Nine Year Old Boy Told He's Too Good to Pitch

[Logan]

ESPN - 9-year-old boy told he's too good to pitch - ESPN

NEW HAVEN, Conn. -- Nine-year-old Jericho Scott is a good baseball player -- too good, it turns out.

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.

Officials with the Youth Baseball League of New Haven say they will disband Jericho Scott's team because his coach won't stop him from pitching.

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.

But Vidro says he didn't quit and the team refuses to disband. Players and parents held a protest at the league's field on Saturday urging the league to let Jericho pitch.

"He's never hurt any one," Vidro said. "He's on target all the time. How can you punish a kid for being too good?"

The controversy bothers Jericho, who says he misses pitching.

"I feel sad," he said. "I feel like it's all my fault nobody could play."

Jericho's coach and parents say the boy is being unfairly targeted because he turned down an invitation to join the defending league champion, which is sponsored by an employer of one of the league's administrators.

Jericho instead joined a team sponsored by Will Power Fitness. The team was 8-0 and on its way to the playoffs when Jericho was banned from pitching.

"I think it's discouraging when you're telling a 9-year-old you're too good at something," said his mother, Nicole Scott. "The whole objective in life is to find something you're good at and stick with it. I'd rather he spend all his time on the baseball field than idolizing someone standing on the street corner."

League attorney Peter Noble says the only factor in banning Jericho from the mound is his pitches are just too fast.

"He is a very skilled player, a very hard thrower," Noble said. "There are a lot of beginners. This is not a high-powered league. This is a developmental league whose main purpose is to promote the sport."

Noble acknowledged that Jericho had not beaned any batters in the co-ed league of 8- to 10-year-olds, but say parents expressed safety concerns.

"Facing that kind of speed" is frightening for beginning players, Noble said.

League officials say they first told Vidro that the boy could not pitch after a game on Aug. 13. Jericho played second base the next game on Aug. 16. But when he took the mound Wednesday, the other team walked off and a forfeit was called.

League officials say Jericho's mother became irate, threatening them and vowing to get the league shut down.

"I have never seen behavior of a parent like the behavior Jericho's mother exhibited Wednesday night," Noble said.

Scott denies threatening any one, but said she did call the police.

League officials suggested that Jericho play other positions, or pitch against older players or in a different league.

Local attorney John Williams was planning to meet with Jericho's parents Monday to discuss legal options.

"You don't have to be learned in the law to know in your heart that it's wrong," he said. "Now you have to be punished because you excel at something?"

Right or wrong? Discuss.

[JonInMiddleGA]

I saw this earlier. Just shaking my head, amazed at how much further into absurdity we continue to slide and at the same time not a bit surprised by it.

The last line of the story sums it up. Excellence is now something to be punished.

[JPhillips]

When I coached several years ago our team of seven year-olds had a kid that could throw straight and down the middle. For kids just coming off tee-ball he was devastating. We had several nine pitch, three K innings. We had a mandated inning limit for pitchers that kept him from dominating the league.

[SunDevil]

WTF is happening to our country? How the f$%k is this America?

[Young Drachma]

The pussification of America, continues, as some would say.

Hopefully, he gets to play on a travel team in a better league.

[Tigercat]

Now now Jon, this is so stupid that I don't think you should even try to attach it to any greater problems.

[samifan24]

Let the poor kid play. Just because he's better than everyone does not mean he should not play.

[Logan]

Originally Posted by JPhillips

When I coached several years ago our team of seven year-olds had a kid that could throw straight and down the middle. For kids just coming off tee-ball he was devastating. We had several nine pitch, three K innings. We had a mandated inning limit for pitchers that kept him from dominating the league.

Wouldn't this be optimal for young hitters who are getting their first experience hitting "live" pitching? Is it better to be going up against a 7-year old who's sending a biting slider over the outside corner?

[miami_fan]

Originally Posted by samifan24

Let the poor kid play. Just because he's better than everyone does not mean he should not play.

Fuck that! Imagine the emotional torture he would put the parents of the opposing players through! Please, think of the parents!

League officials suggested that Jericho play other positions, or pitch against older players or in a different league.

Funny, did anyone ever think that maybe the other kids should try more hitting practice?

[FF]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the article insinuating that he was only banned because he didn't join one of the league administers team? At least thats how i read it.

[JPhillips]

Originally Posted by Logan

Wouldn't this be optimal for young hitters who are getting their first experience hitting "live" pitching? Is it better to be going up against a 7-year old who's sending a biting slider over the outside corner?

In that league at least most of the OBP was walks. He through hard enough that kids just couldn't hit him. Most of the other kids, if they could even get the ball over the plate, through on an arc that the hitters got used to. A straight pitch tore that league up.

