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Old Fri Jun 14, 2002, 01:00pm
joemoore joemoore is offline
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Join Date: May 2001
Posts: 71
Quote:
Situation in my last game. Summer league using FED rules between two pretty good teams ages 15-18...he is ticked off because the visiting team is razzing him (he was playing first)...I hear this kids mother to stop the game for the lewd comments the visiting team is making. I still cannot hear anything other that laughing...the kids Dad makes his way to the visiting team's dugout and threatens the assistant.
At this age, mom needs to untie the apron strings. Boys that age are a bit crewd and trying to get in the other team's head is part of the game in my opinion.

The other night, I had an umpire warn the bench for illegal cheering. They were chanting during pitches "Ahhhhhhhhh" a consistent tone from the time the pitcher prepared until the ball reached the catcher. No sudden sounds to distract the pitcher as he is about to make a delivery. I think the umpire made a mistake.

I think there is a line where players need to be able to do as they please. At that age, as long as the comments are not threatening, abusive or taunting, I'm ignoring it. In FED, where there is verbal interference, distracting a player about to catch a pop-up or similar action, I would also enforce that.

As for the father threatening a coach, at that point, I would try to calm the person down. I would listen to him for about 2 minutes and give him a chance to explain what he heard. I would then tell him whether what he heard was grounds for action if I heard the same thing. After that, I would give him his options: 1) calm down and stay away from the dugout 2) take your son off the field 3) leave. If he refused to take one of those choices, I would insist he be removed since he is affecting the game.

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