MorganHillTimes.com | Intentional Walk? In Little League?

Intentional Walk? In Little League?

May 15, 2007

Intentional Walk? In Little League?

CALLER 1: I recently took my 2 -year-old son to watch some of the local action at the Little League field. During the game I could not help but get disgruntled as the coach INTENTIONALLY WALKED a batter. And that came with no runners on base and the team issuing the walk leading 3-1. In Little League? Who is the league for? The kids or the coaches. As I shared my feelings about this I was informed that that batter routinely gets walked. This is bad and I feel they should let the kids play and compete with honor, knowing they tried their best. What does this teach our youth, especially the hitter that keeps getting walked? The walk is not counted against the pitch count, which I feel is wrong. He doesn't even have to throw a pitch. I hope the coaches remember that the game is for the KIDS and let them play, especially for a kid that is 12 years old. Half his at-bats can be taken away because of this selfishness on the coaches part. Teach your pitcher how to locate and spot pitches, rather than have a rubber chicken hung in the corner. At this level, it is about instruction, learning from mistakes, and working harder to be able to compete if they choose to. I plan on taking my son out again to watch the kids play.

GREEN PHONE: What a wonderful call we have here. Personally, it's hard to believe that any coach would stoop to the level of intentionally walking batter at that level, but with the way so many coaches and parents have become nowadays, it's hard for anything to be a surprise. This caller nailed it, this is complete selfishness on the part of the coach. Because the coach wants his team to win a Little League game, he's chosen to take the joy of the game away from this player. Now if this was a playoff game or a game to determine who takes first place in the league, then that's one thing. But for half of this young players at-bats to be stripped away purely because he's too good for the coaches to believe their pitcher can get him out is unacceptable. Let your pitcher have a shot at retiring him. If he does, he'll become all the better for it. Little League is about developing not only talent in young players, but a love of the game for those who participate. These coaches need to learn that's it's not all about wins and losses.