TPM, yes on the team we chose to play for pitchers only did play less as well. It was fair and nobody complained because the type of people who chose to play in this organization for this excellent coach/man all bought into the concept of team and the fact that our boys were going to learn positive life lessons as well as improve their baseball skills. This coach told all the boys and the parents that in fact we will lose games because I am not going to sub out a player to win a game because I owe all the players the opportunity to succeed or fail on the field so that they too can improve for being in those important situations. He then invited anyone who wasn't going to be okay with that to leave.
This team did not get equal amounts of play time or anything like that but the coach told every parent and kid prior to taking their money what his commitment to them was and he honored it. If you out performed the guy ahead of you, you became the starter and competition reigned on this team but the concept of team was most significant. He also told the parents if they thought their kid should play all the time to find another team. Part of what he taught is how to be a team mate and that teams are strong when everyone is prepared as you never know when someone will be out with an injury/sick and on a team nobody is irreplaceable. He did not however bring in guys from outside to take play time on the team. If someone wasn't up to it, he counseled them out for the next year but he lived up to his commitment to every kid and family that dedicated themselves to the team.
It's just not that hard to run something fairly and provide the service for which people are paying you. Yes, people are paying for a service....coaching, games, tournaments etc. The way ringers seem to work in my neck of the woods is that they show up, play most of the time and don't pay. That's just how the teams I have been exposed to use them. Could be different in other places but that is what I am directing my comments to.
If you play in a good organization, there are plenty of guys who attract coaches/scouts and you don't need a "ringer" to draw them to your game, you draw them yourselves. As I said, like 80% of the team went off to play D1 ball but I attribute that to not only talent but great coaching and plenty of opportunity to succeed and improve over the years.
Golfman, we are on the same page here.