9 YO told he is too good to pitch (baseball)

[Nzane]

The kid is NINE!! Who cares if he is playng in a more advanced league. Take it as a challenge....

[DonnieS]

>> ...I'm perfect too! <<

Perfect reply. You are now my favorite poster!

[hotwheels]

Thanks DonnieS

[Sam]

The kid might be playing in the lower league to get pitching time...his parents may think he's not getting enough experience in the Pony League. Lots of #3 travel pitchers throw in rec leagues to get work in addition to playing on their travel team... has nothing to do with egos...everything to do with getting work and getting better.

My comments still stand.

The only asinine comments made on this thread are those supporting placing a 9 year old with 13 year olds.

[anonlooker]

A nine year old boy has no business on the bench talking to 12 year old boys. It would be like having your 12 year old DD play with 16 yr olds....do you want her to learn the various facets and skills of oral sex at 12? Do you want her to listen lustily as her teammates wow her with stories of parties, drinking, and drugs? Do you want other people making that decision for you?

OBTW: No 12 year old in SoCal would dominate in rec all stars. The talent level isn't that different between them and travel teams.

I'll defer to your experience on this one. But I'm sure many parents with kids in the younger divisions are curious: Are all 16u teams full of drunken, drugged out, fellatio artists? Or only those in SoCal? Or Riverside County? Or maybe only yours?

OBTW, there were quite a few 12 year olds in So Cal who would dominate in rec all-stars. Many of them went to Alabama, and quite a few of those came home with hardware. How much 12U ball did you see last year, anyway?

And then there is this from the ESPN article cited earlier:

The most American thing that a youth sports league can do for a talented kid is to get him the absolute best competition available to him, no matter what the "age" bracket says.

Little League Baseball figured this out years ago, which is why, in its national charter, it allows for its majors division to be filled with players who range in age from barely 9 to nearly 13. That's a huge gap, and it brings with it some natural disparities in terms of pure strength, size and the like. But that latitude allows little league coaches and board members in communities all across the country to annually identify, say, the 10-year-old who has no business being in the minors anymore, and moving him "up" to majors to face the best competition in town.

But of course LLB has it all wrong, and is at the forefront of corrupting every 9 year old ball player with exceptional skills.

Got it. Thanks for the enlightenment.

[Sam]

A nine year old boy has no business on the bench talking to 12 year old boys. It would be like having your 12 year old DD play with 16 yr olds....do you want her to learn the various facets and skills of oral sex at 12? Do you want her to listen lustily as her teammates wow her with stories of parties, drinking, and drugs? Do you want other people making that decision for you?

OBTW: No 12 year old in SoCal would dominate in rec all stars. The talent level isn't that different between them and travel teams.

I'll defer to your experience on this one. But I'm sure many parents with kids in the younger divisions are curious: Are all 16u teams full of drunken, drugged out, fellatio artists? Or only those in SoCal? Or Riverside County? Or maybe only yours?

OBTW, there were quite a few 12 year olds in So Cal who would dominate in rec all-stars. Many of them went to Alabama, and quite a few of those came home with hardware. How much 12U ball did you see last year, anyway?

And then there is this from the ESPN article cited earlier:

The most American thing that a youth sports league can do for a talented kid is to get him the absolute best competition available to him, no matter what the "age" bracket says.

Little League Baseball figured this out years ago, which is why, in its national charter, it allows for its majors division to be filled with players who range in age from barely 9 to nearly 13. That's a huge gap, and it brings with it some natural disparities in terms of pure strength, size and the like. But that latitude allows little league coaches and board members in communities all across the country to annually identify, say, the 10-year-old who has no business being in the minors anymore, and moving him "up" to majors to face the best competition in town.

But of course LLB has it all wrong, and is at the forefront of corrupting every 9 year old ball player with exceptional skills.

Got it. Thanks for the enlightenment.

You apparently don't have an older daughter, so I'll forgive your ignorance regarding the differences between 16 year olds and 12 year olds.

I don't necessarily value a sports reporter's opinion over what I already know to be right.

