Pitching to a little league kid with cancer

[statsman88]

i was alittle late on this topic but i have the stance that if the kid is in this league, then he deserves to be K'ed just like the rest of the kids. and the fact is HE HIT A HOME RUN EARLIER IN THE GAME! i dont think the coach immediately thought the kid was weak if he went yard earlier. while little leagues are created for fun, sportsmanship, honor, integrity, etc... its also for kids to learn the game of baseball and the strategy behind it. i dont think its as cut and dry to make the pitcher pitch to the best hitter and if he cant get him out, then hes not "manning up". if anything, he should be proud he made a very intelligent BASEBALL move and won the game for his teammates. this is really a non-issue to me, and i think everything that was done was justifiable, other than the coach using the word "retarded"

wow, I didn't know he homered earlier in the game. Bring out the "but he battled cancer, take it easy on him" excuse when convenient. I guarantee you his mom was saying earlier in the game, " wow, look at my son, he just hit a home run, and he battled cancer!"

[DK]

i was alittle late on this topic but i have the stance that if the kid is in this league, then he deserves to be K'ed just like the rest of the kids. and the fact is HE HIT A HOME RUN EARLIER IN THE GAME! i dont think the coach immediately thought the kid was weak if he went yard earlier. while little leagues are created for fun, sportsmanship, honor, integrity, etc... its also for kids to learn the game of baseball and the strategy behind it. i dont think its as cut and dry to make the pitcher pitch to the best hitter and if he cant get him out, then hes not "manning up". if anything, he should be proud he made a very intelligent BASEBALL move and won the game for his teammates. this is really a non-issue to me, and i think everything that was done was justifiable, other than the coach using the word "retarded"

He was not the one who hit the HR. The kid before him - the one who got issued the IBB - did.

[statsman88]

Can anyone give some stats or facts about this kids (the one that this story is about) batting record or baseball playing? I was wondering if he had any hits or anything, the way the family describes it, they make it sound like he could barely walk to the plate.

Anyone know anything statistical about this?

[DK]

If you think they keep any statistics in 9-10 PONY Leagues you're sadly mistaken.

Unless PONY's a lot more serious than I thought.

[statsman88]

If you think they keep any statistics in 9-10 PONY Leagues you're sadly mistaken.

Unless PONY's a lot more serious than I thought.

I was just wondering if anyone had some inside thoughts about this, maybe they live close to where it took place. Maybe they had heard the kid could actually play.

I guess I wasn't really looking for a game-by-game stats, just any info someone had

[Snakes Gould]

oh i was mistaken then....but regardless...if the kid already knocked one out, then i dont see anything wrong with pitching around him to get to another kid...one of the best feelings i ever had was winning a basketball championship when i was about 12. and one of the most discouraging and dissapointing memories from my life is when we lost in the championship a few years later and lost in the semi-finals of HS (i know HS and 9-10 yr olds are different, but winning leaves a MUCH better memory than losing. now im not saying i didnt have GREAT memories regardless of the outcome. i was on some pitiful teams in my day. but i think the kids on the winning side deserve the best chance of winning as well)

[AcidRock23]

RE the HR, I'd be curious to know if it was a home run over the fence or if he'd hit one to the 2b who missed and then the RF airmailed it back to the 2B and it rolled all the way to the dugout b/c the 3B guarded 3B while the batter ran on by? If he jacked a tater, then I would be inclined to say walk him. Although they could have just had the pitcher walk him w/o making it an obvious free pass too...

[byfrcp]

Riellys always the first thing I read when I get my copy of SI in the mail. And I have to say that I hate parents like that. You want him to be like all the other kids, yet at the same time you want him to get special treatment??? You can;t have it both ways! This kids never going to be normal if his parents keep treating him like he's so different from all the other kids. I think youth sports have lost alot of what makes them important to kids. No ones even wants to make it remotley about winning anymore, but this is the USA! That's what this country is all about. I have no problem with walking the slugger to get to the next kid. IF HE'S NOT ANY DIFFERENT FROM THE OTHER KIDS WHY IS THIS EVEN AN ARTICLE???

[bigh0rt]

Ok, I haven't read this thread, but I did hear about it, and discussed it with some of the people I coach with.

Now, along with coaching Varsity level soccer, I also coach at the Youth level, right around this age group...

If I understand correctly, this was supposed to be classified as a 'noncompetitive league'. If this is the case, my first question is, why is there a championship game in the first place?

Secondly, at the age group we're talking about, your main job as a coach is to make players love the game, spark interest, try and get the kids to come back next year, improve their overall knowledge of the game and how it is played (this includes their own personal fundamental skills), and above all, make sure nobody gets hurt.

Frankly, I'm disgusted at the people who are mad at the parents of the child with cancer, spouting off the "he wants to be like other kids but wants special treatment too!" garbage. Please, shut up. You have no clue. Nobody wants special treatment. Common decency given the age group of the children involved, courtesy, and common sense should all come into play here. Especially in a league that as I understand it, was considered 'noncompetitive'.

It's not about striking out the little kid -- it's about pitching around the best hitter to get to him. And who cares if the little kid is batting behind him? This isn't the Yankee lineup here. They're NINE YEARS OLD -- at that age, everybody plays equally, and everybody gets a chance to play every position, and everybody gets a chance to bat all over, so they continue to enjoy the game and stay with it. So, regardless of what the parents say, the situation should've never arose, because that kid should've been pitched to, the way he was intended to be at that age. Doing what the coach did is classless, and he deserves to be ridiculed to the maximum extent possible. He's a bum, should never be allowed to coach again at any level, and should be ashamed of himself. Not for pitching to the kid with cancer, but for intentionally walking a 9 year old, soiling the nature of competitiveness between children by interjecting himself between the players and the game.

You'd pitch around a player, age 9? 10?

Man, I hope my kids never play for you. And this is coming from a Varsity soccer coach who has been offered college coaching jobs -- so I'm not just some schmo ranting opinion.

Period.

[The Miner Part 2]

if i was at the game and understood the circumstances of what was happening id be in jail for punching that coach in the face.