I read an online article today written by Kevin Hench at
http://msn.foxsports.com/other/story/8495030?MSNHPHMA
In this article Hench writes about a 9-year-old boy being banned from pitching in the Youth Baseball League of New Haven, Connecticut because he throws too hard. According to the article, the pitcher, Jericho Scott, throws the ball at least 40 miles per hour, and parents of children on the other teams in the league are afraid their children will be injured.
The article states that Scott’s team was undefeated through eight games, but does not say how many of those games Scott pitched. After eight games, the league officials informed Coach Wilfred Vidro that Scott would no longer be allowed to pitch. He could play other positions, but if he continued to pitch, the team would be disbanded. When Coach Vidro sent Scott to the mound to start a game last week, the other team refused to play. Scott’s team was disbanded with players from the team assigned to other teams in the league.
If my father reads this (and I’m sure he will because I’m sending a copy of it to him), I’m sure his first thought (as was mine) is, “What a bunch of candy asses.” My goodness, why do parents let their children play sports if they don’t want their children to compete? Are they really afraid Jericho Scott is going to hurt somebody? Is that really what’s going on? If Jericho Scott is such an intimidating pitcher, why did it take until the team was 8-0 for the league to decide he couldn’t pitch any more?
Hench’s article states that despite throwing 40 mph, Scott has never hit a batter. The article also states that batters wear helmets with facemasks for protection. The article does not tell us how the 40 mph velocity was measured (did the league use a radar gun?) or if any other pitchers’ speeds were tested. I wonder if, after the league determined that 40 mph is too fast, they set a speed limit that they feel is okay.
And how do they decide what speed is too fast? If 40 mph is too fast, is 39 okay? Or 38? (Maybe they would prefer a rule similar to slow-pitch softball in which the pitch must have an arc of six feet) And once the official speed limit is set, how do they enforce it? Does someone stand on the sidelines with a radar gun to measure each pitch, and then rule that any pitch exceeding the speed limit is an illegal pitch? And what if a pitch exceeds the speed limit, but the batter swings and hits it over the fence? Is the homerun disallowed because the pitcher threw too hard?
As noted above, Scott has never hit a batter with a pitch. That’s pretty good pitching for a nine-year-old, no matter how hard he throws. I would ask the parents, “Would you rather have your child come to the plate against a pitcher who throws 40 mph and is accurate, or a pitcher who throws 35 mph and is wild?”
It’s interesting that this article appeared less than a week after the completion of the Little League World Series. I watched a number of those games on TV and never heard any complaints that the pitcher threw the ball too hard or that a batter hit the ball too far. Maybe that’s part of how a team makes it to the World Series—You play against whomever the other team puts on the field; you play your hardest; and generally, the better team wins. That’s baseball.
Mr. Hench writes about the lessons the children in this league will learn from this episode. Read his article. I agree with what he says. I appreciate how he says it. I will say that baseball (as well as most sports) can be dangerous. Kids do get hurt playing baseball. Occasionally, and tragically, someone is paralyzed or killed. It happens. That’s life. Getting hurt is part of the game. And getting hurt (or seeing teammate get hurt) is often what is remembered the longest.
I played Little League Baseball in the 1960s. One day at practice, Johnny Park was on the mound warming up to pitch, and my dad, the team manager, was hitting balls to the outfielders. Just as Johnny was getting ready to throw a pitch, my father tossed a ball into the air and hit it. Unfortunately, the ball came off the bat and hit Johnny right in the nuts. Back in those days, only the catcher wore a cup, so Johnny was bent over for a while, but he was pitching again before the end of practice.
Later that season, Danny Rich was hit in the knee by a pitched ball during a game. The ball had been thrown so hard that was not able to continue playing, and the indentation from the seam of the ball was visible for two days. That happened to be the last game of the season, so he didn’t play any more baseball that year, but he did play football that fall without any problems.
I played baseball at one level or another from the time I was eight-years-old through my junior year in high school. In all those years, I was never injured. When I think about those days, what I tend to remember most is standing in the batter’s box, staring at a pitcher a couple of years older, several inches taller, and quite a few pounds heavier than I. Was I intimidated? Yes. Was I afraid? You bet. Did I get a hit? Sometimes yes, sometimes no. Sometimes I struck out. And a few times, the pitch hit me. But I stood in there and took my swings. What will the players from Connecticut remember?
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Saturday, August 23, 2008
The Five Minute Management Course
The following was sent to me by my daughter, Kathy. There’s too much wisdom here not to pass it along.
Lesson 1:
A man is getting into the shower just as his wife is finishing up her shower, when the doorbell rings.
The wife quickly wraps herself in a towel and runs downstairs. When she opens the door, there stands Bob, the next-door neighbor.
Before she says a word, Bob says, “I'll give you $800 to drop that towel.”
After thinking for a moment, the woman drops her towel and stands naked in front of Bob. After a few seconds, Bob hands her $800 and leaves.
The woman wraps back up in the towel and goes back upstairs.
When she gets to the bathroom, her husband asks, “Who was that?”
“It was Bob the next door neighbor,” she replies.
“Great,” the husband says, “did he say anything about the $800 he owes me?”
Moral of the story:
If you share critical information pertaining to credit and risk with your shareholders in time, you may be in a position to prevent avoidable exposure.
Lesson 2:
A sales rep, an administration clerk, and the manager are walking to lunch when they find an antique oil lamp. They rub it and a Genie comes out.
