T-ball Summary - Game 3

Saturday was Boo Jr's third t-ball game. We played a really good game but ended up losing 20 - 15. To restate some of the rules, games last 1 1/2 hours which typically results in a 4-inning game. An inning is over when three outs are recorded or five runs are scored (which ever comes first). Even though the other team technically didn't break any rules, they were not playing very fairly. At this age, a majority of the balls are hit to and fielded by the pitcher. The pitcher of the opposing team would RUN the ball to first base instead of THROWING the ball like our team did. Obviously, it's a LOT easier (and more successful) to run the ball than it is to throw and catch the ball. Because of this, the other team was able to record three outs before five runs were scored. After our coach picked up on this fact, he confronted the opposing coach and called him on the carpet on it. The other coach said, "I don't like it either, but the other teams we played were doing it to us!" We explained that running the ball doesn't teach the kids the fundamentals of baseball. There was also a "gentlemens' agreement" during the coaches' meeting where everyone agreed that kids had to throw the ball. The other coach eventually relented and told his kids they had to throw the ball.

The other team did some additional "unfair" stuff. Our coach rotates all the players so a kid doesn't play the same position every inning. Our coach even rotates some of the better players into the outfield to give the other kids a chance to play the infield. The players on the opposing team didn't rotate at all and obviously had their best players playing at pitcher and first base. You could also tell the opposing coach was positioning and instructing his players to hit the ball down the third baseline.

The parents of the opposing team were out for blood too. The coaches also serve as umpires, and we're fairly liberal when it comes to calling kids out. If the defensive player touches the bag a fraction of a second before the run touches the bag, we'll say that the kid is safe. A number of times, the other parents would scream, "HE'S OUT!!! HE'S OUT!!! HE'S OUT!!!" It's friggin' t-ball folks! This isn't the friggin World Series!

I was really proud of our team because we ran hard and stuck to our guns and played fair. Boo Jr was 2 for 2 again and scored two runs.