He moved late in the season and I have no idea what happened to him, but he was one of those kids that just seemed to be way ahead athletically compared to his peers.

[Lathum]

I have no problem with them moving him up against older/ better kids, but it should be his parents option.

[MikeVic]

Originally Posted by JPhillips

In that league at least most of the OBP was walks. He through hard enough that kids just couldn't hit him. Most of the other kids, if they could even get the ball over the plate, through on an arc that the hitters got used to. A straight pitch tore that league up.

He moved late in the season and I have no idea what happened to him, but he was one of those kids that just seemed to be way ahead athletically compared to his peers.

Was it a young Phelps or Bolt?

[Noop]

He should have been moved up to play with older kids. I understand that the kids his age should practice harder but at that age those kids are trying to build confidence and have fun playing a game.

[Marc Vaughan]

I don't get this "it'll hurt the little darlings feelings if they lose too hard" mentality.

I've played on sides which have dominated games (occassionally) and also teams which have been pulped - my university side used to get thrash on a regular basis and indeed I remember us celebrating a 2-2 draw like we'd won a cup final because it gave us our first points of the season (we were about 8 matches into the season at that point).

I believe that losing builds character and also teaches kids important lessons about life (most notably that shit happens and you have to deal with it) - is it pleasant, nah not really no one enjoys it ... but if you hide them from losing all through childhood then they are going to be in for a heck of a shock as an adult.

[Marc Vaughan]

Originally Posted by Noop

He should have been moved up to play with older kids. I understand that the kids his age should practice harder but at that age those kids are trying to build confidence and have fun playing a game.

I think he would probably move up naturally given time.

As far as them playing to have fun - yes thats fair enough but surely they've chosen to join a league because they want to compete? ... otherwise they'd just be playing with their mates in the street/park/whatever ...

[Noop]

I use to think let the kids suck it up but after coaching younger kids and seeing one kid dominate his age group in basketball (14 year olds) and flat out demoralized the entire league because he easily could go for 40 without even trying. It wasn't even fun and the kid himself started to feel bad because he basically killed the league.

Funny thing is when they moved him up to play with the 18 and unders he dominated but not as badly as he did the 14s.

[Noop]

I say this as a coach who regularly told his team to run up the score if they had the chance too. Made for a great championship game as the team we played brought their A+ game (after only score 9 pts the first meeting)... I see it both ways I guess.

[molson]

Really mixed feelings on this.

It's kind of fun to know a "great" player at that level. As a kid, you might be in awe of him, and if you or one of your friends actually gets a hit off of him - it's an amazing and memorable experience.

But baseball can be dangerous - kids that age have no ability to get out of the way of a pitched ball. I'm not really comforted by "He's on target all the time" when major leagues miss all the time. He could easily do some damage by plopping a kid in the eye or in the chest.

Everybody wins if they just move him up to the higher league.

It's definitely not about losing - who cares about kids losing. One year I played for the "White Sox". We decided that the WS on our hats stood for "We suck". Probably the most fun season of my life.

[Arles]

I used to umpire baseball for 1st-4th graders when I was in HS over the summer. There was one kid who got 15 Ks in 5 innings because he was just more advanced. The next game he pitched, the opposing coach told his players to simply walk up and hold the bat out even at waist high and leave it there like a pseudo bunt. In the first 2 innings, 3 guys made contact and one got on base. It rattled the pitcher so much he got real wild and then they just started taking walks. The "worse" team won 3-1 on walks/wild pitches and I thought it was one of the more interesting strategies I'd ever seen.

After the game, I talked with the coach that did it and he said something like "kids that good just can't handle adversity because they've never been in a situation to do so". IMO, this kid mowing down "similar age" kids won't do much for him in the long run. Let him pitch against 11 and 12 year olds and he will probably be a solid HS pitcher. If you keep him mowing down the rec leagues, he will fall like a house of cards once someone can actually hit him.

[sabotai]

Originally Posted by molson

But baseball can be dangerous - kids that age have no ability to get out of the way of a pitched ball. I'm not really comforted by "He's on target all the time" when major leagues miss all the time. He could easily do some damage by plopping a kid in the eye or in the chest.

I'm generally on the side that says kids need to learn to lose (which they do), but that was the part of the article that made me roll my eyes. EVERY pitcher is on target "all the time" until they hit someone with a pitch. Just because he's never hit anyone doesn't mean one isn't going to get away from him and smack an 8 year old in the face.

The way I read the article, the league is a co-ed beginners league, and this kid is obviously not a beginner. Why did his parents put him in a league that he is obviously too good to play in?

