View Full Version : 8-14 Weekly Hot Topic: Little League Ethics
This weeks Hot Topic concerns the ethics of coaching and Little League Baseball. The Little League World Series is going on this week, and the subject of winning vs. teaching becomes a subject of debate. Read the following portion of an article from this week's Sports Illustrated by Rick Reilly. It will make you angry, make you think, and no doubt generate debate.
"This actually happened. Your job is to decide whether it should have.
In a nine- and 10-year-old PONY league championship game in Bountiful, Utah, the Yankees lead the Red Sox by one run. The Sox are up in the bottom of the last inning, two outs, a runner on third. At the plate is the Sox' best hitter, a kid named Jordan. On deck is the Sox' worst hitter, a kid named Romney. He's a scrawny cancer survivor who has to take human growth hormone and has a shunt in his brain.
So, you're the coach: Do you intentionally walk the star hitter so you can face the kid who can barely swing?
Wait! Before you answer.... This is a league where everybody gets to bat, there's a four-runs-per-inning max, and no stealing until the ball crosses the plate. On the other hand, the stands are packed and it is the title game.
So ... do you pitch to the star or do you lay it all on the kid who's been through hell already?
Yanks coach Bob Farley decided to walk the star.
Parents booed. The umpire, Mike Wright, thought to himself, Low-ball move. In the stands, Romney's eight-year-old sister cried. "They're picking on Romney!" she said. Romney struck out. The Yanks celebrated. The Sox moaned. The two coaching staffs nearly brawled.
And Romney? He sobbed himself to sleep that night.
"It made me sick," says Romney's dad, Marlo Oaks. "It's going after the weakest chick in the flock."
Farley and his assistant coach, Shaun Farr, who recommended the walk, say they didn't know Romney was a cancer survivor. "And even if I had," insists Farr, "I'd have done the same thing. It's just good baseball strategy.""
You can read the rest of the editorial at:
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2006/writers/rick_reilly/08/07/reilly0814/
I think what the coach did is awful. Reilly is right. This isn't the pros. This is kids.
Wow...I'm all for kids playing sports, AND putting in proper priority. The fact that the coach would put that much emhpasis on winning sickens me. Anybody know the odds of any of those kids ever being a MLB player? I'd say slim to none.
Coincidentally on the Today Show just now they had a bit about the trend of "everybody is a winner" and how it's harmful.
That said, the play-only-to-win mentality should be reserved for professionals. In Little League, you are teaching children to compete. Your responsibility as a coach is to instill certain values of sportsmanship, and to help develop their baseball skill. You are NOT auditioning for a job as the real Yankees manager! Every child should be competing their hardest to win, but that does not mean this kind of strategy is appropriate.
If you are going to win, do it against their best. If you're going to lose, lose to their best. How can that team feel as though they've won? They didn't really prove anything by doing that. It's not that you don't want to teach strategy, and I can understand the intentional walk as you get into high school, maybe. But in Little League, it's more about the competition thatn the outcome. Well, it should be, anyway.
The coach did say one thing that I agreed with--that it shouldn't matter if the young boy was a cancer survivor or not. I agree. But I wouldn't have walked a kid who WASN'T recovering from cancer either.
Ban the intentional walk! I don't even really like it in the pros.
middletree
08-16-2006, 09:45 AM
I have no problem with them pitching to the kid to strike him out. Instead of ridiculing that coach, perhaps we should direct our ire twoard the other coach, who let the cancer survivor kid bat in a situation where the entire championship was on the line. In fact, why was that kid even playing in that game?
Gandalf
08-16-2006, 11:36 AM
But in Little League, it's more about the competition thatn the outcome.
If it's about competition, doesn't that by definition mean that the outcome matters?
Personally, I probably would've left it to the pitcher as don't give the kid anything to hit, but don't actually pitch out either - the "intentional unintentional walk." But I don't think it's cruel to pitch around a strong hitter to face a weaker hitter - like the coach said, that's just good strategy. The kids need to learn the mental aspects of the game as much as the physical.
1. How does the pitcher get better by not facing tough competition in crunch time?
2. What's more important--getting an A on the test, or learning the material? Getting a 4.0 in college and not learning, or getting a B or a B+ and actually knowing what you are being taught?
These kids are 9 and 10 year olds. EVEN IF they make it to the pros one day, THEY will never have to decide whether to pitch to a guy... that is the manager's call.
I should have been more specific... it's about learning how to compete. Not about winning the competition. It's like the preseason in football or baseball. The Jaguars basically ignored the running game last weekend because they have a fairly good idea of how they can run the ball. They needed to work on their passing game. Their starters on Defense didn't play long because htey know what those guys can do, but what about undrafted rookie Jamaal Fudge?
I have no problem with trying to strike out the Romney kid. But in a league where the idea is to develop players and instill certain ethics in them, what purpose does walking Jordan serve? What does that say? How does that help ANYBODY get better? All it does is say "hey look how smart our MANAGER is!" Well who cares? Isn't it about the players?
This is not Doug Mirabelli with a .180 batting average at bat for the world series.
I know, why don't we introduce free agency and trading to little league. If winning is so important, shouldn't the good players have the right to switch to a better team? Don't they deserve the chance to win every game? Let 'em beat up on the weak teams. Or let managers trade kids. That will really help the kids learn the game :rolleyes:
Gandalf
08-16-2006, 02:42 PM
I agree that intentionally walking a player isn't generally the best or most competitive strategy, and it's not the call I would've made, but I don't think it's a terrible thing that they did it. As for their age, why should 9 and 10 year olds not play to win?
