Coaching Question (1 Viewer)

[Cjw_55106]

14 year old kids (8th graders) playing baseball in a 0-0 game last night. They usually play 7 innings, we are in the bottom of the 8th. Two outs and a runner is approaching 3rd as the CF picks up the ball. The runner hesitates, the CF raises his arm to throw and then puts it back down when he sees the runner isnt going. The runner changes his mind and the CF reloads and throws him out by five feet. The fans are pretty pumped up and the kids are happy. When they go in the dugout, the coach says nothing of the throw and criticizes the CF for holding the ball too long and says if the ball was in sooner, the runner would have never tried to go in the first place.

My thoughts:

While a coach should try to point out things that can be done better, I feel there is a time and place for that. To me, this isnt the time for that discussion to take place. If you simply cant fathom skipping the "coaching moment" at that time, I think its best to say something in passing after telling the kid he made a great throw.

"Hey great throw! Next time lets get it in right away so the runner doesnt think about going".

Am I off base here? Is the coach right and Im wrong?

 

[Parrothead]

great throw kid.. don't ever ####### do that again

 

[eoMMan]

Meh. Either way is fine as long as he learns.

 

[Patriotsfatboy1]

How much is the coach getting paid?

I am willing to bet that this coach has said 100 times to his outfielders to not hold the ball and to throw it in. Nothing good can come from holding onto the ball. I would guess that the coach was reiterating that (again) to the player. Once you are in coaching mode, you don't just turn it on and off.

I am not going to look it up, but have you had other threads of MMQB going on? Same coach?

 

[Peak]

Depends if the team has constant issues of getting the ball in from the outfield. My son's team tries to run a ball in so they can say "Time!" instead of throwing it in to 2nd or 3rd. Of course these are 8yo and not 14yo, so they are still in that learning phase.

 

[Cjw_55106]

How much is the coach getting paid?

Probably close to a million dollars, but I dont see why that matters.

 

[Pipes]

Coach is right. OF need to learn to get the ball in right away and yes he threw him out this time but next time he may not be so lucky. Are you an assistant coach?

 

[jon_mx]

The coach is wrong, IMHO. If the runner holds the CF should run the ball in. Making a hard throw when unnecessary creates the possibility of a throwing error.

 

[Patriotsfatboy1]

How much is the coach getting paid?

Probably close to a million dollars, but I dont see why that matters.

You get what you pay for. If the guy is a volunteer, you might want to give him a break. If he you don't like how he does it, offer to help out.

I have coached several sports for years. I wish I always said the perfect thing to every kid. It is just not possible.

 

[Patriotsfatboy1]

The coach is wrong, IMHO. If the runner holds the CF should run the ball in. Making a hard throw when unnecessary creates the possibility of a throwing error.

14yo should NEVER run the ball in from the OF. They are playing on 90 foot basepaths and 300+ ft fences. This is not LL.

 

[Cjw_55106]

The coach is wrong, IMHO. If the runner holds the CF should run the ball in. Making a hard throw when unnecessary creates the possibility of a throwing error.

14yo should NEVER run the ball in from the OF. They are playing on 90 foot basepaths and 300+ ft fences. This is not LL.

I guess I should point out that this was an overthrow so the CF was maybe 20 feet from the 2nd baseman when he picked it up.

 

[Cjw_55106]

Coach is right. OF need to learn to get the ball in right away and yes he threw him out this time but next time he may not be so lucky. Are you an assistant coach?

I do not coach this team in any capacity. I have coached many of the kids in various sports over the years including this season's school baseball team.

 

[jon_mx]

The coach is wrong, IMHO. If the runner holds the CF should run the ball in. Making a hard throw when unnecessary creates the possibility of a throwing error.

14yo should NEVER run the ball in from the OF. They are playing on 90 foot basepaths and 300+ ft fences. This is not LL.

I guess I should point out that this was an overthrow so the CF was maybe 20 feet from the 2nd baseman when he picked it up.

Even more so. The ball was already in. It is stupid to make a throw to the catcher.

 

[Pipes]

The coach is wrong, IMHO. If the runner holds the CF should run the ball in. Making a hard throw when unnecessary creates the possibility of a throwing error.