On one hand, you do have the pussification of America in which kids aren't allowed to lose, but on the other, it seems, you have parents who would rather see their kid win against inferior competition rather than challenge himself against better competition.

[illinifan999]

I once saw a kid get hit by a pitch on the ankle and break it while I was on-deck. This kid sounds a lot like the kid not being allowed to play except it was known throughout the league that he was wild, which made it pretty intense being in the batter's box.

[Doug5984]

Originally Posted by Arles

I used to umpire baseball for 1st-4th graders when I was in HS over the summer. There was one kid who got 15 Ks in 5 innings because he was just more advanced. The next game he pitched, the opposing coach told his players to simply walk up and hold the bat out even at waist high and leave it there like a pseudo bunt. In the first 2 innings, 3 guys made contact and one got on base. It rattled the pitcher so much he got real wild and then they just started taking walks. The "worse" team won 3-1 on walks/wild pitches and I thought it was one of the more interesting strategies I'd ever seen.

After the game, I talked with the coach that did it and he said something like "kids that good just can't handle adversity because they've never been in a situation to do so". IMO, this kid mowing down "similar age" kids won't do much for him in the long run. Let him pitch against 11 and 12 year olds and he will probably be a solid HS pitcher. If you keep him mowing down the rec leagues, he will fall like a house of cards once someone can actually hit him.

That is really cool, and really makes perfect sense.

I remember reading a great ESPN page 2 article about a summer camp, and all the campers running all summer- big race at the end of the summer- and the "all athlete" kid lost the race because he didn't know how to push himself to win once he was behind, he had always been first in everything.
Anyone know what I'm talking about, or better yet- have a link to that great article? (It was posted here a while back)

[SFL Cat]

Let him play...that way the other kids can say, "I knew him when...."

[watravaler]

Only one pitcher frightened me in the 16 years or so I played competitive ball...U12...could throw 65+, would be considered wild by most standards, sent two kids to the hospital from our team...two broken jaws...and a third was on the ground for ten minutes after taking a pitch to the helmet. The ump did the right thing and tossed the pitcher...well, at least I thought it was the right thing at the time.

You've got to let the kid pitch, but baseball is a bit different. Anyway...40mph isn't THAT special for a 9yr old, it's good, no doubt, but come on now...

[Sgran]

Originally Posted by SFL Cat

Let him play...that way the other kids can say, "I knew him when...."

My cousin (and his parents, of course) still brag about how Greg hit a triple off Mark Prior.

I always enjoyed facing pitchers that were throwing unimaginable heat. I saw it as a challenge and my adrenaline rushed through the roof. I miss that feeling, which has simply become replaced with stress. I agree that the parents should move the kid up a league, but there's no way I would let my team forfeit the game if I was facing the little Nolan Ryan. If they're well coached, then they'll see the game as a challenge and know that they shouldn't get down if things don't go their way. The best coaches I had reminded us that sports was all about how you behaved in the face of adversity. It's the coach's job to stay positive and not let the players get down on themselves or their teammates.

[dervack]

Maybe I missed it, but is no one else bothered by the fact she called the police? What are they going to do, arrest the league for not letting a kid pitch? What's next, the police are going to arrest Lovie Smith for letting Rex Grossman hold a football on the sidelines?

[miami_fan]

So it is okay to move the kid up and expose him to possibly being hit by a line drive back up the middle that is hit by kids older than him? Or will they request that accommodations be made because he is not as good as the older kids?

[tyketime]

Originally Posted by sabotai

On one hand, you do have the pussification of America in which kids aren't allowed to lose, but on the other, it seems, you have parents who would rather see their kid win against inferior competition rather than challenge himself against better competition.

I think the way the League is going about trying to resolve it is utterly ridiculous and entirely wrong. However... I am willing to go out on a limb and say I agree with sabotai that the emphasis on winning at such a young age is absurd. IF (and I certainly don't know for sure) this is a beginner's league, then I think it would be appropriate to move him up. For those of you that say the batters should face stronger pitching to get better, wouldn't the converse also be true? If he is such a dominant pitcher, why would he (and by extension his parents) want to stay in the beginner league? It seems to me he has mastered the skill of throwing the ball down the middle of the plate. But why not challenge him as well? What is the motivation to keep him in the beginner's league? MVP and another trophy on the shelf?

It's a more difficult balance between an instructional league and maintaining some semblance of competition than it might first appear.

[cartman]

Originally Posted by FF

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the article insinuating that he was only banned because he didn't join one of the league administers team? At least thats how i read it.

That's the way I read it as well. It wasn't that he's too good to pitch, it seemed he was too good to pitch for anyone other than one of the league administrator's teams.

