We just finished league play recently for our high school teams and I could not pass up the opportunity to get this off my chest. Aprroxiametely two weeks earlier we faced a club that was leading our division at that point and in the last inning the game really turned ugly when the ace of their staff came on to close the game against us. I had a conflict of interest and allowed my asistant coach to run our club that night(I allways miss the fireworks or so it seems). It all started with an exchange of words, I was told, between that pitcher and my third baseman. Apparently the young man who is listed as a senior for them made a rather rude comment about my 3rd baggers mother and the dugout had to restrain my player from going after him. We lost the game that night and afterwards lined up to shake hands and the opponents player was not finished with the verbal barrage against my player and I was told that three of my players had to tackle my 3rd sacker to keep him from doing something that we would all regret. I receive a call from the director the following morning to inform me that the problems were escalating it appeared that the sister of one of their players had driven over to find my player. She found him at lunch time and then cut him and his passengers off in traffic and continued with the verbal assault. The recount of the story said that my player kept his mouth shut and backed up and went around without further incident.
We had a game scheduled that night and I had a team meeting with the early arrivers of the squad and informed them that any retaliation would result in that games suspension and any additional continuance would result in being removed from the team. The only problem was the young man I needed to reach the most was not yet there. I looked up and out towards the parking area and saw my third baseman just entering the runway, this was compounded by the fact that I also see the opposing pitcher from the night before and his parents walking towards the parking area on the same path. I told the squad to stay put and I took off for the potential confrontation. I did not make it in time to hear what was said but I saw my 3rd baseman go livid but he retained a modicum of composure and give a wide berth and did not appear to say a thing. I asked him what had happened and he told me that the mother looked at him and said ,"What are you looking at ******?" I could not prove anything by restraining the other three so I let it go and we went on to play and we won the game that night. I figured that the night had ended on a positive note until we all went out to the parking area together only to see a police car in the lot because someone had broken out a window of my third basemans, best friends car. Needless to say security became a high priority for the rest of the season.
Now for the best of the story. We had finished playing for third place and winning that, not bad for a club that started 1-9 with 5 freshmen and 4 sophomores on the roster. I decided to stay and watch the championship game which involved the team that we had the earlier altercation with. They were trailing 2-0 in the seventh when of all the people there the mother of that opposing pitcher came over to me and asked if it were legal for their opponents runners at third base to be in foul territory. After my initial shock I told her that we all teach our runners at third to stand on foul ground to avoid being hit by a fair ball and being called out for being hit by a batted ball in fair territory. She did not agree with that, not that I expected her to. All that I could remember thinking was, 'NOW SHE WANTS MY OPINION?"
As the game progressed into the bottom of the ninth with them trailing 3-0 and 2 outs and the batter with a 1-2 count these same parents completely lost it and the game was interrupted for 15 minutes until 5 of those family members were removed from the grounds. After order was restored it took two more pitches to end the game