Being a parent in the stands in college baseball

quote:

shortstopmom .... Perhaps,...I'll also keep an extra pair of boxing gloves attached to the back of my chair which will hang just underneath our Name on the back of my jersey! ....

Freshman Parents ... I'd suggest rethinking the son's jersey wearing at the college level! I agree with everyone, watching your son play beyond HS is priceless and opportunities to be boo'd are a very good thing! But the environment is quite different and a heads-up to parents can be helpful. Thx JBB

The one heckler I remember best was "megaphone man" outside the RF fence on the hill at University of Georgia. He was merciless on our right fielder. Our regular right fielder was Sean Gamble son of former MLB player Oscar Gamble. Megaphone man had done his homework and had printed a poster of Oscar when he had the big “afro”. The only problem was the coach switched the right fielder with the left fielder. The megaphone man looked foolish holding up a picture of a black man and heckling a white player with his megaphone.

PG, So true.
The EH family has no problem's, We are truely blessed.
I feel for the Men and Women that are away from there Family's and my heart goes out to them.

Nothing that has happened in our life, That can compare to what has happened in there's?

Nothing can Compare to what they must be going through.
And they do it without one bit of complaint??

So when I'm up in the Stand's are In the Outfield Bleacher's
with my headphone's on and a Smile on my face you'll Know why, I have no Complaint's.
EH

As I read some of the posts here, its interesting how the written word can sometimes be misunderstood.

I started this thread NEVER intending to feel sorry for myself or any other college parent or player. I only started it to ?possibly? help a few freshman parents know what was coming...and to try and laugh with it.

I've enjoyed many of the stories here.

If anyone here has a RFer or CFer son who will play at Texas this year, your son is in for a major earful. Have fun with it!

Fun, ain't it?

quote:

Originally posted by PGStaff:

quote:

Sorry to throw a wet towell on this post but everyone on here is blessed. Get a grip and realize that this country has got kids the same age as ours dying every day in Iraq and Afganistan. Their parents would love for them to have the opportunity to stand on a mound and get booed.

Crawdad,

Personally, I’ve had much bigger problems than 50,000 people booing my son. Didn’t even say it was a problem, it just happened! He probably felt a little better about it on payday!

The only reason people are bringing up these stories is because that was the topic! “Justbaseball” asked for other experiences. No one here has said their kid was unlucky. Actually I think most here understand how fortunate their baseball playing son's are.

I can’t think of any group that is more supportive about our troops than those people right here on this site! BTW, when my oldest son was fishing body parts out of the ocean a few years back (He is a career Navy man) that was much tougher than 50,000 fans booing my youngest son at a baseball game. One got over it immediately, the other still has night mares!

The troops are one subject and a good one! Baseball fans are another subject!

I would love it if parents all had the "opportunity" to experience 50,000 people who "temporararily hate" their sons guts, but I'd much prefer them to experience the "cheers" of 50,000 people! It's all part of the GAME!

What's going on in Iraq is not any GAME! Anyone who would boo those men and women deserves a one way ticket to Iraq!

Thank you PG for the post. I also do beleive that some of our baseball parents are huge supporters of our troops, whether we agree with the situation or not.

JBB brought the topic up just to let freshman parents know about what's ahead, I think a great topic. After what he has been through this past summer, he can bring up whatever topic he wants as far as I am concerned. It was very difficult for me to watch my son play at the cape this summer while I knew what was happening with JBB's son.

So crawdad, your post is way out of line. JMO.

Sometimes there is a time and place for such comments. This topic was not the time.

JMO.

