Old People Ruin Baseball for Kids

25 August, 2008

A 9 year old is told he can't pitch anymore because he's too good.

The right-hander has a fastball that tops out at about 40 mph. He throws so hard that the Youth Baseball League of New Haven told his coach that the boy could not pitch any more. When Jericho took the mound anyway last week, the opposing team forfeited the game, packed its gear and left, his coach said.

Odds this place is a suburb, anyone?

I remember when I played in a similar league growing up, we loved hitting against the best pitchers; no one expected anything and if you got a hit you were treated like a king. I think the kids feel the same way, but their parents feel entitled to see little Jimmy go 3 for 4 every night so he doesn't have to learn that life might sometimes be hard and force you to earn things.

The most important lesson any child will learn from athletic competition is how to handle failure and loss. These kids are being robbed of that by their selfish, immature parents who are hijacking what should be part of the best part of their children's lives. And for what?

I just hope there's something more to this story - because if there isn't, it's a sign of what's wrong with a lot of people.