@RJM posted:If a player is losing out to favoritism work harder to get better. The best players don’t get screwed for long. Average players sometimes get screwed. Or their parents don’t see what the coach sees and believes their kid is better than others when he’s not. The reality is a player doesn’t get better because he gets one more at bat in a game. A player gets better because he takes hours of batting practice away from the team.
I agree with that. Sometimes a coach is really biased but usually favoritism is the 10th best kid playing over the 8th best kid and not the 18th best kid playing while the 3rd best kid sits on the bench.
At higher levels a coach simply can't afford to sit real studs because his job hinges on winning games and unless the competition is terrible you dont win if you sit studs on the bench. In 9u little league that might be different of course.
And even with those small favoritisms were the coach plays the 10th best hitter and sits the 8th best there might be a reason for this. Maybe he is sleeping with his mother but maybe also the 8th best kid is a PITA to deal with and the marginal upgrade over the 10th best isn't worth the stress.