I remember when I was a little kid first starting to play Little League baseball. In the town I played in, the league for seven and eight year olds was called the "pioneer league", and I was a superstar just based on the fact my dad threw my pitches to me overhand. The fact I was already about 5'2 and towering over all the other kids in the league didn't hurt either.Yet, even though I had a size advantage over all the other kids in the league, there was never any call from parents to have me removed from the team. You see, this was a different time called the 80's in which people in America actually thought that competition for their children was a good thing. Not these days, though. Shortly after I left the pioneer league and moved on to the minor league, I found out that they stopped keeping score in pioneer league games.
You know, because they didn't want anybody to lose. This made me mad as an 11 year old kid, and it's the kind of thinking that still makes me mad to this day. Now the whole "everybody's a winner" philosophy has taken the only logical next step, as nine-year old Jericho Scott has been banned from his Connecticut little league for being too good. Seriously.
The right-hander has a fastball that tops out at about 40 mph. He throws so hard that the Youth Baseball League of New Haven told his coach that the boy could not pitch any more. When Jericho took the mound anyway last week, the opposing team forfeited the game, packed its gear and left, his coach said.What a bunch of crap. Is this really what things have come to? Maybe we should just keep our kids locked up in their rooms (which of course will all be safety coated with foam rubber so little Johnny doesn't hurt himself) until they're 18.
Officials for the three-year-old league, which has eight teams and about 100 players, said they will disband Jericho's team, redistributing its players among other squads, and offered to refund $50 sign-up fees to anyone who asks for it. They say Jericho's coach, Wilfred Vidro, has resigned.
What the hell is happening to this country? The people who made this decision to deny a nine-year old kid the chance to play baseball should be ashamed of themselves. God forbid your son strikes out a couple of times, how will he ever recover from the embarrassment?
Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Thats just dirty. How could you limit anyone's abilty, especially a child's? That makes me sick inside and hope those league officials get their arms cut off. Or have the 9 year old pitch fastballs at them
Yes!
Yes! 19 adults that all encourage Jericho to stand up to the adult bullies.
What I admire most in him is, at 9 years old he is a good judge of character. Jericho Scott did not want to play for the "mean" team that won last year. The league leader, peter noble is just another pc correct liberal trying to screw up everyone. Jericho and Nichole Scott I want you as my friend.
This is totally ridiculous, this child is having a good time, staying out of trouble, loves to play ball, and the adults can't stand it. The adults are so jealous that they want him out of the game. If it was there child, they wouldn't want their child to be out. Jealousy ruins everything. You would think adults wouldn't be jealous of a 9 year old. Jerico, keep your chin up, they are just jealous of you. You will be a great pitcher in the major leagues and I will be watching for you. Keep up the good work, your awesome.
As an educator, I have spent 34 years telling children to always do their very best. As a parent, I always guided my children in what I hoped was the right direction and tried to keep them out of trouble. Now because this 9 year old excels at a sport and is staying out of trouble, here comes a group of adults who want to sugar coat things for their own children, instead of teaching them how to handle themselves when things get dificult.
C'mon official people?What in the hell is wrong with you?Did you all star as the one actor in"The Wizard of Oz"?Yea-you know which one I'm talkin about"The Straw-Bitch""If I only had a Brain"?Or...did your mother have syphliss when ya'll was ?born?Just can't see-uh?Jesus ta God-come in over"a couple of your molds went through without a brain implant-mission abort!"This is STUPID!...Move him up a league!
Maybe it's a matter of expectations. As a pudgy kid with bad eyes, I (and my parents) never had any illusions about being the best at any sport. My parents and my coaches insisted that I practiced and played hard, and they expected me to improve (or at least strive to improve) with every game. Sometimes we won, which was great. And sometimes we lost, which wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it'd be. Even though I wasn't the star, and even though my team didn't win every game, youth sports was a great experience for me.
How does playing against a great young athlete hurt these kids? Are parents worried that their children will be irredeemably hurt to know that they aren't the best players in the league? Are they frightened that the young Mr. Scott will outshine their own children when the MLB scouts come to visit? Can't they use this as a teaching experience about the value of hard work and dedication? This whole situation amazes me.
Shame on the coach who packed up his team instead of playing against Mr. Scott. It's like he's trying to teach his players that giving up is the only way to face a challenge. And shame on the league for ostracizing a young player because he's good at what he does.
Stories like this piss me off. When I was 9 years old I was in a 9-10 year old league and I was one of the best players so when I turned 10, I was asked by one of the coaches of the 11-12 year old league to try out. See, I was given an OPTION. I stayed in my own age group because I didn't want to be overwhelmed at the next level and stunt my development. There were some beastly kids in our age group who hit tons of homeruns and threw absolute heat with no control (Kerry Wood Jr's).
This brings me to another point: I've seen many people crying for all-star games for little league to be done away with. Their main reason is they say that it's not fair that some kids bodies develop faster than others which gives them a clear advantage and they shouldn't have to tell their kids that "you're not good enough". Well I was always small for my age and it never stopped me from making an all-star team. The kids that work hard at it and want it more should be rewarded, since that's the case with anything we work hard towards in life.
JERICO KEEP YOUR CHIN UP AND HAVE THE PARENTS CONSIDERED THAT COMING UP AGAINST JERICO WILL HELP THEIR KIDS LEARN TO HIT. WHO KNOWS WHICH KID JUST LOST OUT OF A MAJOR LEAGUE CAREER. TEAM IS JUST WHAT IT MEANS = A TEAM. GOOD AND BAD. WE ARE TEACHING THESE KIDS SELF-CENTEREDNESS AND WE ARE DEPENDING ON THESE YOUNGSTERS WHEN WE GET OLDER. THIS REALLY MAKES SENSE, DOESN'T IT.