[Marc Vaughan]

Originally Posted by dervack

Maybe I missed it, but is no one else bothered by the fact she called the police? What are they going to do, arrest the league for not letting a kid pitch? What's next, the police are going to arrest Lovie Smith for letting Rex Grossman hold a football on the sidelines?

I was somewhat amused by that myself - I'm presuming they turned around and said "yeah and your point for calling us is? ..."

[Celeval]

Originally Posted by watravaler

You've got to let the kid pitch, but baseball is a bit different. Anyway...40mph isn't THAT special for a 9yr old, it's good, no doubt, but come on now...

It's probably also from ~30' away rather than 60'6"... 40mph probably translates into at least 70mph in the pros.

[miami_fan]

Originally Posted by tyketime

I think the way the League is going about trying to resolve it is utterly ridiculous and entirely wrong. However... I am willing to go out on a limb and say I agree with sabotai that the emphasis on winning at such a young age is absurd. IF (and I certainly don't know for sure) this is a beginner's league, then I think it would be appropriate to move him up. For those of you that say the batters should face stronger pitching to get better, wouldn't the converse also be true? If he is such a dominant pitcher, why would he (and by extension his parents) want to stay in the beginner league? It seems to me he has mastered the skill of throwing the ball down the middle of the plate. But why not challenge him as well? What is the motivation to keep him in the beginner's league? MVP and another trophy on the shelf?

It's a more difficult balance between an instructional league and maintaining some semblance of competition than it might first appear.

This basically boils down to an argument over semantics and is probably the reason I disagree with the league. The league does not want him to face stronger competition or to challenge him to develop his skills. The league wants to get rid of him because he is too throws too fast. They don't want to challenge the kids he is playing against. To me, this has more to do with the kid alone. If it were just about this one kid, why disband the rest of the team?

On a side note, parents help me out on this one since neither of my sons are at that sports playing level yet. What is the difference between a "high powered" league and a "developmental" league? Aren't all the leagues "developmental" at that age level?

[molson]

Originally Posted by miami_fan

So it is okay to move the kid up and expose him to possibly being hit by a line drive back up the middle that is hit by kids older than him? Or will they request that accommodations be made because he is not as good as the older kids?

Do you think he's at some sort of bizarre twilight zone skill level - dominates 9 year-olds but overmatching by 11 year-olds?

[miami_fan]

Originally Posted by molson

Do you think he's at some sort of bizarre twilight zone skill level - dominates 9 year-olds but overmatching by 11 year-olds?

I have no idea what level he is at. But the basic rule of the league is age based, not skill level based. The league is for kids 8-10 years old. If they want the league to be based on skill level, then change the rules and base it on skill level.

[tyketime]

Originally Posted by miami_fan

On a side note, parents help me out on this one since neither of my sons are at that sports playing level yet. What is the difference between a "high powered" league and a "developmental" league? Aren't all the leagues "developmental" at that age level?

In our area we have two types of leagues. The first is the regular in-town rec leagues which typically start out as developmental and get more competitive as the kids get older. For the better players, most sports around here also have "travel" teams. There are tryouts and the teams literally travel to play other teams in the state/region.

I never played baseball, but in particular, I think there are also rec leagues (considered more developmental), and then Babe Ruth (or equivalent) leagues that are typically more competitive.

[Maple Leafs]

Originally Posted by Logan

Officials for the three-year-old league...

Oh yeah, real tough guy, pitching against kids one-third his age. I'm sure he feel like a real superstar striking out a bunch of toddlers.

[Dutch]

What is this kid accomplishing for his team? Doing all the "work" while the other kids pick daisy's? If the league plays 5 or 6 innings, a pitcher should be limited to 3 innings of work.

Of course, that should be a rule for "next season". The teams shouldn't forfeit games because this kid is dominating, that's not teaching kids about baseball or sport. Receiving a good ass-whuppin' in sports has it's value, even if it's not readily apparent what value that is.

[Honolulu_Blue]

Originally Posted by Maple Leafs

Oh yeah, real tough guy, pitching against kids one-third his age. I'm sure he feel like a real superstar striking out a bunch of toddlers.

Do you have any idea how small a toddler's strike zone is?

[Maple Leafs]

Originally Posted by Honolulu_Blue

Do you have any idea how small a toddler's strike zone is?

My favorite baseball team employs David Eckstien.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Maple Leafs

Oh yeah, real tough guy, pitching against kids one-third his age. I'm sure he feel like a real superstar striking out a bunch of toddlers.

Well done sir, well done.

