| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| CharlieHustle |
Posted - 10/25/2010 : 15:50:33
We played in a 10U tournament this weekend, and in one of the games, the opposing coaches got very upset about one of the chants that our kids were doing. The exact chant goes "I smell pepper..Ahh..Ahh..Choo!" just as the pitcher throws the ball.
I did not think anything about it, but the opposing coaches felt that it was very unsportsman-like. Of course, this was in a bracket game in which they lost by a run when our team scored 4 runs in the bottom of the last inning for a come from behind win. Perhaps that was the source of their anger ? In any case, they were extremely angry about the chanting. I do not like to be around this kind of anger / drama during my recreational time.
I would really like to hear some other opinions on this. Was that chant out of line ? The umpire did not think it was inappropriate. |
| 25 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| bballman |
Posted - 11/12/2010 : 21:46:08
Good point nasty. Last year, my sons HS team was playing. The other team was winning, scored 5 runs in an inning and a third. They brought my son in - he is a small guy, 5'9", sophmore at the time - and the other team was really heckling him and trash talking. Well, he went the next 5 2/3 giving up 1 hit, 1 run and 7 K's. They shut up pretty quickly. So, some of the trash talking goes on even at the varsity level. Some teams are worse than others. It's still not the same as the chants and timely distractions, but there can be a lot of razzing and the best way to stop it is to shut them down. |
| nastycurve |
Posted - 11/12/2010 : 21:20:17
I tell my boys two things...
1. If you feel like talking, don't, just whip the other team. Actions speak much louder than words.
2. If the other team is talking and you dont like it, you can shut them up by whipping them.
I played multiple sports through high school, and trash talk has always been and always will be part of sports. Its not that big of a deal in my opinion. The easiest way to shut it up is to play well. I was at a middle school game where a coach put a very large, sloooow throwing kid on the mound. The opposing team cracked jokes and made noises while he warmed up. He got them to out 1-2-3. The jokes and noises stopped. |
| coach0512 |
Posted - 11/11/2010 : 15:46:04
Had a kid in our dugout at the last game who would jump on a plastic water bottle just as the pitcher was coming down from his wind up. I thought it was not on purpose the first three times but then had to tell him to knock it off as it became obvious what he was doing. We had a discussion with all the players after the game that we would leave the noise making and chatter to the classless teams. |
| CharlieHustle |
Posted - 11/11/2010 : 13:06:21
I apologize if my last reply came across as overly strong. As I stated earlier, I do appreciate all of the responses. Let me clarify a couple of points: the chants were most definitely not taught or encouraged by the coaches. (I found out later that a kid that was not a regular on our team started the pepper chant). This was a one time isolated incident, not a regular occurence. As I also stated, I hate all of the chants - my head rings from them after the games. I talked to the kids about chants, and we agreed that if you would not like it done to you, then don't do it to someone else. We will not allow any chants that are can be viewed as distracting. Thanks again for all of the feedback. |
| Blue |
Posted - 11/10/2010 : 21:44:27
I can't blame the kids since they are only doing what they were taught. But that kind of behavior is a very poor reflection on the coaches and parents.
What's worse than kids chanting like that? Parents doing it. It's not terribly common but I've witnessed it. Pathetic behavior and absolutely not in the spirit of youth baseball. |
| HITANDRUN |
Posted - 11/10/2010 : 15:34:29
quote:
Originally posted by Alter-Ego
It starts to tail off at the end of 12U and the beginning of 13U.
Funny thing is, it starts back up in College and is brutal between rival schools.
Colleges? Maybe in the student body in the stands I have never heard a College Baseball team chanting. Softball but not baseball. What college did you hear doing this? I haven't watched a lot of college games lately maybe I have missed something. |
| Tribe |
Posted - 11/10/2010 : 13:19:07
Take it easy Charlie. In your original post, you asked the community's opinion. The community responded overwhelmingly against most types of chatter. I'm guessing you didn't get the response you were hoping for, but now you know where most people stand on the issue. |
| thegoat |
Posted - 11/10/2010 : 12:36:30
What is this golf? |
| bballman |
Posted - 11/10/2010 : 10:49:19
I really think there is a big difference between cheering for your teammates and getting into the game and doing things to purposely distract another team's players. That is poor sportsmanship. I would prefer to teach my kids the right way to do things from the start. If they practice something wrong from a young age, it will be very difficult to stop it when they get older. Maybe that's why some college kids can act like a bunch of idiots at times. It still doesn't make it right in my mind. I would suspect that the college kids are not screaming "balk" at the pitcher just as he is about to release, or calling "I got it" to distract a fielder, or coming up with irritating chants to get on the other teams nerves.
