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COMMENTS FROM THE STANDS

T Tfusa20100+ posts
While sitting in the stands last week during a JV contest prior to the Varsity game, I heard a combination of baseball ignorance and what I consider verbal abuse by a parent.

The first comments I heard were the funny comments that your often hear from the un-educated baseball parent. They were funny and those of us who know the game kind of chuckled.

Then when the first baseman failed to cover first for the third out on a ball hit back to the pitcher - he thought the pitcher was going to take it and touch the bag. A gentleman from the stands, apparently his father, blasted him stating how stupid he was and that he aught to be ashamed of himself. This parent was so loud you could hear it all over the ball park. He went on to say...you wait till we get home...you will come ready to play the next time. His wife asked him to be quiet and he said...aint no son of mine gonna embarass me and look stupid out there.

There were a few other things said..but you all get the point. I wanted to turn to this guy and tell him to shut up. I did not as I felt like it was not my place and there could have been a scene. NO ONE spoke up...NO ONE said anything. I felt bad later that I did not say something. This guy for the next 15 minutes chastised his son verbally.

It is a shame that there are parents out there that abuse their kids in this manner. I just wanted to get this off my chest and share with everyone and ask this question....Would you have said something? and What would you have said? and How would you have said it?
---------------------------- "The price of victory is high, but so are the rewards!" - PAUL BEAR BRYANT
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W Will1,000+ posts
I have often commented about the relationship between parents and coaches but this is in a whole different league. Obviously this parent is a jerk. I believe the relationship between a father and a son is special. If they have the common bond of baseball it is even more special. A kid does not need hid dad when he goes 3 for 4 with a couple of RBI or pitches a complete game shutout. He needs him to be encouraging when he does not do well. Chastizing your son for poor play on the way home after a game is bad but doing it from the stands is totally out of place.
InfieldMomInfieldMom10+ posts
How sad for a father to humiliate his son. I haven't witnessed a parent acting that bad, but cringe when I hear some parents comments.
I have seen coaches act almost as bad toward their players on the field.
When my oldest son was a freshman we were playing in a three-way. The other team did not have the talent to compete, but they were giving it their best. The coach constantly was yelling at his pitcher. The poor kid got to the point that he was checking the dugout before every pitch. We moms couldn't stand it any longer so we began to yell at their coach to calm down and cheer for the other team's pitcher.
Whenever I hear parents criticizing a son's play I try to counter with words of encouragement toward the team and player. That father needs to realize that his son didn't step out on that field to see how "bad" he could play.
L littleman10+ posts
We have a dad on our team, sounds exactly like this. In a game he said something similar about his son, very loud verbal abuse is what I call it. I did turn to him, because he was sitting behind me, I stood up and said......If you can not yell something encouraging and positive to your son and his team you need to not say anything, and if you can not sat at a game and not say anything, since you never say anything positive, than you should sat in the car or go home and listen to it on the radio! That was two games ago. He has not yelled and he does not set close to me.
B BeenthereILHSBBWeb Old Timer
It took me until my sons were about 12 when I figured out that they could not make the plays that the pros routinely make.

Had a father like that at a playoff game where the crowd usually expands from about 20 hardy souls to a couple of hundred.

When I chided him with "Gees, be nice" the first time, he didn't stop. When he did it a second time. I stood up. Told him that we were all leaving. And, we all (about 50 people) went and sat in the other set of stands.

He sat there alone, like the mope that he was!
Last edited by BeenthereIL
W whattodomom10+ posts
In a little league game once the opposing coach had his son pitching, they were currently in first place and we were last place. Our first six batters got hits off him in the top of the first. By the time the sixth batter got up the kid was pitching with tears running down his his face. The Dad was so loud and critical the assistant coach finally walked the kid off the mound and to the parking lot with the coach yelling all the way. None of us said anything and my son still mentions it once in a while. I didn't know the family or the team and I still feel bad that we didn't say anything! He was probably 10.
BK'sMOMBK'sMOM1,000+ posts
hmmm..since I write a column...and have power of the pen...I would have walked up to the dad and said, "Thank you for giving me a subject for my next piece. It's called, "How not to act at a ball game"....

Ok...so that's easier said than done...but I liked BeenthereIl's move...everyone going somewhere else... Smile
B Braves10+ posts
quote:
Originally posted by Texas2004:but I liked BeenthereIl's move...everyone going somewhere else... Smile


I like that too...that would have been a great sight to see.

I have witnessed bad behavior as everyone has, but When witnessing a parent embarrassing a son..that's tough to keep quiet about. The one time I did was after the game (we had won) and asked the father if he really thought he was helping his son and the team? He spoke in circles trying to justify his intentions...after tiring out, he concluded, " Yeah, I guess I wasn't"...never did again the rest of the year.

Although these "jerks" are found everywhere, I find the parent that "poisons" the son with "how come you aren't playing in front of fill in the blank" can be equally distracting.
F FormerObserver1,000+ posts
..was fortunate enough to hear my voice on video tape when my boys were very young. Could have been me still there.

I shuddered when I saw a junior pitchers dad almost do the same thing just the other night.

I'll explain to it to him later when nobody is around..............

Sort of like not showing up at practice everyday. Sooner or later you've got to let them be themselves.

Comes sooner for some than others....................

And don't start it. I don't care whether you go to practice or not. Whether its your God given right or not.

Sooner or later you have to let them be themselves....
BK'sMOMBK'sMOM1,000+ posts
formerobserver...Hey, there's a thought...

Upon entering the ball park, each parent signs a waiver...agreeing to be monitored with a microphone....to be played for their son's later that night...

Makes you wonder how many of our boys would be proud to call us mom or dad...???

No player walks onto a ball field with the idea of failing...or falling short...

they are indeed human after all...
D denise100+ posts
I guess we all have had the unfortunate experience of being around this type of person. Heres my story. Last week at a JV game a freshmen struck out looking. This boys father made the biggest scene I have ever witnessed. He was yelling so loud the team in the other dugout and the parents in the other stands were all looking. It was horrible. He called the boy stupid, worthless and a disgrace. I was so upset for this kid. I do not know this family very well, my son is a sr. and I don't many of the younger kids parents.I do know that this man is rarely at the games, I was told by another Mom that he works out of town. This Mom's son has played with the boy before and she told me he always plays bad when his Dad is there. I wonder why?
Bighit15Bighit155,000+ posts
quote:
Sort of like not showing up at practice everyday. Sooner or later you've got to let them be themselves.

Comes sooner for some than others....................

And don't start it. I don't care whether you go to practice or not. Whether its your God given right or not.

Sooner or later you have to let them be themselves....

What an agent provacatuer! lol

That would be like me saying "aw shut up, I'll yell at my kid any way I want to! I didn't want to sit next to you smelly people anyway1!"

biglaugh
F FormerObserver1,000+ posts
....comes sooner for some than others, but it will come....


provocative, I know.

quote:
This boys father made the biggest scene I have ever witnessed. He was yelling so loud the team in the other dugout and the parents in the other stands were all looking. It was horrible. He called the boy stupid, worthless and a disgrace.


We've all seen that. Surely, there is no one out there whose stomach would not be turned at the sight.

Sadly, the impact is still great in lesser demonstrations.

....comes sooner for some than others, but it will come....

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