Nine-year-old told he can’t pitch because he’s too good
A 9-year old boy from New Haven, Connecticut named Jericho Scott has been told by his baseball league that he can’t pitch anymore because he throws too hard.
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.”
This is absolutely ridiculous. To make this little boy Jericho think that his team can’t play anymore because of him is an outrage. The league should be ashamed of itself.
On one hand, I get that this is a developmental league and you’d hate to have young kids quit playing the sport because they’re scared. But these kids also have to learn that no matter how old they are, or on what level they’re playing, there will always be players that are better or worse than they are. That comes with playing sports.
What are the league officials really teaching these young men? “Don’t worry, kids, when life gets too hard somebody will be there to always make sure that things are fair.”
The better lesson would be to teach the kids about the game. To teach them that the harder a pitcher throws, the farther the ball can travel if you make contact. Teach them about competition and what it means not to back down when life gets hard.
And how freaking ridiculous is it that the league waited until Jericho’s team was 8-0 and going to the playoffs before they stopped him from pitching? I smell a scandal.
There’s a simple solution here… move the kid up a division.
I remember playing in little league just after they took away the tee. Every pitcher seemed to me like they were throwing 100 miles per hour. In my mind, I didn’t even notice the difference at that young age between who threw hard and who threw soft. What I was probably scared of most was getting beaned. And let me tell you, as soon as I got beaned, I said “well, this isn’t so bad and hey, I got on base.” Age nine, despite what these parents think, is a pretty prime age for kids to decide if they want to stay in the sport. Having Henry Rowengardner chucking his unfathomable fastballs at little Jimmy Pee My Pants is not only fine, but a fair representation of the game. What happens when a behemoth basketball player shows up and blocks every shot, or God forbid commits a foul? Jeez, sports are interesting because of the players that stand out. This rings true at any age.
I agree with what you guys are saying. Infact I coached sports for many years and ran into a similar situation. I had a player that was bigger, faster and many people wanted him gone but I would not hear of it. I found ways to use him and I fought for his right to play and he did.
I have always been troubled by those who want to talk about sports, they want their kids to play sports but yet are unwilling to address the fact that someone is going to loose, it happens, however if you try harder, pratice and learm Teamwork you wont loose for long.
No these people would rather not keep score, let everyone hit, let everyone pitch and create a place for them drink koolaide and eat ice cream.
Never once learning what sport is about.
OK, I agree that booting the kid because he throws too hard is garbage. I also agree that you always keep score. You always compete to the best of your ability. When faced with superior competition, you focus and give everything you can to surpass what you perceive to be your limits. At the end of the game, somebody wins, somebody loses.
But sports are interesting at any age because of the players who stand out? What do you teach a superior player by letting him dominate an inferior league? Not very much if you ask me.
If anything, the other kids are getting the better end of the deal. They’re getting pushed to excel and seeing what it’s like to bat against somebody better than they are.
I played a lot of chess in my life – I always sought out players I knew were better than me, and I considered the time they spent with me a gift. Those were the games where I learned the most. The most engaging and enjoyable competition, however, was always the relatively level competition where the end result was in considerable doubt.
Now pass the freakin’ kool aid.
I think you’re missing the point. I think it goes without saying that competition is desired in any sport, from baseball to chess to hunting, so it’s a foregone conclusion. What I’m saying is that when people go to watch their favorite ball clubs play, they’re rooting for the entire team (of course) but that louder applause that you hear when a guy like Albert Pujols comes up to bat, say what you will, but that’s what brings the fans out. Case in point is the Tampa Bay Rays, they have a fantastic all-around organization, but their lack of a big name star has failed to bring in the fans. And before anyone says it’s not fair to compare this situation to little league baseball: look, I’m just addressing this guy’s point. If the one’s who stand out at any level weren’t important, then rewards like all-star games and miniature trophies that say Team’s Bestest Player wouldn’t exist…and they do exist in little league. Yeah, “it’s just a friendly game,” but take yourself down to the parks and recreation fields and listen to the parents. They want to win, and sorry though it may seem, they can get just a riled up and nasty as fans at major league games. They want to have good players like Henry Rowengardner here, and they’re gonna cheer louder for him than other players when he’s on the mound. Just the way it is, at any level, maybe not chess (haven’t been to any games, the seats are usually sold out). Competition is desired, but people get excited for their favorite players, at any level. I’m sure many more Yankees fans have a Jorge Posada poster hanging over their headboard than Derek Jeter’s.
