Leauge Rules That 9 Year Old is Too Good

[*BaseClogger*]

Originally Posted by BuckeyeRedleg

I'm not sure I understand what the big deal is with 40 mph. That is not that fast, even for 9-years old. I understand that 9 is the first year for "kid pitch", but seriously 40 mph is not bringing it that hard. Maybe it's a misprint and he's going 50-60. I pitched to my 7 and 8 year old's this past season nearly that hard. The kids liked it thrown harder. In fact, they said it was easier to hit than when our other coach lobbed them in there (in a big arc).

Pitch much slower than 30 mph and the ball might not make it to the catcher. 40 is not a big deal.

Yeah, the league from my area sets the pitching machines at 36 mph for 7 and 8 year olds...

[BRM]

Originally Posted by *BaseClogger*

Yeah, the league from my area sets the pitching machines at 36 mph for 7 and 8 year olds...

The rule for our league is the machine will be set between 30 and 38. We found that kids tend to hit better when it's set at the high end of that range, 36-38.

[Jefferson24]

This is why I am involved with Little League. These independent youth baseball leagues have all this crap attached to them. Little League is not perfect but it is much better regulated than these youth leagues. I have been a board member for 5 years and hands down it is better organized, less political, competition friendly, and gets everyone involved better than any other league I have seen.

Our league redrafts the teams every year. Nobody pics who they play for. Teams are usually very equal.

If the kid lives in a little league district he should sign up next spring. Otherwise he had better find a travel team that doesn't mind him being good.

[GAC]

Originally Posted by Yachtzee

It seems to me like this is one of those cases where the kid might benefit from being bumped up a level to play kids more in line with his skill level. I don't think its fun for anyone when you have a kid who is so much better than everyone else at that level that there's no real competition. It seems like there could be a much better resolution for this kid and for the other kids in the league that would be fair and benefit everyone.

What level can we bump Roy Oswalt up to? :

[*BaseClogger*]

Originally Posted by GAC

What level can we bump Roy Oswalt up to? :

the AL?

[Yachtzee]

Originally Posted by Ltlabner

There's a world of difference between education and playing baseball in a youth league. Most reasonable people would agree to that.

I don't have any problem with a parent that decides they want to hold their child back or have their child pushed into advanced classes. But that's totally different than a parent deciding the other kid should be moved because it isn't fair to their child.

I want to hold my kid back, no prob. I want your kid kicked out of class because he always gets A's and destroys the curve? Assinine.

Well, it depends on the purpose of the youth league. There are all kinds of youth leagues out there. Some are geared toward more organized play and tournaments like classic youth leagues. Others are geared towards introducing kids to the sport and aren't really designed for overly competitive play. You choose to sign your kid up to the league that best meets your values. Parents have a choice. If they told the parents that they were signing their kid up for a "beginners" league and they put their kid in there anyway, who's fault is that?

Actually, I think if the kid is really that good and was playing with the other kids in a pick-up game, they probably would have decided how to handle it amongst themselves by either making the kid all-day pitcher or making him play outfield. I think kids tend to handle things more fairly amongst themselves because they don't want the other kids to quit if the game gets too lopsided.

That being said, I don't think that's the real issue. The more I read, the more it sounds like these are sponsored teams pulling the old time trick of going out and finding kids who are ringers to come in and give them a championship. The fact that they mention the sponsors' names almost as much as the kids' names seems fishy. I'm willing to bet the barbershop team got upset because "Will Power" found this kid who could kick their butts, and of course the barbershop team (which probably has a ringer or two of their own) got the other teams into a tizzy about this kid. I think this is more about the parents wanting to win than the kids.

[GAC]

What amazes me with kids today entering Little League is just how "unprepared" they are, and their lack in HOW to play the game at all. It's like you're starting a square one with a majority of these kids.

So we've had to create more "leagues", depending on what developmental level your kid is.

My kids are all teenagers now, and I coached them for 3-4 years. I thoroughly enjoyed working with kids; but the above simply amazed me.

When I was growing up in the early-mid 60's (20th century, not 19th), playing baseball was already entrenched in a majority of boys so that by the time they were old enough to play in established leagues they knew, pretty much, how the game was played. A majority of the kids, overall, came in on a pretty level playing field.

Not so now. There is such a disparity with kids now entering leagues that those that had some sort of parental "investment" in playing the game with their kids prior have a leg up on the rest.

My younger brother has two boys (13, 8). The oldest is one of the top players in the city league. And the way the youngest is playing he will be too. I got the chance to throw the ball around with him at our recent family reunion. Wow! And it's all due to my brother being very involved with them at an earlier age.

So why wouldn't kids like this have an advantage over those who haven't had that involvement?

So know we're going to extremes like we're seeing here, or implementing some really stupid rules, in order to somehow level the playing field and make it fair for all the kids because we're worried about the emotional state (impact) it will have on some of these kids who aren't excelling like others are?

Ridiculous IMO.

And I hate Coach Pitch leagues.

[REDblooded]

ESPN.com has a good article on this...

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2...t&lid=tab8pos1

Scott is not Cy Young; he's a kid who throws a good fastball against mediocre competition and struggles against better players. The organizing body that doesn't want him pitching anymore is not the "Satanic Summer League"; it's a group of volunteer parents who clumsily tried to clean up a gaping inequity between Scott -- a midseason import to his team, by the way -- and most of the other kids in what is clearly a developmental, low-wattage, newbie-strewn kid baseball enterprise.

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.



And that, I suspect, is the real genesis of this story.

In the case of Scott, he already has been given that opportunity. As a member of that advanced, Dom Aitro Pony League, Scott is a good player -- but not the best. He is the No. 4 pitcher on his staff, good enough to go against the top players in the area, but not guaranteed of a blowout victory every time he steps on the mound.



So what is this kid doing in the LJB, a league that is made up significantly of kids playing baseball for the first time? Why were he and another Pony League all-star added to the Will Power Fitness team in midseason?

seems to me that the real isssue here is that there are a bunch of poofs who just want something to cry about.

[NJReds]

Scott is not Cy Young; he's a kid who throws a good fastball against mediocre competition and struggles against better players.

Are they sure that this isn't Homer Bailey?

[AccordinglyReds]

Anyone else think the "leauge" would have been changed by now to "league"?

[Yachtzee]

Originally Posted by REDblooded

ESPN.com has a good article on this...

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2...t&lid=tab8pos1











seems to me that the real isssue here is that there are a bunch of poofs who just want something to cry about.

So he IS a ringer. Go figure. I don't know who you refer to as the poofs, but it sounds like the kid's parents have some connection with Will Power Fitness. That's the only reason why I could imagine them making a big case out of this when they could have just bumped him up a league like they were offered. His parents and the folks running Will Power Fitness are the epitome of a frivolous lawsuit. Make a federal case out of something ridiculous and run to the papers.

[Highlifeman21]

What's Danny Almonte doin' these days?

[oneupper]

Originally Posted by Highlifeman21

What's Danny Almonte doin' these days?

He grew up.

http://www.xomba.com/ex_little_leagu...plays_in_altus