The Genie says, “I'll give each of you just one wish.”
“Me first! Me first!” says the admin clerk. “I want to be in the Bahamas, driving a speedboat, without a care in the world.”
Puff! She's gone.
“Me next! Me next!” says the sales rep. “I want to be in Hawaii , relaxing on the beach with my personal masseuse, an endless supply of Pina Coladas and the love of my life.”
Puff! He's gone.
“OK, you're up,” the Genie says to the manager.
The manager says, “I want those two back in the office after lunch.”
Moral of the story:
Always let your boss have the first say.
Lesson 3:
An eagle was sitting on a tree resting, doing nothing.
A small rabbit saw the eagle and asked him, “Can I also sit like you and do nothing?”
The eagle answered, “Sure, why not.”
So, the rabbit sat on the ground below the eagle and rested. All of a sudden, a fox appeared, jumped on the rabbit and ate it.
Moral of the story:
To be sitting and doing nothing, you must be sitting very, very high up.
Lesson 4:
A turkey was chatting with a bull.
“I would love to be able to get to the top of that tree,” sighed the turkey, “but I haven't got the energy.”
“Well, why don't you nibble on some of my droppings?” replied the bull. “They're packed with nutrients.”
The turkey pecked at a lump of dung, and found it actually gave him enough strength to reach the lowest branch of the tree.
The next day, after eating some more dung, he reached the second branch.
Finally after a fourth night, the turkey was proudly perched at the top of the tree.
He was promptly spotted by a farmer, who shot him out of the tree.
Moral of the story:
Bull crap might get you to the top, but it won't keep you there..
Lesson 5:
A little bird was flying south for the winter. It was so cold the bird froze and fell to the ground into a large field.
While he was lying there, a cow came by and dropped some dung on him.
As the frozen bird lay there in the pile of cow dung, he began to realize how warm he was. The dung was actually thawing him out! He lay there all warm and happy, and soon began to sing for joy.
A passing cat heard the bird singing and came to investigate. Following the sound, the cat discovered the bird under the pile of cow dung, and promptly dug him out and ate him.
Morals of the story:
(1) Not everyone who craps on you is your enemy.
(2) Not everyone who gets you out of crap is your
friend.
(3) And when you're in deep crap, it's best to keep
your mouth shut!
Lesson 1:
A man is getting into the shower just as his wife is finishing up her shower, when the doorbell rings.
The wife quickly wraps herself in a towel and runs downstairs. When she opens the door, there stands Bob, the next-door neighbor.
Before she says a word, Bob says, “I'll give you $800 to drop that towel.”
After thinking for a moment, the woman drops her towel and stands naked in front of Bob. After a few seconds, Bob hands her $800 and leaves.
The woman wraps back up in the towel and goes back upstairs.
When she gets to the bathroom, her husband asks, “Who was that?”
“It was Bob the next door neighbor,” she replies.
“Great,” the husband says, “did he say anything about the $800 he owes me?”
Moral of the story:
If you share critical information pertaining to credit and risk with your shareholders in time, you may be in a position to prevent avoidable exposure.
Lesson 2:
A sales rep, an administration clerk, and the manager are walking to lunch when they find an antique oil lamp. They rub it and a Genie comes out.
The Genie says, “I'll give each of you just one wish.”
“Me first! Me first!” says the admin clerk. “I want to be in the Bahamas, driving a speedboat, without a care in the world.”
Puff! She's gone.
“Me next! Me next!” says the sales rep. “I want to be in Hawaii , relaxing on the beach with my personal masseuse, an endless supply of Pina Coladas and the love of my life.”
Puff! He's gone.
“OK, you're up,” the Genie says to the manager.
The manager says, “I want those two back in the office after lunch.”
Moral of the story:
Always let your boss have the first say.
Lesson 3:
An eagle was sitting on a tree resting, doing nothing.
A small rabbit saw the eagle and asked him, “Can I also sit like you and do nothing?”
The eagle answered, “Sure, why not.”
So, the rabbit sat on the ground below the eagle and rested. All of a sudden, a fox appeared, jumped on the rabbit and ate it.
Moral of the story:
To be sitting and doing nothing, you must be sitting very, very high up.
Lesson 4:
A turkey was chatting with a bull.
“I would love to be able to get to the top of that tree,” sighed the turkey, “but I haven't got the energy.”
“Well, why don't you nibble on some of my droppings?” replied the bull. “They're packed with nutrients.”
The turkey pecked at a lump of dung, and found it actually gave him enough strength to reach the lowest branch of the tree.
The next day, after eating some more dung, he reached the second branch.
Finally after a fourth night, the turkey was proudly perched at the top of the tree.
He was promptly spotted by a farmer, who shot him out of the tree.
Moral of the story:
Bull crap might get you to the top, but it won't keep you there..
Lesson 5:
A little bird was flying south for the winter. It was so cold the bird froze and fell to the ground into a large field.
While he was lying there, a cow came by and dropped some dung on him.
As the frozen bird lay there in the pile of cow dung, he began to realize how warm he was. The dung was actually thawing him out! He lay there all warm and happy, and soon began to sing for joy.
A passing cat heard the bird singing and came to investigate. Following the sound, the cat discovered the bird under the pile of cow dung, and promptly dug him out and ate him.
Morals of the story:
(1) Not everyone who craps on you is your enemy.
(2) Not everyone who gets you out of crap is your
friend.
(3) And when you're in deep crap, it's best to keep
your mouth shut!
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