One of the saddest moments in baseball

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First of all Jeff...congratulations to your son and his team for winning the championship. That's quite an accomplishment.

Your shortstop's father unfortunately behaved very poorly. The only good thing is the son is young enough such that there is time for the father to change his poor behavior before it ruins his son's baseball career. That behavior surely needs changing. The father needs to become a member here and learn quite a few things.

"Why do we as parents act so stupid."

Fortunately not many of us act this way.



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Congrats Jeff. That is awesome that your team won the championship.

You're right that is very, very sad story. Baseball parents come in all types. I really hope there was somthing else that prompted that parental behavior, because that was totally unnecessary and hurtful to a 10 year old kid. That Dad has some issues. I hate to think what would have happened if they lost.

Maybe the coach should have said something.. Like his son was part of a team and win or lose they needed to be at the ceremony as a team

quote:

Originally posted by gotwood4sale:
Fortunately not many of us act this way.



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I agree, most parents are normal and let their kids enjoy the game. Sure there are a few out there who verbally berate their kids, some even physically scold them, but they are in the minority. Sadly they stick out like a sore thumb and you just wind up cringing when you see the poor kid being subject to it.

I just wonder how he will live with ruining a once in a lifetime experience for his son.
Why do we as parents act so stupid.


< last comment deleted by moderator>

quote:

One of the dads who didn't think his son played well made him get his stuff and left before the awards ceremony

10 years old? Unlike driving and other things being a parent needs no qualifications. Being a good parent requires a lot of work.

While its ashame parents do some of the things they do, I think the only parents who did all the right things and never did anything stupid while raising their kids in general or navigating them thru sports are childless people.

quote:

Originally posted by zombywoof:
While its ashame parents do some of the things they do, I think the only parents who did all the right things and never did anything stupid while raising their kids in general or navigating them thru sports are childless people.

All parents make mistakes but there are that very small group who just are worse for whatever reason. It almost makes you wonder if they do love their kids at all.

Couple of weeks ago my buddy has an 11U team that was playing in this tournament and I was able to go watch them. Sitting in the dugout I was doing the book so I got to see how each kid were doing. This one kid started on the mound and was horrible. He gave up something like 7 runs before he was relieved in the 2nd inning. They were allowing everybody to hit so although he stayed in the dugout he got to hit. When he got to the dugout his dad was all over him and wasn't bashful about anything. Everybody in the park knew this boy was his son and his son was doing terrible. What made it even worse is just listening to the dad talk he was beyond clueless when it came to baseball.

Anyway my buddy's team ended up mounting this comeback and eventually won it in extra innings. The kid who got the hit to tie the game and then the hit to win the game was this boy who got blasted by his dad. When my buddy was getting ready to talk to the team I brought up to him what this kid did after having a terrible start on the mound. The entire team was high fiving him and patting him on the back and he had this huge smile on his face. Maybe I missed it (and I really hope I did) but I never saw or heard his dad say how good he did hitting.

During the game I would always try to say something positive to him. From his reaction it seemed like he didn't know what it was like to hear something positive. Really made me feel for this kid because I can guarantee this kid will not continue to play the game. Only so many times you can kick a dog until they finally give up.

Anyway back to the point - congrats Jeff to your son and his team.

quote:

Originally posted by Bear:
I just wonder how he will live with ruining a once in a lifetime experience for his son.
Why do we as parents act so stupid.


< last comment deleted by moderator>

I don't know what Bear said here but I'll bet many were thinking the same thing.

quote:

All parents make mistakes but there are that very small group who just are worse for whatever reason. It almost makes you wonder if they do love their kids at all.

Yea..it makes you wonder. Typically, parents who take crazy to another level tend to see their kids give up the game before they ever get out of little league because they take all the fun away from them. Nothing is worse than seeing a kid looking over in the stands to his parents looking for approval or some reaction after a play on the field. It's as if his focus is split on the game and in the stands. With that mindset, how can anyone be at their best. The game is tough enough without the distractions. Usually, they'll figure it out after the fact what they did to their kids while they were playing.

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"I don't know what Bear said here but I'll bet many were thinking the same thing."

I saw it papi. I don't think many on this site would have agreed with his opinion.

If it was fury he was looking to scare up then he was likely successful. Remember: "He11 has no fury like a woman scorned."




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Yeah, sometimes I think he's just < last comment deleted by moderator>, and he's really just trying to < last comment deleted by moderator>. If you met him on the street, you'd probably want to say, "Hey, < last comment deleted by moderator> your mom." But that might not be very nice...

Hate to read or see something like this. At such a young age, the player wants to play because it's fun and his friends are playing. Now it's stopped being fun for him. I've seen this happen many times the father and/or mother pushes so hard the kid can't enjoy it.
I'll almost bet the the father played some type of sport but thought he was better then he was and blamed others for not going farther in the sport he played.
I'd be willing to bet this kid will finally quit when he gets older. Sad to say but have seen it happen way to many times.

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Oh you Texans...always the gentlemen like you wraggarm!




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Its easier to be forgiving of your kid if he's good, but even then you see parents who seems to have a bizarre frame of reference for their judgements.

Watch the college world series and you should see that the pros are a lot better. That should give you some sense of the gap between your kids and the pros....the ones you see the most on tv. The top pro teams have about 1 in 20 unearned runs/total runs. South Carolina had about 1 unearned for every in 5 total runs (although the other top teams seem to be about 15% unearned runs).

Imagine what a good standard is for younger players playing on inferior playing fields.

People simply aren't realistic....and the shortstop will always have more errors per season that anyone else.

I once watched a weekend of 10 year old travel ball where Dad yelled at his SS-son (arguably best player on team)after an error and during the game "You had better appologize to your teammates if you are going to play like that." Later in the season - same SS made an error that allowed the winning run to score in a crucial game. SS mom (dad not present) walked around telling everyone that they could never tell SS dad about it. SS never played baseball after that season.

Looking back on those early days of baseball I can't believe that any parent (including me) thought anything other than the kids learning to love and respect the game really mattered.

That, and a good arm slot when throwing.

quote:

Originally posted by gotwood4sale:
I saw it papi. I don't think many on this site would have agreed with his opinion.

Ah ha! Well, then, I offically retract my blind agreement!

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Hey we had a deal papi! I've almost finished this blind for ya' papi...whaddya' spect me ta do wit it now? Open a lemonade stand?






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