You make the call

Santheb · #1 08-10-2006, 07:45 PM

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/200...814/index.html

Quote:

You make the call
Is it good baseball strategy or a weak attempt to win?

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."

Romney's mom, Elaine, thinks Farr knew. "Romney's cancer was in the paper when he met with President Bush," she says. That was thanks to the Make-A-Wish people. "And [Farr] coached Romney in basketball. I tell all his coaches about his condition."

She has to. Because of his radiation treatments, Romney's body may not produce enough of a stress-responding hormone if he is seriously injured, so he has to quickly get a cortisone shot or it could be life-threatening. That's why he wears a helmet even in centerfield. Farr didn't notice?

The sports editor for the local Davis Clipper, Ben De Voe, ripped the Yankees' decision. "Hopefully these coaches enjoy the trophy on their mantle," De Voe wrote, "right next to their dunce caps."

Well, that turned Bountiful into Rancorful. The town was split -- with some people calling for De Voe's firing and describing Farr and Farley as "great men," while others called the coaches "pathetic human beings." They "should be tarred and feathered," one man wrote to De Voe. Blogs and letters pages howled. A state house candidate called it "shameful."

What the Yankees' coaches did was within the rules. But is it right to put winning over compassion? For that matter, does a kid who yearns to be treated like everybody else want compassion?

"What about the boy who is dyslexic -- should he get special treatment?" Blaine and Kris Smith wrote to the Clipper. "The boy who wears glasses -- should he never be struck out? ... NO! They should all play by the rules of the game."

The Yankees' coaches insisted that the Sox coach would've done the same thing. "Not only wouldn't I have," says Sox coach Keith Gulbransen, "I didn't. When their best hitter came up, I pitched to him. I especially wouldn't have done it to Romney."

Farr thinks the Sox coach is a hypocrite. He points out that all coaches put their worst fielder in rightfield and try to steal on the weakest catchers. "Isn't that strategy?" he asks. "Isn't that trying to win? Do we let the kid feel like he's a winner by having the whole league play easy on him? This isn't the Special Olympics. He's not retarded."

Me? I think what the Yanks did stinks. Strategy is fine against major leaguers, but not against a little kid with a tube in his head. Just good baseball strategy? This isn't the pros. This is: Everybody bats, one-hour games. That means it's about fun. Period.

What the Yankees' coaches did was make it about them, not the kids. It became their medal to pin on their pecs and show off at their barbecues. And if a fragile kid got stomped on the way, well, that's baseball. We see it all over the country -- the overcaffeinated coach who watches too much SportsCenter and needs to win far more than the kids, who will forget about it two Dove bars later.

By the way, the next morning, Romney woke up and decided to do something about what happened to him.

"I'm going to work on my batting," he told his dad. "Then maybe someday I'll be the one they walk."

csquared · #2 08-10-2006, 08:01 PM

I heard this on Dan Patrick the other day.My only question is "Why was this kid batting behind the best player." Being a little league coach of 11 years this kid wouldnt be behind my best player. Thats bad coaching. Yes it was a questionable move by walking the kid, but he had been killing them all game. I honestly say this is bad coaching on the Red Sox part. Every coach knows that you surrond your best player in the line up with atleast half way decent players. Also lets say they walked this kid too. Im sure his parents would have cried that they didnt give him a chance to win the game.I honestly feel this is just something to whine and cry about because they lost.

redskin_rich · #3 08-10-2006, 08:12 PM

Some of you may hate me for this but I say play to win, period. I'm so sick and tired of all the political correctness that goes on today. I have coached my daughters' soccer teams and it stinks that I have to give each kid equal playing time, even though some have never played and couldn't kick the ball if it landed on their foot. When I was a kid playing youth sports, we were broken up by talent levels first and then the best players played on the teams and the players that stunk sat on the bench.

This situation would have never arose if not for the babying of kids today.

csquared · #4 08-10-2006, 08:16 PM

Rich i couldnt agree more.I teach my kids to have fun BUT its more fun to win.

Santheb · #5 08-10-2006, 08:16 PM

The game is about fun man, thats why everybody hits, every inning..little league isn't all about winning, its about teaching sportsmanship. In my opinion at least. Yeah its nice to win, but thats what the upper levels are for (Babe Ruth, etc) where they actually play by, for the most part, big league rules.

redskin_rich · #6 08-10-2006, 08:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Santheb

The game is about fun man, thats why everybody hits, every inning..little league isn't all about winning, its about teaching sportsmanship. In my opinion at least. Yeah its nice to win, but thats what the upper levels are for (Babe Ruth, etc) where they actually play by, for the most part, big league rules.

It doesn't sound like the result of this game was very fun for the poor kid that survived cancer. Like I said, good players play and bad players sit and this never happens. Life ain't fair and that lesson should be learned when you're young. If you coddle everyone, it only makes them less able to deal later in life. I'm speaking generally here, btw, obviously this kid has already faced an incredible amount of hardship, more than any child should.

csquared · #7 08-10-2006, 08:31 PM

Farr thinks the Sox coach is a hypocrite. He points out that all coaches put their worst fielder in rightfield and try to steal on the weakest catchers. "Isn't that strategy?" he asks. "Isn't that trying to win? Do we let the kid feel like he's a winner by having the whole league play easy on him? This isn't the Special Olympics. He's not retarded."