This is pathetic when did people in this country become some scared of adversity and determining the will and strength to fight through it. Its no wonder that our country is becoming a bunch of overweight, out of shape, reality tv watching, wimps who refuse to go outside and be active. This teaches the kids a great lesson, "Hey if someone's better than you just quit" There's no point to even see if on that given day you can play your best and beat the other team. Pitiful!!
Ironically, I was banned from a Babe Ruth League in NJ in the mid 60's after beaning the commissioner's son and hurting his wrist. They also said I threw too hard and was too wild. My father got me into a local semi pro league where I played "up" and eventually went on thru H.S. and college to sign with the Pittsburgh Pirates. Calm reasoning by my father prevailed ! Jericho, keep pitching, kid. Don't let the flunkies get you down. !
My son pitched and threw way harder than most boys in his age range. I don't know how he got it as I didn't play any sports. We lived in St Louis, and his team played against some good teams. At 9, 10, 11, etc, my son was throwing like a grown up, and catching for him in practice or even playing catch hurt through the glove. Kids on his team would comment to the coach that, "why does Bob have to throw so hard", at practice? The coach replied, Bob isn't doing it on purpose, as he is just throwing how his natural mechanics just does it, and you're going to have to adjust cause you're going to run into this sooner or later if you keep playing baseball.
What I figured out at games that actually helped my son was good umping. Calling pitches. Jericho may be a hard thrower, but is he that accurate to get that many strikes? I found that when apposing teams encountered my son after a couple innings, the coach would tell the kids to wait for the pitch and not swing at everything. My son threw a lot of balls that kids were swinging at. When the ump started calling balls, and walking kids, it turned into a game. My son learned quickly to control his pitches, and helped him develope other throwing options that were more accurate to bring back called strikes.
I think the people on the opposing teams of Jericho's need to put there kids in safe sports that won't give them owee's, or scare them and just get out of the way of good performance sports. The coaches need to teach the kids to be more patient and not swing at everything.
I'll be back when I hear anyone moan about their kid thinking hockey is too dangerous and I'll tell you about my sons slap shot.
look... i played volleyball against olympian kim willoughby when i was in high school. now granted, this is a different age range, but we ALL knew that when we went up against one of her spikes, that it wasn't going to get returned. that was just a given. we accepted that. BUT.. if ever we did return one of those puppies... that was a great accomplishment. i just don't get it. just like my kid's latest easter egg hunt- they all got the same amount of eggs, because they were told that they couldn't exceed a particular number.
so, yeah, let's just let the kids get good at wathing tv or playing video games by themselves... never compete, because what's the point. maybe they'll feel like winners if they're hopped up on drugs instead of a natural high from feeling accomplished.
this world really is getting ridiculous.
people need to stop teaching their kids how to be pansies and teach them what the real world is like.
As a long time little league coach I find this very disturbing. I have had the unique opportunity to coach a couple of children with this type of talent. I have found that the talent level of the kids playing both with and against them benefit from the higher skill level of players such as Jericho. The league says they are doing this for the safety of the other players and to that I say BULL. The equiptment that each player wears protect them, not removing talented players like Jericho. I would hope that the parents of this league would elect a new Board of Governers that will challenge all players to work hard and play hard. Thus teaching the idea that as long as each player gives all they have to what they do they will be winners regaurdless of the score.
I am by no means a lawyer or even close to being one nor do i think i know everything about the law but i do know what is right and what is wrong and this is just plain wrong. It sounds to me that you might have a lawsuit against the league that would not allow him to play in that age bracket or even give him a choice to be moved up into a higher bracket. Simply put... who are they to decide who is too good or too bad...i mean has anyone been banned from playing because they are not good enough? It sounds to me that not only is he a better player then the kids around him but a better player than some of the parents who are standing by allowing it to happen. I am almost certain that there is something that can be done about it. What is happening isn't only affecting him now but will certainly affect him later in life as he watches his team and friends move on without him not to mention the fact that by playing little league and minor league ball will greatly improve his chances at being seen by scouts from college recruiters and pro scouts. Keep trying and keep spreading the word about your situation i am sure that eventually someone out there can do something about it and will.
This youngster is a victim because someone is upset that they are not winning the league. Someone isn't getting their way and has the power to change the rules to try to get what they want. This whole thing is a joke and should not be allowed to happen.
40 is slow. 40 to 50 mph is average. 60 would be screaming.
See http://www.efastball.com/baseball/pitching/grips/average-pitching-speed-by-age-group/
The boy is 9, not 10, which is what your link references. And 40-50 is for a fastball. What difference does it make? Apparently the kids in the batter's box can't hit it so if they think 40 mph is fast, then it's fast.
Yet one more case of adult ego getting in the way of America's sport. If my kid can't be the best, by God the rest of 'em will be mediocre! Unbelievable.
the kid turns 10 today,,and at 10 40 mph is far below avg.,,,who cares ,,why is this story big news ,,our 7 year old team has 7 kids throwing 40 ,,so please get over this kid,,,put him on a real team,,he's playing vs girls and kids who ever played the game before,hey jericho you wouldnt even make our 10u team ,,let alone pitch,,our avg mph for a 10u player is upper 50's low 60's,,please stop the bs with this kid,,who cares ,,go play in a better league,,,