LITTLE LEAGUE PARENTS
I use to coach my son’s Little League Baseball team (10-12 years old) It is something I enjoyed very much. Hanging out with these kids, hopefully teaching them a thing or two about the game and instilling a love for the game. We had a pretty good team and got into the Championship game for the division we were in. We lost, I got thrown out of the game….For the record, I didn’t think it was fair that the head umpire of the whole association was going to ump his first game of the season and be behind the plate AND his son was on the team we were playing. I may have made my feelings known a few times during the game and I might have told him that I was going to be riding him all game long, might have.
Anyway I have great memories of coaching the kids, being out in the sunshine, playing games when it was snowing and going out to pizza after games. What I don’t have are good memories of some of the parents! I get it that you think your son is going to be the next big MLB star and making million and millions of dollars but really just be happy if he gets a scholarship to play in college!
I have two stories of Dads helping the coach. Dad # 1, son was on the mound, and I see him looking at dad in between pitches. I call timeout, go to the mound and ask my pitcher why do you keep looking at your dad? He tells me that his dad is telling him what type of pitch to throw. I tell my pitcher, ‘just throw heat.’ After the inning was over, son goes to dad and tells him, he can no longer get signals from him. Dad not happy and comes to talk to me in the middle of the game, telling me I cannot tell his son he can’t take signals from him. I remind him I am the coach and once they cross the white line to get on the field they are now my kids, and I will tell them what they can and can’t do. He wasn’t happy and pulled his son from the team.
Dad # 2: His son was a STUD! For sure would be playing college ball. I had him on the mound, and we were crushing the other teams so I took him off the mound and moved him to centerfield. Son wasn’t happy about that. Next play there was a ball hit to him and he made no effort to try and catch the ball. Inning ends, I pull the son aside and tell him if he does that again I am going to sit his butt down on the bench. Next inning, same thing, ball hit, no effort by son. I call timeout put in a sub for him. He comes into the dugout asking why, I told him and now he’s mad.
Out of the corner of my eye I see dad coming my way. Great, he asks me if I have a minute and I say a quick one, and he tells me, thank you for doing that to his son! He tells me his son thinks he doesn’t have to hustle all the time and me doing what I did, sent a great message to him! Thank you Dad # 2. So parents, let the coaches coach and you show up and support. As my brother tells the parents of his high school team in that first meeting of the year….Show Up and Shut Up!