This kid signed up to play baseball. And apparently this league kept standings because it was a championship game. So were the yankees supposed to just give up on the season because the kid was a cancer survivor? What does that teach the kids on the Yankees? "Sorry he had cancer so we are going to let them win. We are going to throw away your great season because he was sick" Not at all. Again why was he batting behind the best player? I also say had they walked him too somebody would have cried foul because they didnt give him a chance.Walking the best kid gave this little boy a chance to be a hero. Ok he struck out big deal.If im his parents or his coach i want him in a situation where he could be the hero.I pat him on the head and say "Get em next time good try." Its a wonderful thing that he survived cancer and now can play baseball.If he is my kid im proud that he is even out there.

Santheb · #8 08-10-2006, 08:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by redskin_rich

It doesn't sound like the result of this game was very fun for the poor kid that survived cancer. Like I said, good players play and bad players sit and this never happens. Life ain't fair and that lesson should be learned when you're young. If you coddle everyone, it only makes them less able to deal later in life. I'm speaking generally here, btw, obviously this kid has already faced an incredible amount of hardship, more than any child should.

I know, thats why, in my opinion, it was a ****head "move" to intentionally walk the best player (in a little league game, no less, an IBB in a little league game) and pitch to the kid that can barely swing.

I think this kid knows that life isn't fair more than a lot of people, heh. I dunno, I wouldn't have pitched to him.

However, the cancer kids manager is just as much at fault here as the ****head manager, there's no denying that.

csquared · #9 08-10-2006, 08:42 PM

But what if he would have hit a homerun? How good would he have felt? He had a chance to do something real special. Not alot of cancer survivors get a chance to do something like that. I guess what im saying is there really 2 ways to look at this. Its not as bad as everyone thinks.

whitskins · #10 08-10-2006, 08:45 PM

Wow, these kids are 9 and 10 years old, this isn't even a middle school aged contest. All kids this age should have a chance to compete, what point does it serve benching the weaker kids at this age? They've barely played the game at all, how does anyone know they won't develop into excellent players with some experience on the field and a chance to compete? 9 and 10 years old is way too young to start bredding these kids to win at all costs. Save that for when they'll actually remember the darn games.

And the Yanks coaches were not supposed to just let the other team win. Who says they would have lost the game if they pitched to the superstar? They still had every chance to win the game without picking on a freaking 10 year old cancer survivor.

This is a joke, these parents had their chance to win all the games they could in their youth, why intentionally try to take something away from a kid like that? If they want to win that badly then they should go coach teenagers or high schoolers. Third graders just trying to learn and experience the game don't need this crap.

csquared · #11 08-10-2006, 08:48 PM

Ok but i guess your missing the point Whit. The star players parents arent complaining.What did they take away from the cancer survivor?? They didnt take anything from him.They actually gave him the oppurtunity to be the star. Now obviously that wasnt the Yankees intention. But if the cancer survivor is my child im proud that he is out on that field.

BurgundyNGold · #12 08-10-2006, 08:49 PM

C'mon guys, this is Yankees vs. Red Sox. We've seen worse before and will see worse again.

CNYSkinFan · #13 08-10-2006, 08:49 PM

Quote:

By the way, the next morning, Romney woke up and decided to do something about what happened to him.

"I'm going to work on my batting," he told his dad. "Then maybe someday I'll be the one they walk."

And that my friends is WHY you play sports. You learn life lessons from it. This kid had a bad day...a real bad day. And now he is picking himself up by the bootstrap and getting stronger. There is another victime here, the kid who struck out the cancer patient. This kid is the bad guy now and it is not his fault. If I was that kid I would have wanted to strike out the best guy, not the worst guy. At least then if I failed I failed against the best.

redskin_rich · #14 08-10-2006, 08:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by whitskins

Wow, these kids are 9 and 10 years old, this isn't even a middle school aged contest. All kids this age should have a chance to compete, what point does it serve benching the weaker kids at this age? They've barely played the game at all, how does anyone know they won't develop into excellent players with some experience on the field and a chance to compete? 9 and 10 years old is way too young to start bredding these kids to win at all costs. Save that for when they'll actually remember the darn games.

And the Yanks coaches were not supposed to just let the other team win. Who says they would have lost the game if they pitched to the superstar? They still had every chance to win the game without picking on a freaking 10 year old cancer survivor.

This is a joke, these parents had their chance to win all the games they could in their youth, why intentionally try to take something away from a kid like that? If they want to win that badly then they should go coach teenagers or high schoolers. Third graders just trying to learn and experience the game don't need this crap.

Whit, my oldest daughter is 9 and she has already played 8 seasons of soccer (2 per year). She is now out of the "house" league and on a traveling team coached by pros. These 9-10 year olds are incredible, you wouldn't believe the skills they have. Competition starts early my friend, fun belongs at the playground, not in organized sports past the entry ages.

csquared · #15 08-10-2006, 08:58 PM

Whit i also was playing 16 and under baseball at 10. I have a 10 year old brother that plays on a traveling squad. Not sure how the sports were where you grew up or where you are but these probably arent kids who got their first glove 3 months ago. Im sure alot of these kids have been playing for a while.