9-year old is too good?

[aukevin]

Re: 9-year old is too good?

My "Jericho Scott" in little league was a kid named Steve Harvey. He was a monster. Looked like he already had a beard growing, but he had a birth certificate stating his age.

I don't think he ever gave up a run the entire season. He threw faster than I ever thought possible at that age.

We all dealt with it and played the game. This stinks of bureaucracy. Everybody has their own personal Jericho Scott, whether it's in little league or college or their place of employment. Teach the kids to deal with it, even at 9 years old.

yep, I had them too. Many little leagues have dominant players whether it is pitching or hitting and you just deal with it. I remember dreading playing this one team with twin brothers that belted the ball everytime up to bat. They were so good that when they did get out it made you feel much more better about yourself than how bad you felt when you weren't able to get them out.

I think about that scene in The Rookie when the one kid celebrated for foul tipping Jimmy Morris's fastball and how they felt they were improving by facing that. Maybe the parents should look at things from that side of the story.

[Trevytrev11]

Re: 9-year old is too good?

Every league at this age has a guy or two that are a little more developed than the others and dominate. We had two guys in little league that through around 70 MPH and finished the year with about 75 more K's then the next best pitchers.

If it's all for fun, let the kid play and dominate and use it to help teach the other kids about how to handle failure. If these kids decide to keep at baseball, they will face guys like this at every level and they will be better for it.

And this kid will eventually peak and in a few years he will be on the same level as everyone else.

I'm sure every team that is complaining wouldn't be doing so if he was on their team...sadly politics play a huge part in childrens sports.

[CMH]

Re: 9-year old is too good?

Agreed, and that was me. I was the 10-year old kid that faced players better than me. I sucked, but it made me better. Made me good enough to practice and eventually play high school baseball for a good NY Catholic School when the mere thought of it would have elicited laughter amongst my peers when I was 10.

America babies their youth way too much, especially today.

[av7]

Re: 9-year old is too good?

I dunno, I dont think getting drafted to a competitive league would be horrible. I was moved up 1 league after 1 game, never played with my friends after that but it was still fun to play

If its developmental, he doesnt need to work on his 15 k's a game imo

[dkgojackets]

Re: Nine year old banned from pitching

And little kids should get better by batting against a good pitcher, it works both ways.

I see what youre saying, but this isnt entirely true though. If a kid is playing baseball for the first time (as I understand thats what this league is) he has to ease into it and step up the competition over time. You arent going to improve your hitting if you cant hit any of the pitches. I havent played baseball in about six years, and if I went to the batting cage now and set it to 80+ I'm not gonna hit a thing and will just be pissed off at the end. Id need to start at a lesser speed and move up once I've gotten that down.

[dkgojackets]

Re: Nine year old banned from pitching

I'm sure parents have to sign waivers against that sort of thing. They are playing baseball correct. Isn't there an inherent danger in that in the first place?

Again, it goes back to how the league was promoted. It isn't a Little League. If the league was advertised as a league for beginning players and a chance to learn the game than kids that sign up for that should have the opportunity to see pitches they can hit and not to get dominated at the plate. Now I don't know for sure what the league mission is or even what a 40 mph pitch looks like to a nine-year old compared to the rest of the players, but it is an understandable position.

[CMH]

Re: Nine year old banned from pitching

Yea, I can see both sides of the argument.

If it's a developmental league than you want the kids to learn how to play.

But, couldn't you possibly say that the pitcher is also learning how to be a pitcher?

You know me, I just have to throw the other argument out there.

[p_rushing]

Re: 9-year old is too good?

I don't know why this kid would want to stay where he is. How would it be fun to go out there and strikeout everyone. Yeah it would be great for 1 or 2 games, but after that, when they have no shot of hitting you, it can't be fun. If it was me, I would have moved up, not pitched, or thrown slower to make it more interesting.

[Trevytrev11]

Re: 9-year old is too good?

I don't know why this kid would want to stay where he is. How would it be fun to go out there and strikeout everyone. Yeah it would be great for 1 or 2 games, but after that, when they have no shot of hitting you, it can't be fun. If it was me, I would have moved up, not pitched, or thrown slower to make it more interesting.

Maybe the reason he signed up was just to hang out with his friends. Baseball may not even be fun for him or something that he wants to play in the future, but just something to do because his buddies are doing it.

I think your giving 9 year olds (3rd and 4th graders) way too much credit. I mean most 9 year olds are just kind of trying everything out to see what they enjoy.

[Trevytrev11]

Re: 9-year old is too good?

I dunno, I dont think getting drafted to a competitive league would be horrible. I was moved up 1 league after 1 game, never played with my friends after that but it was still fun to play

If its developmental, he doesnt need to work on his 15 k's a game imo

I can't speak on your first post-I would assume everyones different when it comes to this. I'm not sure how old you were when you were bumped up a league, but 9 just seems to young to me for this. Most 9 yeard olds are sitting out there picking flowers and going through pitching motions in the outfield while the game is going on.

As far as the second part, I'm sure the kid still needs to learn how to pitch so he can continue to succeed as he gets older and faces tougher, more even competition.

[soltrain]

Re: Nine year old banned from pitching

40 MPH isn't even that fast for a nine year old.

[dkgojackets]

Re: Nine year old banned from pitching

40 MPH isn't even that fast for a nine year old.

thanks for completely ignoring the issue of the thread and nitpicking one detail

[Scottdau]

Re: Nine year old banned from pitching

Sure he isn't hit any one. YET! If I was a parent I would be very concerned. They are 9 years old, the kid is hitting 40 mph. Hell no I don't want my 9 year old facing that.

[Scottdau]

Re: Nine year old banned from pitching

40 MPH isn't even that fast for a nine year old.

You are joking right? That is pretty damn fast.

[countryboy]

Re: 9-year old is too good?

this absolutely absurd. The idea behind Little League, at least I thought, was to teach kids the fundamentals, learn how to play as a team, and learn to overcome challenges. But most of all, it was meant for kids to have fun. Well, how is anyone having fun now, especially this 9 year old boy who is being discriminated against because he's a good player. Why is that his fault? Should we now teach kids that mediocrity is what you strive for because if not, someone is going to be jealous? What a bunch of BS.

And what are they teaching all the other kids? Don't worry Johnny, that kid is better than you but instead of helping you learn to meet his challenge, we're just not going to allow him to play anymore. Nice work. Whats little Johnny going to do when he grows up?

Whats truly sad is parents want their kids to play Little League and have fun, but then its always the parents that suck the fun out of the games.

My message, Shut up and let the kids play. Period.