|
Years ago, when I was coaching in a USSSA tournament, we played a team that employed this tactic. One of our DH/P/C guys (a beast!) was the kind of guy you'd play at fullback if you saw the way he ran as an oversized kid (6'0''/220 at 14). He was chugging toward third on a pitch that bounced, and when he arrived at the bag, he gave a late, hard, but clean slide that sent F5 flying, with his glove, hat and sunglasses flying in different directions. The F5, perhaps 150 pounds, wound up 15 feet from the bag when he was done rolling. He couldn't continue.
Now I didn't urge anybody to do this, but when I asked the kid why he separated him like that, he just replied that he saw the guy blocking the bag and he wanted to make sure he reached the bag despite his blocking it.
The point is: Coaches who teach their infielders to block the bag with their leg should be the ones that get separated. It is absolutely one of the most dangerous practices one can employ on a baseball field, and everyone who teaches it--irrespective of the level of play--should not be around developing ballplayers.
These kinds of coaches are the reason that America is losing its grip on the sport that we invented. The percentage of American-born ballplayers in the professional ranks is dropping every year. It can't afford to have bucket-carrying fanboys posing as baseball coaches feeding this buIIsh!t to our young players. Even many high school coaches fit this profile. But nearly all youth coaches do.
Some players actually deserve to play effective baseball beyond the age of 14. It's too bad there's not a system in place that trains them effectively.
|
Mon Jul 12, 2010, 02:01pm
Similar Threads
Hybrid Mode
