You never know?

My 7 cents.

Once had a team where the most talented kid on it had the worst attitude!! Helmet tossing, bat throwing in the dugout, cussing, etc. Once heard him tell his mom to shut-up.

He was a very intimidating kid. Big and a bad a..!! Problem was that all the other players where scared of him. They didn't want to piss him off out of fear that he would kick your a...should you make a mistake.

So what did they do. Not play for fun. Made so many mistakes. Couldn't focus. To scared to push it out.

Finally the coaches had it figured out. The most talented kid, with the worst attitude, was a liability. He got the boot.

Team turned around and started to win. All of the players said they had always felt like they where walking on egg shells in the dugout. Once Mr attitude was gone they could relax, play ball, and have fun.

That was the first time I noticed how it effects a whole team.

This kid had no respect for the game.

What does "respect for the game" mean anyway? Im pretty sure I know but wonder what others might think it means?

Also I can never understand why a baseball player gets upset over a called 3rd strike. I mean you had 2 other chances in there and you missed those as well...???? What gives? Maybe we could put a mirror on the fence near home plate so that if you get called out on a 3rd strike you could go to the mirror and cuss yourself out twice, then perhaps you could say something to the ump, THEN you could take yourself back to the dugout and have a seat.

 

another good thread

 

The other night....

Friday night I went and watched an area high school game as we had a bye from conference play.I saw a little of just about everything you might see in a high school game but 2 actions by the same player made an impression on me and sadly changed my impression of him. In his second at-bat he was called out on strikes... he glared at the umpire and said something and this kid's coach had to come and restrain him and get him back into the dugout... He again struck out on his next at-bat, this time swinging... he slammed his helmet down, threw his bat against the fence and then threw his batting gloves, which led the umpire to give him the heave-ho!

I have umpires talking to me this year more and more about the poor sportsmanship exhibited by players and the number of calls that the NCHSAA received that prompted them to send out fair warning to umpires that profanity, especially "GD" and "f-bombs" would result in immediate and unwarned ejections.

Where has our society gone? Why do we as parents and fans allow this to happen. I was a fan at this particular game and saw it as another example of our society regressing... If I were recruting this kid, I can assure you, I would have crossed hie name off my list and that would be that....

 

Coachevans26 - Couldn't agree with you more. My boy understands that both his mom and myself would yank him off the field and possibly off the team for something like that. It's an embarrassment to the game, the team, the coach, and his family. It's a sign of disrespect to everyone attending the game.
I understand high stress in close games, but strike outs or pop flys in a must hit situation happens to the best of them. It's a part of the game! I apologize for the rant, but behavior like this on the field really turns my stomach.

 

Last summer, during the 1st round of the American Legion State playoffs, my son's team swept another eastern squad, 3 games to 0 to continue on to the 2nd round. In game 3 of that series, a player on the losing team lambasted one of his teammates in the dugout for making an error. This display was seen & heard by everyone in attendance. Also, this same player, threw a bat in the dugout (also a helmet), that came close to hitting some of his teammates. He basically threw one of the biggest fits I've ever seen by a supposedly adult player. Now, the worst part: this guy was a rising sophomore at a major Division 1 program in this state.

 

Where do they learn it?

I've got a unique experience of watching both HS, travel ball, and LL games as I have children playing all three. No matter what level, you see it. You see it in Travel Ball... 11U tourn this weekend... Coach kicks a bucket of balls and pouts out loud because a player misses a routine fly. At HS level recently... player makes a bad decision and allows a run to score (his team still up by @6), coach walks out to base line and yells to the player...Your the stupidest player on this field! At least 150 people heard it. Not exactly the best way to get young players to stay loose and relaxed.

Many times kids follow the example of the ones who are in charge of them. Parents coddling their "star"...afraid to lay down the law. FYI- On the HS team, not one of the players has imitated the coach in an outburst. They are a steady bunch of young men who are closely monitored by their parents. I do not know any players on the 11U roster that had the pouting coach.

The problem isn't baseball, it's those in society that have no self respect. As a result, they cannot possibly show any respect for anyone or anything. It's all about them. The thing is, they don't care who sees them. No one has done anything about it in the past, so from their perspective... why should they care? It just about makes me sick to see this behavior in these young men, because at some point they will have a job, pull this crap, get fired and wonder why? Then comes the "my boss doesn't like me" pity party. When if someone had corrected him earlier in life, the lesson would have been much easier to learn.

 

Jerry Springer mentality... 15 minutes of wasted fame

 

attitude

My son's high school was hosting their biggest rivals a few years ago. Their "stud" shortstop and cleanup batter did not have a great night and after popping up to make him 0-3 on the night he ran past first base, threw his helmet in to the woods next to the stadium, went to the dugout kicked over some bats and a bucket of balls while cussing and screaming the entire time. What does his coach do? Have a player (a bench warmer) hand him his glove and hat and send 2 other benchwarmers to the woods to get his helmet. Where is that shining star now? Playing D1 for an ACC school! Its a shame. I asked my son what his coach would have done and he shook his head - he said AFTER retrieving the helmet he would have been stripping off his uniform and joining me in the stands.

 

This is an excellent thread, and I hope it is being read by players, coaches, and parents. My son has played baseball since he was five years old and is now 17 playing for our high school. I have seen some incredibly bad behavior from all three groups listed above. None of us are perfect and we let our emotions get the best of us sometimes, (myself included)but baseball is a good example of the deterioration of the decency and class of our society.

I have to say for the most part, the parents I have been around for over a decade are a great bunch of people. Most know their kids are not perfect and won't hesitate to lambast them if they show a bad attitude. Most of the time. And, as was stated earlier, kids' attitudes will most often be reflective of their coach. Coaches need to be cognizant of that and be a class act worthy of respect. When that doesn't happen, we all suffer.

 

Kids attitudes develop from not just coaches, but parents and peers too.... We ALL have a responsibility