Another Little League Baseball season is quickly drawing to a close, and no....I'm not bitter. This year, for the first time, I had two sons playing Little League, thereby doubling my misery. With 2007 nearly in the books, it's time for my annual rant.
1.) Mr. Coach, your primary function is to ensure that the children have fun AND LEARN HOW TO PLAY THE GAME PROPERLY. Teaching them what to do - and why they should do it - will be infinitely more valuable to them than teaching them how to exploit the particular rules of the league they are playing in. If the rules call for a base runner to stop running when the ball hits the infield "dirt", that does NOT give you license to teach the children playing the outfield to throw the ball "to the dirt." In the future, please instruct my child to throw to the proper base or, at the very least, not take him to task for attempting to do so.
2.) Look at the score book from the previous game before you make out the lineup for the next game. I am tired of my son batting 10th out of 15 every game. I know it's not because he sucks - you have girls batting in front of him in the lineup that couldn't hit off a tee with a tennis racket. In fact, I'm certain that it's not intentional. You're usually making out the lineup right before you send the kids out into the field. Normally, this isn't something I'd complain about, but in a league where everyone is in the batting order, you need to change the order from time to time if you're not going to take the time to teach all of the kids how to hit. Which brings me to #3...
3.) It's high time you started having a "Come to Jesus" meeting with the parents at the start of the year. After the "blah, blah, blah, sportsmanship, blah, blah, blah..." talk, tell the parents that part of being a "good teammate" is trying to improve. That means practicing AT HOME. No one wants to watch your sucky kid strike out 3 times in an underhand lob league and listen to the , "that's okay, Tanner" crap coming from the stands. If you can't make contact with a ball thrown underhand from 15 feet away...PRACTICE!!!!!! It's not okay. Not when my kid is behind you in the batting order and, consequently, gets 1-2 ABs per game because your sorry butt is striking out. It's one thing to swing and miss occasionally, but if your kid is swinging before the coach releases the ball - take 5 minutes to put down the cheez puffs and pitch him a few in the driveway.
4.) If you're one of the coaches who has 10 kids on your team with mustaches and tattoos, how about letting the younger kids play the infield when you have a big lead? When Tanner finally makes contact in the 5th inning, it kind of sucks to see him get thrown out by 30 feet: especially when your team is winning by 15 runs.
5.) Give each kid two positions to learn, teach them how to play them, AND STICK WITH IT. The only thing more painful than watching kids strike out all night long is watching them field a ball and have no idea what to do with it. On second thought, there's something even more painful: watching a kid run to cover 2nd base on a ground ball while the ball ROLLS THROUGH THE AREA HE JUST VACATED. Teach the kids one position on the infield, and let them play it every game so they can learn something.
That concludes today's rant. Tune in next time when I reveal the secret to happy little league parents.
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3 comments:
Good for people to know.
I couldn't help but notice that your textual medium reeks of "Little League Daditis". May I suggest channeling that mild aggression into something a little more relaxing like intepretive dance, yoga, or nap time on the quiet rug to channel those emerging Test levels. Cheers for crying on a blog rather than ranting on the field at your kid/ref/coach. Don't ever change that about you! I make it my business to start a disturbance with the Dad's that do that at Rossford/P-Burg games. ;) I don't know you, but next time you see a 6ft. 225lbs. baldy with a goatee sitting in the stands cheering his little girl make sure you keep your thoughts where no one will ever see them or read them....on a blog.
A Freaking Men Anonymous!! I coached baseball and this is an example of another pain in the ass parent. Take your kid and go play travel. He must be an all-star!
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