When I was much younger I was sent to Gastonia for a week long school for my work. Right across the street from the Motel was a minor league park for the Single A Gastonia Rangers. Man how lucky can you get. As luck would have it the night we got down there they were starting a home series. Of course I got a couple of buddies in the school and we head off for the game. The crowd was small and very quiet. One of my friends started to get bored and I said "Do you want me to spice this thing up for you"? Of course he said yes. Well the next inning there was a close play at first and the home teams runner was called out on a bang bang play. The first base coach just walked back to the dug out. Well we were sitting right behind the dug out. I look right at the coach and say "No wonder your guys play with no heart, because you stand there and let that happen and just walk away". He looks at me and seems stunned that someone acted like they actually cared. Then I say "Yeah just walk back to the dug out and have a seat your just collecting your check anyway just like your players". The coach is red faced and some of the players come out of the dug out and look at me and start laughing. Now its on. And it doesnt let up. In the fourth or fifth inning there is another close call at first base. But it is obvious the guy is out. The first base coach goes off on the umpire and gets tossed. I mean he goes off. Then I say as he is walking to the dugout to leave the park "Its about time you did something tonight maybe now your guys will show some grit". The players are now going crazy and hooping it up. The small crowd is going crazy and having a ball. Now I see this guy walking towards us in a shirt with the teams logo on it. I figure Im about to see the exit. He walks over with a hand full of tickets and says "You guys are not from around here are you"? Of course we say no were not. He then gives us tickets for the whole week and says please come back this week the players told us they love the way you are into the game and so do the fans. Well that whole week we were right there for every game. Heckling the other team the rest of the week and having a ball doing it. The coach ends up coming up to me before the second game that week and gives us a free pass to the concession stand. He said it was fun to have people at the game that fired up his team and got things stirred up. I now talk to him at least three or four times a year and we have become good friends. Sorry for the long post but sometimes hecklers can be fun and can spice up a game. Only when its not your kid getting heckled.

Last year's Senior Day at GSU was a weekend against William & Mary, and was particularly well-attended by our Hecklers. Apparently, all other teams had been kind to W & M, as the parents didn't take the heckling at all well ---- and the heckling was mild by college baseball standards.

The few W & M parents who then commenced to yell about the hecklers' 'yelling' and attempt to heckle said hecklers succeeded in making themselves look exceedingly juvenile and worse, what they chose to call out showed how little they knew about the game. (How can your son get to that level without a nodding acquaintance with rules and plays???) Apparently their aggravation addled their brains. Yet more reason to keep your mouth shut when your son/son's team is being heckled. It's part of the game. To paraphrase Reggie, They Don't Heckle Nobodies.


Great story, Coach May!



Amen to PG & TPM regarding crawdad's post. When I first read it, I immedietly hit the exit button in aggravation. This thread is baseball parents having a bit of fun about baseball, anticipating the upcoming season, with a bit of warning to the freshman parents on the off-chance they've not been to a college game. No comparison of the situation of our athletic sons with the troops in any foreign country (or, for that matter, any sons who are terminally ill, paralyzed, mentally impaired, or in any way oppressed) is intended or implied. To suggest such is way the hell off-topic and inappropriate.

I find it interesting to note that while mostly out of earshot, there is considerable chatter on the field, as well as in the stands....so I'm told.

I'm usually to busy yelling at the other team to notice.

Hecklers are part of the game ----we have to to live with it and most of the kids on the field do not even hear them

TR - I agree they don't hear them when the game is on. But they hear them before the game or when they're not in the game and everything I've ever heard from players is how much they love it!

TPM, Orlando.
I don't think crawdad was trying to put a damper on this post.
I think he was just saying how blessed we are, and that being booed at a game is the least of are kid's problem's.
It's hard to read emotion's in a post.
And I read in crawdad's post a true emotion for are troop's in harm's way.
So yes this is a lighthearted post on incoming freshman being heckled.
Sometime's a dose of reality put's thing's in perspective??
EH

OK, I am back.

First of all, I rarely post outside of the Texas forum. But when I saw the title of the thread "Being a parent in the stands in college baseball" it caught my interest. When I started reading the first few posts I could not believe what this thread was about - Heckling and how it hurt the parents feelings in the stands.

OK, maybe I over-reacted, but with all that is going on the world today with our young people in the war in Iraq it just hit me as being very shallow to be upset about insults being hurled at our kids from the stands.

I will admit that I am sensitive about this - the son that I have playing D-1 college football is playing football at Army (West Point)- when he is done playing football at West Point he stands a good chance of being sent to Iraq or wherever it is that is the "hot spot" at that time.

I have played alot of baseball in my life, coached alot of baseball and had sons in baseball for 20+ years. I have honestly never given a thought about "heckling" either as a player, coach, or parent. Maybe I am just not sensitive or touchy feely enough to care. Maybe I have more important things to worry about.

Anyway, this just seemed like a strange and self-absorbing topic to me and I just went off about it. After reading everyone's response to mine I have to say that I would not change a word that I posted.

In any event, I will get back to the Texas forum and leave the intellectual and philosophical topics alone from now on. I have to admit that these types of discussions are not my strong point.