[miami_fan]

Originally Posted by Dutch

What is this kid accomplishing for his team? Doing all the "work" while the other kids pick daisy's? If the league plays 5 or 6 innings, a pitcher should be limited to 3 innings of work.

Of course, that should be a rule for "next season". The teams shouldn't forfeit games because this kid is dominating, that's not teaching kids about baseball or sport. Receiving a good ass-whuppin' in sports has it's value, even if it's not readily apparent what value that is.

I thought the pitchers were on a pitch count in Little League?

[molson]

Originally Posted by miami_fan

I have no idea what level he is at. But the basic rule of the league is age based, not skill level based. The league is for kids 8-10 years old. If they want the league to be based on skill level, then change the rules and base it on skill level.

I understand. I just think it's funny that you think that a kid who absolutely dominates 9 year olds will need "special rules" to compete with 11-year olds.

[stevew]

There's gotta be a happy medium between not pitching at all, and pitching all the time. At this age it's all about development. If the guy strikes out the side every inning, his fielders will get no work whatsoever.

[miami_fan]

Originally Posted by molson

I understand. I just think it's funny that you think that a kid who absolutely dominates 9 year olds will need "special rules" to compete with 11-year olds.

Maybe he will. Who knows. It is all speculation for sure. I find it funny that we need to have special rules because a nine year old dominates other nine year olds. If we are going to have special rules against him, we should be probably be prepared to have special rules for him in case he does not pitch "too fast" for the kids at the higher level and gets hammered.

[chesapeake]

Based on this single article, it appears to me that both sides are being stupid. The league could certainly come up with a better option than disbanding the team.

On the other side, as a parent, if my daughter were head-and-shoulders above the competition in a beginners/developmental league such as this one is described to be, I would certainly make the effort to find her some better competition. Frankly, when the competition stinks, you often learn bad habits that can be very hard to unlearn later. The kid would be better off competing against better players.

[Passacaglia]

Originally Posted by chesapeake

Based on this single article, it appears to me that both sides are being stupid. The league could certainly come up with a better option than disbanding the team.

On the other side, as a parent, if my daughter were head-and-shoulders above the competition in a beginners/developmental league such as this one is described to be, I would certainly make the effort to find her some better competition. Frankly, when the competition stinks, you often learn bad habits that can be very hard to unlearn later. The kid would be better off competing against better players.

You're forgetting the third stupid side -- the coach who, when told the kid couldn't play, decided to play him anyway.

[molson]

"Scott denies threatening any one, but said she did call the police."

The villain in this story to me is clear. This insane mother is the only reason this is national news. She probably threatened to kill someone at the AP.

She called the police?? "They won't let my son play baseball!!!"

I also can't believe there's a "league attorney". What the hell does he do?

I can't imagine this is an uncommon problem at all. It's really not that difficult to solve. Have tryouts and league tiers. Assign players to the league tier most appropriate for their skill level.

Otherwise, I think I've now fallen on the side that this is a private league, they can do whatever the hell they want. If people pay $50 to get in, the majority of parents don't want this kid playing, then he should play somewhere else.

[RendeR]

Originally Posted by Noop

He should have been moved up to play with older kids. I understand that the kids his age should practice harder but at that age those kids are trying to build confidence and have fun playing a game.

This is wrong, period. Building confidence requires trial and testing, if the best kid in the league gets moved on because the rest of the league sucks too much to handle him how does that build their confidence? it undermines it. having faced exactly this situation when i played little league I can state with confidence that if they had taken the best pitcher(s) out of our league it would have made us all feel like total losers. (I added the plural because we had two guys go on to play minor league ball when I played LL and we took it as a matter of pride to take every swing we could get at those two guys)

Originally Posted by miami_fan

Maybe he will. Who knows. It is all speculation for sure. I find it funny that we need to have special rules because a nine year old dominates other nine year olds. If we are going to have special rules against him, we should be probably be prepared to have special rules for him in case he does not pitch "too fast" for the kids at the higher level and gets hammered.

This is where we start down the slope of fucking everything up "oh we have to protect the less able" "fine move the kid up" "Now he's getin crushed and can't compete" "Put in special rules for him"

Fuck that, the kid is 9, let him play with his peers, developmental league or not, this is what they NEED to develop, someone with real ability to face game in and game out.

You don;t get BETTER playing against joe schmuck pitcher, you get better facing a challenge.


this entire scenario is moronic.

[Logan]

Was watching Mike and Mike this morning and they brought up a pretty good point in response to the "move him up if he's that good" argument...

What if his hitting and fielding are on par (or even below) his fellow nine year olds? Should he never be able to develop those skills because he's clearly overmatched by the pitching of 11 year olds?