, but these leagues exist to give them a first-year experience in which they play against others of similar experience so they can see if they like or dislike the sport on its own merits. If that's how this league was founded, then it should have had something written down to determine what happens if a player has experience (which we don't know how much this kid had -- he may just be that much of a natural) or well outstrips the competition. Me, I'd just say everyone suck it up this year, and advise the mom that her son is better served in a higher-caliber league.

    And the question of the draft matters because if it's a blind draft, or if the administrator assigns players, or if players are indeed invited, it answers the question of whether or not this kid was an invited ringer. Or, for that matter, this kid could have been invited because there was space still available in the league. Had my daughter's softball league not filled up, I could have invited a kid to join in a league that otherwise was administrator-assigned.

    Sure, the parents can be a big problem, but most leagues are run by volunteers who often don't have enough covered in their own rules, or have people in positions of power who choose to flout them whenever it's convenient. That's what I mean by organized youth sports not being organized enough. If it's a strong, well-organized league, it makes it much easier to tell parents to go pound sand. With this league, to disappear a team in midseason, makes it sound like it was started more for somebody's pleasure, and I don't mean the children's.
     
  11. Bullwinkle

    Bullwinkle Member

    Re: Pitcher throws too hard, banned? Check. Coach refuses? Check. Lawyers? CHECK

    If the kid wants to move up to a higher league for a greater challenge ... move him up.
    If the kid wants to stay with his friends and compete against other kids his age ... he stays.

    Ninety-five percent of kids could care less about winning championships and setting youth records. They play because it's fun and because they like to play with their friends.
     
  12. Bob Cook

    Bob Cook Active Member

    And let's not forget why parents feel they have so much power at this level -- $$$$$$$$. Not that it excuses bad behavior, but when it's pay-to-play, especially if you have to pay A LOT to play, your complaining voice can become that much louder. That's the consumer society in which we live.
     
Draft saved Draft deleted

Share This Page