Good luck enduring the heckles this spring.

Hecklers are hecklers for a variety of reasons:

1) They arent good enough to be out on the field.
2) They are too old to be out on the field.
3) They dont have the guts to be out on the field.

Regardless of the reason - they are just scenery that occasionally makes loud noises.

Never really paid much mind to those that are not IN THE GAME.

ITS,

quote:

they are just scenery that occasionally makes loud noises.

Now that's funny.

Sorry, crawdad, I was almost with you until you made a vague insinuation that we here on this thread are "shallow, intellectual-philosophical" types with nothing better to do. Gotta call you on this one.

If my son is on the mound and people are heckling him I'd be touch-feely as all git up. These are our sons! Of course, one can do nothing in that situation, and it doesn't mean we're going to fall apart or go wacko..just get a little P*****.. but what is wrong with that? Emotions are human! What, you're a robot who is immune to it? I doubt it!

I mean, isn't that what YOU yourself exhibited in your post? Don't be a hippocrite, sir!

God bless your son's service, though. Tell him to come home safe.

I wouldn't say I'm shallow when I get upset at someone who's bad-mouthing my son. I'd call it loving, protective, caring, compassionate, and loyal!

I like Its 1, 2, & 3, reasons. Never really thought of it that way. Perhaps if I keep those points in mind, it wont be necessary to bring the ol' boxing gloves to the field. What would be the point?

Sorry RHP05parent,... I can give on the gloves,..but if son gets the opportunity to play on on a college field, hecklers or no hecklers, you can bet I'll be wearing my son'name & number.
A mom can only bend soo far! ha!

My son was pitching on the road this year. He told me he never hears anyone yelling from the stands. I was on the phone with him one night after he pitched in a game. He told me he had to stop and take a breath to keep from laughing at what a fan yelled at him.

When he was in high school, we attended college games all around Southern California and learned to appreciate the cleverness of the best hecklers. Some of them are annoying after a while but you can't take it personal when it's your kid out there. They do it to everybody.

Take it for what it is and put your earphones on if you can't handle it. Some of them are really funny even if they are directing it toward you.

The hardest thing to hear last year (Freshman year) was not the heckling. The heckling reminds me of the Don Rickles comic act. If you ever went to his show in Las Vegas and was near the stage, he probably would insult the heck out of you. He didn’t know you, but it was funny to the people that heard him. The hard to take comments were made by fans on how good (or bad) my son was pitching. I knew that the fans were just describing what they saw compared to what they wanted to happen. Since I have seen my son pitch forever and knew he was better then how he was pitching, the truth still hurt.

My recommendation to the parents that will be new to fan free flowing comments is to determine in your mind if the comments are true or not. If they are not true or accurate, be satisfied with how your son is really doing. If they are accurate, then bite the bullet and your tongue. After the first game my wife and I heard accurate criticism of our son's pitching, on the way home she said, "Now we know how our son felt when for years we shared with him areas that we saw that were not his best during a game."

How important is this in the scope of everything that goes on in the world - not very. How important is knowing what to expect and how to handle comments or heckling and - real important if you never experienced it before

I retired from the Air Force in 1995. I flew in Desert Storm fifty or so times. One time a scud landed with in a couple football fields away from our aircraft. These were important issues to me at the time. My prayers are with the current brethren that are in harms way today. However, my wife, daughters, and son that sit in the stands and may hear things said about my son is a concern today.

A funny note: My wife sits in the same area every game. We have two six year old girls that come and go all game long playing with the other kids at the game. One time my son was pitching and the batter hit a HR. The man behind my wife and twins said something like, "Come on pitcher, don't serve up meat balls to all the batters." One of the twins turned to the man and said with a true smile on her face, "The pitcher is my brother. Isn't my brother a good pitcher?" The man, looked like he was embarrassed and stuttered a couple of times and said, "your brother is a fine pitcher."

crawdad - I am TRULY sorry that this thread has offended you so much. It was never intended in the way you have taken it. I can assure you I do not feel sorry for myself nor my son in the presence of any of the incidents discussed here. I find them funny.

Please know that my family prays for our nation's finest, serving wherever they may be in the world. They are our heros, there is absolutely no doubt about that.

Please thank your son for his service. Our entire family is sincerely grateful!

