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.
