Kid Pitches Too Good, Forced to Quit and Team Forced to Disband

Apparently the kid was invited to play for the "select team" and didn't want to. The whole story sounds like there is more politics going on rather than just letting kids play ball.

 

I thought it sounded like he was invited to play for the league champions, not a select team.

 

Too well. The kid pitches too well.

 

Exactly...He just needs to move to Texas...

 

What kind of message does that send though? "Sorry kid, because the rest of the league sucks, you can't do what you want." "By the way, it's ok to pack up and quit because you know the other kid is better than you."

I think these parents are a bunch of p***ies and they're turning their kids into p***ies.

Yes, I have a 3 year old son. When he's ready to play sports, I'm going to teach him that there might always be someone better than him in every facet of life. So, he's going to need to learn that improvement isn't something that should ever end. You want to be the best, beat the best. I won't be that crazy nut job of a parent out there. If he doesn't like to play soccer, I'll kill him...I mean, I'll say that's ok and we'll try something else.

 

Well, there you go! He's playing against three-year olds!
Sheesh. I would take them off the field too.

 

Well if they are choosing their players, that makes them select in my book.

 

I think the message is "sometimes you should be considerate of others and refrain from doing things you want to do so that others can have fun too." One of the quotes was driving at this, that the league wasn't meant to be super-competitive, but just to let kids play. And, I imagine the game gets a whole lot less fun when one of the kids can pack so much heat that no one can get a hit. Baseball is boring enough as it is.

Btw, what sort of message does it send when the league has banned you from pitching and your coach (and probably mom) tells you to break the rules and pitch anyway? Wouldn't it be more proper to obey the rule on the field and appeal the decision off of it?

I think the team deserved liquidation for disobeying the league. The league should have handled it better. I can understand their concern about one superstar kid imbalancing the league though. Poor Jericho probably wants to play with his friends and not in some competitive Little League franchise, just like he didn't want to switch to the championship team. But, I think keeping him off the pitcher's mound is a decent compromise if Jericho wants to stay. He can play, he just can't pitch. If he wants real competition though, it sounds like he'll have to leave his mortal friends behind and join a real league.

 

Ok,

This smacks of parental politics.....what does "too good" mean?

Isn't that the American way? Strive to acheive?

Maybe the parents of the other kids, need to teach them to hit this guy, instead of whining about how good he is....

And the fact that he was asked to join last year's champion and refused....man.....that is ridiculous.

DD

 

For what it's worth, this chart shows the "average" fastball for 10 and under is 40-50 MPH.

http://www.efastball.com/baseball/pitching/grips/average-pitching-speed-by-age-group/

 

I thought the sentence is supposed to read "pitches too well" instead of "pitches too good." Can someone better versed in grammar tell me which form is correct?

 

It was the league champions, and the league administrator sponsors the league champions...hmmm...it doesn't sound political at all

This is ridiculous, as much as parents want to protect their kids from the shame of losing like implicating no score taking, kids take scores in their heads even if its not on the scoreboard...

Little League parents are the worst too...that's why you should just get your kids to play Lacrosse so the parents have no idea what's going on

 

http://www.norwichbulletin.com/bizarre/x144227074/Kid-told-he-s-too-good-to-pitch

And that's all you need to know. Some parents need to just step back and let their kids play and have fun; it's little league.

And not only that, but as a father myself, I sure as hell wouldn't let my kid quit just because someone is better than him. I'd try to help him to improve his skills...and even if he were to strike out badly nine out of ten times, just think of the euphoria and sense of accomplishment he'd feel when on the tenth time he actually gets a hit.

 

Exactly. When I was in little league we had a couple of Jerichos... kids who just developed a little faster and could throw a ball way harder than anyone else. Yeah, I hated facing these guys, but I could never imagine just laying my bat down and not even trying. I even vividly remember hitting 2 or 3 hard foul balls off of one of the star pitchers in a single at bat. I ended up striking out, but the confidence I got when I realized that I could in fact catch up to his fastball was enough to send me on a tear that lasted the rest of the season.

I'm sorry, but I cannot see in any way, shape, or form how you can defend this move. Where in the real world do things like this occur?

"Hey I know that you are a really respected lawyer and everything, but the defense couldn't get someone as good as you. So we're gonna ask you to please take it easy and not be too hard on them."

"Hey I know that you guys are the best Engineering firm, and I do know that you would do an incredible job, but that other firm hasn't received a job in a couple years, so we feel sorry for them and are gonna give them this one. Sorry"

"Hey kid, congratulations on kicking butt in my course. You by far have the best grades in the class...however, this poses a problem. I think you are too smart for this University, therefore we are kicking you out. Oh, and because your grades alone make your entire class look better, we're gonna kick all of them out too. Good luck finding a new school!"

Let the kid pitch.

 

that seems about right. i think when i got to pitch a few times in 6th grade (right before and after i turned 12) on our crappy YMCA team, i tried one of those games at Astroworld that shows how fast you throw and i was at 46. granted i was 12 vs being 9, but i'm pretty sure i didn't throw that hard either. i could just actually throw the ball accurately over the plate and get some occasional outs. of course, one time i did hit a kid in the face. guy was crowding the plate, i had to send a message.

 

I can't believe all of you liberal yuppies don't agree with this move. The negative responses really surprised me.

 

And now, the rest of the story...

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=080827/kreidler&lpos=spotlight&lid=tab8pos1

 

Well I definitely agree with moving him up...but it should be him and his parents choice. Personally, I'd move him up...if him and his parents don't want to then so be it. And however unfair it may be, I still would never condone, as a coach, to forfeit a game just because the competition is stronger, faster, better. Hell if anything I'd use it as motivation for the other teams team to improve.

And what of the reports of him being courted by the defending champions of that weaker league...is that simply untrue? And if it is true, is this a "if we can't have him no one can" mentality? And on the flip side, why do his parents insist on keeping him in a weaker league? To artificially boost his confidence? Shouldn't his parents encourage him to take on a greater challenge by pitching in the Pony League? He may not be the best pitcher on his team, but it at least gives him a chance to grow.

I think both sides are right and both sides are wrong on this issue.

 

Read the article I posted....here is a snippet:

"And Scott is just a kid who shouldn't be playing in the LJB, the Liga Juvenil de Baseball de New Haven. Forget the legal ramifications for a minute and deal with the player himself. Scott is good enough to pitch in a much better league -- and that league, the Dom Aitro Pony League for all-star teams, is already available to him.
In fact, Scott plays in it when he isn't suiting up for the Will Power Fitness team in the LJB.

But in that other league, Jericho doesn't dominate."