Crawdad,

I think you need to lighten up a little. I'm a disabled vet, so I'm speaking from experience. I feel for all the troops overseas as well, but please don't rain on our parade when we are having a fun discussion about a pretty funny subject.

Best of luck to your son, but please remember, he CHOSE to attend West Point and was well aware a war was going on. I would bet if you asked him, he is looking forward to deployment to Iraq so he can finally put his training to use.

Crawdad,

The point is… Everyone (I hope) who posts here cares very much about our troops. We can’t possibly support them too much. I don’t know how many times I’ve stated there are many much more important things than baseball. One of those things is WAR! I admire those who serve our country, they are all heros in my book. You should be extremely honored and proud to have a son at West Point. There is no doubt, that is a much bigger deal than being “heckled” at a ball game. Our Troops (our children) is an important topic.

However, this topic is about something else! Truth is… We could take every thread on this message board and argue they are all insignificant compared to what goes on in Iraq. But then again this is a baseball website! Be it heckling, recruiting, pitch counts, scouting, or any number of baseball related topics… that is what draws the crowd here!

If we compare everything to the troops in Iraq, nothing here is very important! Furthermore, Most every post here was no more than relating an experience. I really didn’t see the sensitivity or “touchy feely” things brought up that you mentioned.

Best of luck to your son, he has this posters total respect!

True story...
I was reading this thread yesterday and my 13-year-old came up behind me, reading over my shoulder.
He said, "I get tired of people turning everything into a war discussion."

We all recognize the importance of the topic, but why does baseball have to turn into war?

Personally, I come here to enjoy the baseball atmosphere. This doesn't mean I'm insensitive to the war and the plight of our troops. There's a time and a place for everything. Even my young son wonders at the reason for changing this discussion to such a different topic.

PGStaff,


As a veteran I would like to believe no one is "dissing" the troops. Like others, I applaud and pray for them daily. My signature line lets you know how I feel. That said, life goes on.

As for the heckling, what doesn't kill you should make you stronger. My son was heckled constantly every time he took the mound. Northwestern players were letting him have it about not having his 142 MPH Sidd Finch pitch. Apparently they did their homework on him, lol. He laughed and beat them. It happens everywhere and we as parents need to realize that our kids handle it a lot better than we do.

Parents of players come to support their sons and team and all others come to enjoy an event. Parents you need not defend your sons against those that attack from outside the lines just as you do not hit or pitch or field for them inside the lines. Relax and soak it all up the good and the bad as it is the flavor of sports. The young man on the field look forward to the energy that is a crowd so that they may perform in a manner that brings the crowd to their feet, however as we all know, there are many more occasions when their play will cause consternation to those wanting perfection. The more the merrier, for the larger the audience the more thrilling the experience for the player to hopefully deliver the play that all embrace as spectacular. Not one player ever wants to arrive at an empty facility, so think of all in attendance whether fan or foe as motivation for your sons efforts.
If that doesn't help you could copy my wife who has executed on a couple occsions a very clumsy balance of concession stand drinks into the laps of the cruel commentators, with ever the sincerest apologies.

quote:

If that doesn't help you could copy my wife who has executed on a couple occsions a very clumsy balance of concession stand drinks into the laps of the cruel commentators, with ever the sincerest apologies.

That's hilarious I mean funny!

I doubt that even if the players could/would hear the hecklers in the stands that it would bother them. Why, because I'll bet that they are good hecklers themselves. The crowd cannot hear a college dugout very well, but that's where the real action is.

PCX, I am going to have to remember that one. That is great.

pcx
I liked your post. I will remenber to relax and enjoy all aspects of the game..and if that doesnt work Ill think of your wife

Interesting thoughts in this thread.

I think that lots of chatter in the stands as it pertains to our sons should be ignored or taken with a grain of salt. This can include not getting too caught up in the atta boys either imho. If we are not to take seriously those who heckle as many have suggested here, why should we take seriously those same people if they have something positive to say?

I believe if one gets caught up in the hype when things are going well, that parent might just be the type of person that may over react when something negative is said.

I think:

1) Heckling received on the road may be a good thing and just may indicate a certain amount of respect from the other team's fans. Sort of an honest evaluation of your son in a strange sense.

2) Heckling by the home town fans needs to be taken care of by performance and not by worrying about it or letting it get to your head. Go out and play and let the chips fall where they may. There is a reason that the rhyme Sticks and Stones is still taught to our children to this very day.

