AtlBlue,
I teach middle school and deal with 13 and 14 years olds every day. My daughter will be 14 in a few months.
You say you coach football. How many times have you seen a catchable pass thrown to a receiver only to see him not move an inch to the ball (assuming he saw the ball and wasn't being held). How many times have you seen the ball hiked and a player remain frozen, not moving, while the play is going on. He may hesitate slightly, but I've never seen one just stand there.
Even if a catcher for some ungodly reason freezes and never moves the to ball and it hits me, I wouldn't eject him. But be sure that I would tell him that that better never happen again. If it happens twice, after being warned not to do it, he is jeopardizing my safety. At that point, the catcher, on the second occurence, has left it up to me to determine intent. Fool me once shame on me, but you won't get a second chance.
I can't imagine that a teenager is that damn brain dead that after being warned they would still let a pitch go by and not a move a muscle for it. The second time it happens, in my judgement, I consider it intentional and he is gone. There needs to be consequences for actions, plain and simple.
When all is said and done, I have a hard time believing that I'll ever have to eject a catcher for that. In all my years of playing baseball, watching baseball and now umpiring baseball, I don't think I ever remember this even happening
Quote:
Originally posted by Atl Blue
"The catcher either moves for the ball or he doesn't. If he doesn't move, it is intentional, period.
"
Spoken by someone who has spent very little time working with the teen aged mind. Not moving is in no way the same thing as intentional. Intentional means, beleive it or not, "with intent". Not moving MIGHT be intentional, but it might also be forgetful, brain dead, zoning out, not concentrating, let the mind wander, or a myriad of other ways of saying, "being a teenager". I coach a high school football team. Kids make dozens of mistakes in a game. Almost of none of them are "intentional", kids forget assignments, miss assignments, get confused about what they are supposed to do so they do nothing.
Good grief, I have seen adults do the same thing driving a car. They aren't sure what to do in a situation, so they do nothing.
Equating not moving with "intentional" is certainly being out of touch with reality.
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