What is good sportsmanship is good sportsmanship regardless of how old the players are or what level they play. |
| CharlieHustle |
Posted - 11/10/2010 : 10:12:45
I do believe that it bothers the coaches and parents a whole lot more than it bothers the kids. I think that the kids just tune it out. As others have said - go watch a college game between rivals and listen to what goes on. Again, this is baseball and not golf. Many in these forums love to pronounce behavior that they do not care for "Bush League" (this term is way over-used here). These are kids and really these are the bush leagues. Last time I checked, we are not posting in the mlb.com forums. Before passing judgement on a type of behavior, ask your child what he thinks. Remember he is the one actually playing the game, not you.  |
| bballman |
Posted - 11/09/2010 : 18:11:09
I would say, do you see MLB players doing it? If not, don't do it. Those guys still have fun in the dugout and get real excited when they win, but all the little antics you see some of these teams doing is not part of the game. At least in my pea sized mind. |
| kingdog01 |
Posted - 11/09/2010 : 16:09:32
My son is an 11U pitcher...when he is on base sometimes he claps trying to distract the opposing pitcher. After reading all of this I spoke to him about it and he said that he thought that it was just part of the game and that you have to be mentally tough. He said that he would stop if it is considered poor sportsmanship. Is this the type of behavior you are talking about...perhaps this is ignorance because we would not ever want to be poor sports, classless, or rednecks? |
| Triple |
Posted - 10/29/2010 : 16:09:48
Rednecks?, Definitely. Although, I think most were talking about younger kids and not high school age. |
| Taterhater |
Posted - 10/29/2010 : 09:41:42
I coached baseball at a high school in extreme northwest Georgia for several years and our dugouts were always rowdy. The opposing dugouts were too, at times. I found that this behavior was rare inside metro Atlanta, but not at all rare outside of it. Strange, I know. Not sure why that is, but I am not the only coach that noticed it.
Maybe we were just a bunch of rednecks? |
| scottwill311 |
Posted - 10/28/2010 : 19:50:31
Cracked,
At 15U? Someone would get a fastball on the butt cheek until it stops! |
| crackedbats |
Posted - 10/28/2010 : 16:17:07
just saw it this past weekend in the 15u TC State. Opposing players trying to distract the pitcher as they were throwing. Classless to say the least. |
| Alter-Ego |
Posted - 10/26/2010 : 17:05:01
It starts to tail off at the end of 12U and the beginning of 13U.
Funny thing is, it starts back up in College and is brutal between rival schools. |
| bluecup |
Posted - 10/26/2010 : 15:04:17
For comments or chants that are directed at a player, I'd bring it up to the umpire and refer to MLB Rule 4.06(a) which is usually incorporated into every organization's rules by reference:
(a) No manager, player, substitute, coach, trainer or batboy shall at any time, whether from the bench, the coach’s box or on the playing field, or elsewhere --
(2) Use language which will in any manner refer to or reflect upon opposing players, an umpire, or any spectator;
(3) Call “Time,” or employ any other word or phrase or commit any act while the ball is alive and in play for the obvious purpose of trying to make the pitcher commit a balk.
http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/official_info/official_rules/start_end_4.jsp
|
| Tribe |
Posted - 10/26/2010 : 14:27:14
Chirps, timed screams to disrupt a swing or a delivery, and other assorted disruptions are never taught or allowed by good quality coaches. Haven't seen this since 11U, and have never seen it practiced by competitive teams. Bush |
| zwndad |
Posted - 10/26/2010 : 13:27:07
From my experience, I saw it go away last year (my kids' first year in high school). I saw it all the way from 10U through 14U (the ages my kids played travel). |
| CharlieHustle |
Posted - 10/26/2010 : 10:13:22
I sincerely appreciate all of the responses that have been posted. I personally do not like the chants. I sit in the dugout and keep the book and those chants reverberate through my head for a long time after the game. My son is not the chanting type and does not participate. I really never thought of it as unsportsmanlike because when I played Little League in the 70s we all chanted hey batter, batter, batter….. swing.  Distractions will always exist – this is baseball not golf.
I do think that if the opposing coach had just handled the situation a little differently, the anger and drama could have been avoided. If he had just called a meeting at the plate with our coach and asked politely for us to stop it, we would have ended it. In the future, I will prevent our kids from yelling these type of chants. |
| Triple |
Posted - 10/26/2010 : 09:18:18
I've heard this kind of "dugout chatter", "chanting" and yelling at the pitch delivery, etc. although I hear it less and less. I have to agree 100% with what everyone has posted here. It's not ok. Let the kids play. It teaches and encourages bad sportsmanship. I'm embarrassed for the parents of the players and the coaches for letting that behavior go on. I always tell my boys if it starts up in our dugout, they are not to join in. I don't want to win if it takes being disrespectful to another child in order to do it. |
| Spartan4 |
Posted - 10/26/2010 : 00:23:01
LOL, I didn't know which Charlie you were talking too...For the guys with older boys, what age does this disappear?? I know in high school this would never go down, but I don't really remember it past 8yr old rec ball, and that was just hey batter batter stuff.....Never yelling in a windup or going after one particular player. |
| in_the_know |
Posted - 10/25/2010 : 22:29:21
Charlie, it's bush league. Buckeye puts it in proper context. Any of the chatter coming from the dugout should be directed at their own team/team mates and should be positive encouragement. Do that sort of thing at the older ages and watch your players get ear-holed by the opposing pitcher. |
| Spartan4 |
Posted - 10/25/2010 : 22:24:35
I don't really like any kind of cheering, mainly because you never see it at the older ages.....Mine is a pitcher and I can tell you that kids yelling in his windup gets under our skin... Down in FLA a completely classless team kept yelling BALK!!!! in his windup, eventually he will be old enough to deal with this on his own. That is what I love about the game of baseball, it polices itself. There are ways to deal with classless teams, showing off, and stealing signs. |