And it is interesting when there’s a dominant player in a league. It promotes the idea that a team is unbeatable, so you better raise your game to beat them. And they can’t just win with his pitching, they have to hit too ya know, so there’s more talent on this team. By age nine, competition, the idea of winning and losing, is entrenched in a kid’s mind. Losing when you play the best is always a bad feeling, but think if one of these little league team beat the kid with the sling shot arm? That would probably draw more blogging than this little story!
It’s completely foolish to ban a kid just because he’s too good. And it’s also completely foolish to say it’s not exciting to have a player that stands out. Look, he’s only nine, who knows how the age grouping works down there. Obviously, at that age, kids will be getting bigger year by year. By next season Henry Rowengardner could be having Tommy John surgery and be pickin’ dirt in right field while his mom serves him Capri Sun through the chain link fence. He’s not going to dominate forever, so pushing him up to another level may relegate him to a bench player. Kids grow and become better just like everyone else, but individuals will gradually start to separate themselves in every facet of life. And bless this city for having a child phenom—all this coverage may bring Ned Colletti down to the field.
You can have the Kool Aid. I’ll take a beer.
Grrrr – lost my post. Be it sufficient to state that I got the message loud and clear. We simply disagree on the nature and goals of nine year old baseball teams.
I did not suggest that standouts don’t exist or that they do not get rewarded. They do and they should. I do disagree with the statement that sports are interesting because of them at all levels.
I found little league baseball interesting because my son was playing, and I positively refused to cheer more enthusiastically for one nine year old over another.
I still say put the kid in the higher division and see how he fares. He needs to be pushed too.
You’re definitely right in that regard—I wish all parents gave equal support to each player on the team, and showed respect to the other young players on the opposing teams. I just specifically remember many vicious and eccentric parents, screaming, shouting, arguing, etc. They’re displays of fanaticism I think directly help fuel that competitive in nine year olds…wish those type were banned. But I specifically remembering it happening, and we all just got used to it and still tried to win.
And I get what your saying with disagreeing that standouts make sports interesting at all levels. I don’t necessarily even agree with that statement and should have been more clear lest we fill a message board with tireless conversation that would be much more fun over a beer at a ballgame. I actually believe most sports, baseball especially, are incredibly boring to watch when the players are kids who are probably just learning how to do long division. Basketball and soccer can lend a certain speed and physicality that, with A GROUP effort, can make a game interesting. All I’m saying is that having a pitcher, a buck-toothed, floppy-eared ace, dominate a game could really make the game much more interesting for a viewer. This especially rings true for the minutia of a little league game at that age: the past balls, countless stolen bases, poor fielding, you know. Also, same goes for a kid who scores a hat trick every game. Or the kid who can’t miss a three-point shot.
This makes my blood boil.
Don’t move the kid up. He’s a skinny kid, and the older kids would eat him alive. He’s not the problem here. Instead, make the other kids adapt to him. He’s not noticeably bigger, or stronger, than anyone else in the league. Who knows, a year from now, he could be the tenth hardest-throwing pitcher in the league.
If you’re an opposing coach and you’re facing Jericho in your next game, you teach your kids to learn how to hit faster pitches. It disgusts me that none of the coaches are trying to encourage their kids to beat this pitcher, instead making excuses for them to not play him in the first place. Pathetic.
Alot of things here are disturbing. I read alot of great comments about when you was young. When I was 9 I had to face kids in 6th grade that were basically unhitable for us 1st yr kids. I got 1 hit the whole yr. My mom didnt coddle me like this crap that goes on today. It was humbling for me and i practiced to make myself better. I knew my time would come and it did. These parents/coaches should be ashamed…teaching the kids to be quitters. WAHHHHH
As far as not keeping score during these games let me tell you something…..THE KIDS KNOW WHAT THE SCORE IS!!!!!!!! They know who wins/loses. I watch t-ballers and they know. They want to keep score. Parents, the kids learn more in sports if you let them be kids. If little Johnny gets hit/beat…well, that builds character.
Unbelievable