3) Be wary of the back slappers because they are often the one's who will turn on you when the chips are down. In short, the people whose opinion should matter (positive or negative) of your son are his coaches, teammates, and his family imho.

JBB--THANK YOU!! for starting this thread. I am pretty thin-skinned, and getting everyone else's perspectives is really helpful.

The players do for the most part enjoy the heckling. I remember a summer league game when one heckler was so obnoxious that eventually the team's manager got the other team's manager to get the heckler to leave. S didn't understand, said the guy was fine (he was driving me nuts) and that was just part of baseball.

JBB--remember the hecklers at the game in Tucson? I heard the players said the ONLY thing that really hurt was when the hecklers made a comment about how they (the players) had to go back to Stanford while they (the hecklers) got to stay with the hot girls in Tucson.....

Hokieone---you should tell the story about the girl who complained when you (as the sound guy) played, "So you had a bad day"....when her boyfriend was coming off the mound....I still laugh when I think about it.

Gee, I never thought of myself as a technological heckler, but if the shoe fits, as my good friend Bordeaux suggests, my offerings for musical clips at "appropriate moments":

Pitcher being removed:

"Hit the Road Jack"
"Bad Day"
"Give Me just a Little More Time"
"Wild Thing"
"Help!"
"Theme from Jaws"

Pitcher walking batters:

"Walk This Way"
"Walk Like A Man"
"These Boots Were Made For Walking"
"Wild Thing"
"Walking In Sunshine"

Opposing coach arguing with umps:

clip from "League of Their Own", "There's no crying in baseball" (this on is the best of all)
"What the World Needs Now (Is Love Sweet Love)"
"We can Work it Out"
"Hello, Good Bye"
"Out of my Head Over You"

You were just WAITING for a chance to do this

My son told me that the best of the best hecklers were at Texas A&M when he played there as a Frosh. He said that they had studied all the UCLA players Bios and knew them real well.
They hammered on him for three days and he thought it was great as they did not swear, but just needled him as much as they could. He said that in the last game, he could hear a guy just getting all over him in the batters box and then he hit a 12 hopper for a single. When he reached first, the guy yelled "McMillan, you are a crummy hitter and your Dad is a lousy scout too". He said he started laughing and so did many of his teamates.

A heckling/chanting story - hope it doesnt sound obnoxious - but what the hell.

2003 NY State HS sectional quarterfinals at Goshen HS in Upstate NY.

The opposing fans were ready. And there were alot of them for a HS game.

Opposing fans caught on to the derisive "Darrrrrrryl" chant - the one the anti-Mets fans used to use against Daryl Strawberry.

My eldest's name is Darin.
1st at bat - The chant starts - "Darin Darin Darin" - blah blah blah. Nonstop.

4th pitch - he hit it onto the roof of the high school - left centerfield.

That was the end of that chant.

LOL

My favorite...
...reserved for home plate umpires:
How about turning the plate over and reading the directions!

quote:

My favorite...
...reserved for home plate umpires:
How about turning the plate over and reading the directions!

JBB--please pass that along to Mrs. JBB--can't wait to hear her say it (I'm too shy)

quote:

Originally posted by JT:
My favorite...
...reserved for home plate umpires:
How about turning the plate over and reading the directions!

Not to get all of our umpires upset with us but what the heck....I copied these from a web page last year( there are plenty more)...probably got the link off of someones post...I've never used them but they are fun to read.

(Hold up cell phone) Hey Ump, is this your cell phone? Because it has three missed calls!

Hey Ump, You're not gonna sleep a minute tonight because you've slept all game!

Hey Ump, how can you sleep with all these lights on

If you're just gonna watch the game, buy a ticket

I was confused the first time I saw a game too

Can I buy you another beer?

One I used against an umpire:

I've seen better blues in the toidy bowl.

usually gets a laugh, even out of the ump!

Remember, you as a parent, can start the heckles!
I remember one time a boy was struggling on the mound and his mom kept up, with each pitch, "come on, Tom" "you can do it, Tom" "there you go, Tom" etc. Not long, alot of the opposing students began "Tom, Tom, Tom, Tomtom, tom Tom tommy boy" until he was pulled.

So far, my youngest has only gotten it by a large crowd once. HE LOVED IT!