As for learning how to compete... I don't see how it could not be about winning the competition. If they're not trying to win, they're not being competitive; they're just fooling around. Competition is about winning. Certainly, the kids should be taught sportsmanship in the process as well, but if they're not trying to win, they're certainly not learning anything about competing (except, perhaps, how not to do it).
Howlin' Wolf
08-16-2006, 03:22 PM
its the championship game, i would have walked him. and i wouldnt have my worst hitter hitting directly behind my star. ive seen coaches that were out of line, this coach wasnt. if youre not going to play to win, then why play?
middletree
08-16-2006, 03:46 PM
i wouldnt have my worst hitter hitting directly behind my star.
You're the first one, besides me, who has pointed this out. The coach we need to get onto is the coach who put this kid in this position in the first place, not the coach who coached against him.
Howlin' Wolf
08-16-2006, 03:50 PM
You're the first one, besides me, who has pointed this out. The coach we need to get onto is the coach who put this kid in this position in the first place, not the coach who coached against him.
also, i dont like this everyone is a winner attitude. now, the coach shouldnt be yelling and screaming and stuff, and should use postive reinforcement always. and it should be about fun more than anything. but i didnt have fun when we lost and nobody worth their salt, even at 9, does. the kids who dont care about winning are just happy to get an icee after the game anyways.
I am not arguing that they shouldn't try to win or shouldn't care.
I am arguing that winning is not the top priority. If you took the time to investigate codes of ethics for little league coaches, you'd see it's their job to prepare them for future competition by teaching and developing their fundamental skills at an age-appropriate pace. If you look at the mission statements of the leagues you'd see that they talk about those same types of things--the goal is not to see who is the best player or team in the league (which is the point in the pro leagues). That's why younger kids aren't supposed to be throwing breaking pitches (even if they are capable of doing it, it can be dangerous for their arm until they have reached a certain age).
The point is to teach kids how to bat, pitch, run, throw, field, etc. Just because pro players argue balls and strikes doesn't mean we need to teach are kids to do it.
Howlin' Wolf
08-16-2006, 04:09 PM
how is intentionally walking a guy avoiding that? the pitcher still had to get out of a jam. and the weakling hitter, how is him batting in crunchtime not teaching him fundamentals?
Because now a coach's strategy has superceded the actual baseball. Dan, you used to coach little league didn't you? Would this have been acceptable and what would have happened to the coach if it wasn't?
Howlin' Wolf
08-16-2006, 04:38 PM
Because now a coach's strategy has superceded the actual baseball. Dan, you used to coach little league didn't you? Would this have been acceptable and what would have happened to the coach if it wasn't?
so coaches shouldnt use strategy!?! why bother stealing or sacrifice bunting?
Oh Jason.
Intentionally walking a batter is not a skill that really needs honing. And if you look at the rules in the league, stealing essentially is not allowed. Sacrifice bunting is a necessary skill to be a complete player. It's not automatic. If you cannot intentionally walk a batter, you probably shouldn't be pitching.
middletree
08-16-2006, 06:12 PM
Again, the coach of the sick player is at fault here, not the other coach.
Howlin' Wolf
08-16-2006, 06:51 PM
Oh Jason.
Intentionally walking a batter is not a skill that really needs honing. And if you look at the rules in the league, stealing essentially is not allowed. Sacrifice bunting is a necessary skill to be a complete player. It's not automatic. If you cannot intentionally walk a batter, you probably shouldn't be pitching.
i didnt say it was a skill that needs honing. dont get it twisted.
Gandalf
08-16-2006, 08:40 PM
Again, the coach of the sick player is at fault here, not the other coach.
I agree 100%
Because now a coach's strategy has superceded the actual baseball. Dan, you used to coach little league didn't you? Would this have been acceptable and what would have happened to the coach if it wasn't?
Sorry to jump in late. Duty (work) called.
I coached Little League Baseball for 6 seasons. It was always a matter of debate of how to work in winning strategy versus just letting the kids play for the sake of playing. Winning took over little by little as the kids progressed up the grade levels. Even in T-Ball (ages 5-6), the debate was there, especially amongst parents.
By the 9 year age group, winning is definitly expected more. Remember, this was the championship game. The Yankees coach had an obligation to make the decisions needed to help his team win. Had he not walked the Red Sox's best batter and gotten beat by him, the would have faced the reverse scrutiny he is now.
As was stated earlier in the thread, both coaches needed to exercise strategy. I really question the batting order of the Red Sox. Romney was in the game because the league, like most, requires every player to play. He was put in unfair postition that could have been avoided. For the record, he was a star player before his illness. Had he been simply a weaker batter instead of a cancer survivor, would the argument be the same?
Whatever the case may be, Romney's quote at the end of the article is a great testiment to his winning attitude:
"I'm going to work on my batting," he told his dad. "Then maybe someday I'll be the one they walk."
i didnt say it was a skill that needs honing. dont get it twisted.
I'm not twisting. I'm explaining the difference between stealing a base, sacrificing and intentionally walking.
You know, I've never had my opinion change on something I said on the forums, but I'm not so sure that I blame the coach for using that strategy. A lot of what middletree and Tulip has said makes me think...
You know, I've never had my opinion change on something I said on the forums, but I'm not so sure that I blame the coach for using that strategy. A lot of what middletree and Tulip has said makes me think...
I know what you mean. When I first heard this story, my first reaction was to have disdane for the Yankee coach. But when I thought back to my experience coaching, my stance shifted.
The larger question here is at what point and under what conditions do we coach kids to win? You have to believe that there was a part of that coach that hated what he was doing and that he knew he would catch heat, but making the right coaching move was obvious.
Here's a link for an update on Romney Oaks.
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/news/story?id=2561540
vBulletin® v3.6.5, Copyright ©2000-2010, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.