LLB is no bastion of knowledge...they don't have D3K for 13 year old players....they have 220' fences for kids that routinely hit the ball 300 ' with their superhot bats. Wonder how LLB would feel if they forced a 9 year old to be in the Major Division with 13 year olds due to the competitiveness factor....and the 9 year old had his face smashed by a line drive from a 150 lb 13 year old....at least the 9 year old would know how to react:

1) Don't cry.

2) Wipe off the blood.

3) Tell the crowd what you learned from your teammates....."God-d@m, Mother -F'er, Son of a F-in Biotch."

Life would be so good in your little 12 year old world.

[Tucson]

A columnist's take on things.
http://msn.foxsports.com/other/story/8495030/Parents-sending-kids-wrong-message-about-adversity

[MTR]

The kid might be playing in the lower league to get pitching time...his parents may think he's not getting enough experience in the Pony League. Lots of #3 travel pitchers throw in rec leagues to get work in addition to playing on their travel team... has nothing to do with egos...everything to do with getting work and getting better.

Maybe you should try to understand the difference between a rec league and a developmental league. Are they really the same?

The only asinine comments made on this thread are those supporting placing a 9 year old with 13 year olds.

And how many 15 yo play in 18U tournaments with 19 yo? Or 12 with 16s, etc? A young lady in my hometown started playing varsity BB in 7th grade and was successful.

Your argument seems to stem from selective memory and a bit faulty.

[DonnieS]

>> Your argument seems to stem from selisective memory and a bit faulty. <<

Major difference between girls playing up and boys playing up.

Sam, any idea what "selisective" memory is? Must be a delaware thing.

[anonlooker]

You apparently don't have an older daughter, so I'll forgive your ignorance regarding the differences between 16 year olds and 12 year olds.

I don't necessarily value a sports reporter's opinion over what I already know to be right.

LLB is no bastion of knowledge...they don't have D3K for 13 year old players....they have 220' fences for kids that routinely hit the ball 300 ' with their superhot bats. Wonder how LLB would feel if they forced a 9 year old to be in the Major Division with 13 year olds due to the competitiveness factor....and the 9 year old had his face smashed by a line drive from a 150 lb 13 year old....at least the 9 year old would know how to react:

1) Don't cry.

2) Wipe off the blood.

3) Tell the crowd what you learned from your teammates....."God-d@m, Mother -F'er, Son of a F-in Biotch."

Life would be so good in your little 12 year old world.

Kids get hurt in sports all the time. Mine had her face rearranged when she was ten. That's a story for another time, but today, she wears her braces like a badge of honor. You should see her smile! It sparkles! Literally!

And not once did I ever consider suing anybody because some bigger kid hit a ball really hard and my DD got hurt. In my little world we would call that 'pathetic'.

So let's see... it's okay for this kid to play below his skill level so he can rack up some practice innings pitching to girls in a developmental league?

Is that your coaching philosophy? Recruit the best players you can find and then go stomp on the easiest competition willing to play you? Did you send your kids to play rec ball so they could get in some valuable practice against kids nowhere near their skill level?

No, I don't think so. I'm pretty sure your kid played the highest level of travel ball against the toughest competition out there.

So how can you now advocate other people's kids playing down. A boy against girls, no less.

And thank you for your forgiveness. You're right, my kid isn't 16 or 15, or even 14. But she played with 15's last season, and maybe in my ignorance we just got lucky. Or maybe I wasn't quite so naive, but made a decision to put my trust in an experienced coach who proved himself worthy of that trust, and in a group of kids and families who may not have all been angels, but had enough respect and class to keep their personal lives personal.

I guess you're right - life really is pretty good in my little 12 year old world. (technically I live in a little 48 year old world, but it's 12 in giant leap years, and I'm sure that's what you meant )

In fact, I'm ready to concede you're right about everything. Let the kid pitch shutout after shutout against the little girls. Who gives a crap about their safety? Or his development? What's really important is that no older kids teach him to cuss, or talk about boobs around him.

"A Boy Named Sue in a Bubble."

Wouldn't life just be super awesome in his little 9 year old world!!