Have we gone too far?

Tony Altobelli

Another year has come and gone in the world of youth baseball and once

again I sit here with mixed emotions.

Last year, I ended my youth baseball with a goofy, tongue-and-cheek

piece about giving parents a pledge instead of the players.

This ain’t funny anymore.

Growing up playing in the old Harbor Area Baseball era, seeing the

pro-style uniforms, the pro-looking stadiums, the announcers, the

five-star snack bars and All-Star teams perhaps made me a little jealous.

But, with all these vast improvements in the outer skin of the game, I

have to ask this question: Is the game still just as fun for the

youngsters playing?

Well, from what I’ve been seeing, the answer is a resounding no. From

age 7, when I started actually playing until after high school, I can

remember seeing a small handful of kids lose control of their emotions

after a bad play or a tough loss or whatever the reason.

I saw more than that in any given week of covering youth baseball

around this area.

It seems like every game is a life-or-death battle for the parents who

are watching their kids play.

I watch a shortstop look at the coach for instructions on where to

play, then look right at dear old Dad, whose waving in the other

direction.

Youngsters dropping baseballs and bursting into tears, coaches

screaming like Bobby Knight to players on defense, thrown bats, thrown

helmets, thrown tantrums from players, coaches and people in the stands.

How do we fix this?

Like I said, all the cosmetic stuff looks great, but is anyone having

fun out there?

I’ve been talking to some of the area high school coaches to get their

insights on what to do and it would take the entire paper to go through

all of them, so I’ll throw mine in and dig deeper into this topic later.

First, the parents: RELAX! When at a game, ease up on the non-stop

communication with your youngster. My Dad didn’t say a word to me while I

was playing because he wanted me to just have fun out there. If I made an

error or struck out or hit a grand-slam home run, it was the same. Then,

after the game, he would tell me what I did right or wrong and I took

that into my next game.

Next, the coaches: RELAX! Coaches are over-coaching at every level,

throwing way too much information into a young player’s mind. Teach the

players the basic fundamentals first. Teach them about good sportsmanship

next. Allow them to screw up on the field without ripping their head off.

Remember, these kids are going to someday coach your kids. You are the

example they’ll follow.

Finally, the players: RELAX! The world is not going to end if you

strikeout or if you give up a ton of runs as a pitcher. Babe Ruth holds

the Major League record in strikeouts and legendary hurler Cy Young holds

the record for the most losses. They turned out all right, huh?