Friday, October 28, 2005

so much for getting my way in little league

Oh it's going to be a tough couple of days.

First there was last night. We weren't at our best, but we weren't bad. The other team had a good pitcher (the youngster's best friend) who we jumped on early and got out to a 7-2 lead, before he settled down. The youngster - 1 for 3 with an rbi. Then the pitcher settled in and shut us down. After 4 innings it was 7-6 and we still were holding on until....our coach decided to give in to a kid who really wanted to pitch, but can't. The kid's parents even begged him, "Please don't let him pitch. He did once last year and it was disasterous. The other kids will hate him." The coach's answer, "but he wants to sooo bad." And maybe he's right. Maybe it isn't whether you win or lose, but still, our kids outplayed the other team and they were disappointed.

The writing was on the wall. The kid can throw hard, but has no control. When he throws hard, he's all over the place. After two hit batters and 4 walks (with many wild pitches that scored runs, some that went behind batters), they mercifully pulled him, and it was 12-7 at the end of 5. We got nothing in the top of the 6th, so that was that.

Our coach rotataed a lot of the kids who never play infield through those positions, so the youngster played one inning at second and centerfield the rest of the game. I have no issue with that. A big part of fall ball is to move kids around and let them learn to play. The problem is you have to teach them something before you do that. You don't stick a kid at second or third and leave him clueless. These guys had no idea where they are supposed to be when. They knew where to throw the ball if it came to them, which is good, but the other part was completely missing...the part that goes...where are you supposed to be when the ball doesn't come to you.

I can't complain there..because he volunteered to do this coaching thing and I didn't, so I'll abide by whatever he decides to do. Since I can't bitch there though, you get to read it here.

Oh, the better part - neither of our coaches will be there for this Saturday's game. I think they're both going to the Outdoor Cocktail Party. In their absence, they have asked me and one other dad (who's about as knowledgeable as I am, but at least he knows how to keep score in the book) to step in. Please pray for us.

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