Are you serious? It's T-Ball!!!!

One out, runners on first and second. The batter waits with baited anticipation. The umpire places the ball on the tee; the pitcher makes a throwing motion, and the batter swings with all of his might. The ball flies between the shortstop and third baseman, hits the ground on the edge of the dirt and rolls into the outfield grass between two five year old outfielders who watch the ball pass by before realizing they need to give chase. The runners take off as the crowd yells with excitement. The runner from second scores with ease. The runner on first stops at second and smiles. His coaches and fans yell for him to run and he takes off for third. By this time, the two outfielders have fallen down, and begun wrestling for the ball. Finally, the left fielder comes up with the ball and heaves the ball toward the infield. The ball doesn't make it to the dirt and the shortstop runs to the ball. The batter has reached first and is headed for second. The runner who started on first, stops at third and smiles. By this point his coach is red-faced and about to pass out from a lack of oxygen as he "encourages" the five year old to head home. He takes off for home. The shortstop throws the ball toward home. The batter stops on second base and raises his hands to the sky in triumph. The ball hits the dirt and rolls right to the catcher at home plate. The runner heading home sees the ball, turns around and runs safely to third base. Time is called.

An average play in any T-Ball game played any in town, in any state. I was an umpire in this game. It was a great game. The team out in the field was losing the game. They played great and managed to tie the game to force an extra inning. Alas, they lost the game.

The final outcome of this 5 year old T-Ball game is not the point. The outcome of a 5 year old T-Ball game should never be the point! I was utterly appalled at what took place at this game.

Before I start my rant, let's come to an understanding. I believe that if you play the game, you play to win. If you don't play to win, then why keep score? My belief in playing to win does not mean win at all costs. Some costs are too high. I do believe that it is important that children learn how to win and lose with grace. Sports are a great teaching tool for that very thing (Another blog on another day!).

Now for the rant... I cannot believe some of the things that I heard coaches say during this game. The coach of the winning team was so incensed that his team gave up the lead, that during the game he called a practice on Mother's Day and he didn't care if it upset families. His team wasn't playing to their capabilities and they were going to run, and if they didn't show on Sunday, then they were running more on Monday. He continually berated these 5 year olds throughout the rest of the game. Threatening them to run after the game, do pushups, sit on the bench and not play...the list goes on and on.

The other team's coach was just as bad. After the play above, the head coach said that he wished he had run the kids more at the previous practice, and he wouldn't make that mistake again. He also decided that he wanted to argue that the runner heading home should be out for running out of the baseline. There was no attempt made to tag the runner. As a matter of fact, the runner didn't get within five feet of homeplate or the catcher. The coach said to me, "He must of run away from the tag, I taught my players to tag the runner." So, basically, the coach didn't see the play and really just wanted to argue. I let him say his piece, and explained the rule to the coach. He continued to be defiant, so I tossed him! I actually enjoyed that part. The guy was a jerk. I really wanted to toss the other coach too, but there was no cause.

There are a couple of key points I want to make.

1. This is 5 year old T-Ball! These are 5 year old kids that when the game is over don't have a clue as whether or not they won the game. They just want to play.

2. If you are going to coach youth sports, know the game, know the rules and focus on the fact they are just kids. All you should really focus on is teaching the fundamentals of the game. In this case, catch, throw, hit and run. I'm not saying don't play to win, I always play to win, just do it with some class.

When I coach kids, its always about the kids. As much as I think I would like to be a major league manager, I know that this is not the time for me to live out that dream. I hate to lose. My family can attest to that, but come on people, they're kids!!!! I've seen guys making $25 million dollars a year make errors, what would make me think a 5 year old won't??? Adults need to get a grip. Just some information...most colleges don't give full rides to baseball players. It's not a money sport, so they don't get the money that other sports do. Second, do you realize the odds of making to the major leagues??? Astonomical!! So lighten people, let the kids have fun and teach them what the game is all about.