14yo should NEVER run the ball in from the OF. They are playing on 90 foot basepaths and 300+ ft fences. This is not LL.

I guess I should point out that this was an overthrow so the CF was maybe 20 feet from the 2nd baseman when he picked it up.

This completely changes it then. I was picturing the CF standing with the ball in the middle of the OF daring the runner to go. In this scenario the coach should told him good throw and then coached him up. Sounds like he is already doing a good job if the OFs are backing up overthrows.

 

[jon_mx]

The coach is wrong, IMHO. If the runner holds the CF should run the ball in. Making a hard throw when unnecessary creates the possibility of a throwing error.

14yo should NEVER run the ball in from the OF. They are playing on 90 foot basepaths and 300+ ft fences. This is not LL.

If the ball was by the fence you would have a good point.

 

[Patriotsfatboy1]

The coach is wrong, IMHO. If the runner holds the CF should run the ball in. Making a hard throw when unnecessary creates the possibility of a throwing error.

14yo should NEVER run the ball in from the OF. They are playing on 90 foot basepaths and 300+ ft fences. This is not LL.

I guess I should point out that this was an overthrow so the CF was maybe 20 feet from the 2nd baseman when he picked it up.

He is playing essentially an infield position at this point, so he can run it in towards the mound. It is sort of a gray area at that point and I would not have said something to the kid. However, it sounds like there may be more to the story.

A more important question is what the hell is wrong with the 3B coach sending a kid who is at 3rd with the ball in shallow center?

 

[Pipes]

Coach is right. OF need to learn to get the ball in right away and yes he threw him out this time but next time he may not be so lucky. Are you an assistant coach?

I do not coach this team in any capacity. I have coached many of the kids in various sports over the years including this season's school baseball team.

I asked this because if you aren't an assistant how did you hear the entire conversation? Maybe the coach complimented the throw after his initial coaching moment.

 

[Patriotsfatboy1]

The coach is wrong, IMHO. If the runner holds the CF should run the ball in. Making a hard throw when unnecessary creates the possibility of a throwing error.

14yo should NEVER run the ball in from the OF. They are playing on 90 foot basepaths and 300+ ft fences. This is not LL.

If the ball was by the fence you would have a good point.

No, if he were playing CF then I have a good point. He was backing up the play and was in very shallow center.

BTW "throwing the ball in" means to get it to the cutoff (2B in this case) and NOT to the catcher.

 

[Cjw_55106]

There isnt more to the story.

As for the coach sending the kid....who knows. Guess he figures it would take a near perfect throw to get the kid out and went for it. Maybe they had a poor hitter up and he figured the chances were better now than with the batter?

 

[Cjw_55106]

Coach is right. OF need to learn to get the ball in right away and yes he threw him out this time but next time he may not be so lucky. Are you an assistant coach?

I do not coach this team in any capacity. I have coached many of the kids in various sports over the years including this season's school baseball team.

I asked this because if you aren't an assistant how did you hear the entire conversation? Maybe the coach complimented the throw after his initial coaching moment.

Two of the players told me what was said.

 

[Pipes]

Coach is right. OF need to learn to get the ball in right away and yes he threw him out this time but next time he may not be so lucky. Are you an assistant coach?

I do not coach this team in any capacity. I have coached many of the kids in various sports over the years including this season's school baseball team.

I asked this because if you aren't an assistant how did you hear the entire conversation? Maybe the coach complimented the throw after his initial coaching moment.

Two of the players told me what was said.

He could've gone to the kid later and had a private conversation with him. I do that all the time with the kids I coach.

 

[Cjw_55106]

Coach is right. OF need to learn to get the ball in right away and yes he threw him out this time but next time he may not be so lucky. Are you an assistant coach?

I do not coach this team in any capacity. I have coached many of the kids in various sports over the years including this season's school baseball team.

I asked this because if you aren't an assistant how did you hear the entire conversation? Maybe the coach complimented the throw after his initial coaching moment.

Two of the players told me what was said.

He could've gone to the kid later and had a private conversation with him. I do that all the time with the kids I coach.

He could, but he hasnt yet and this was yesterday.

That isnt my point anyways. The game is suppose to be fun and the kids were having a great moment and he chose to piss on it IMO.

 

[jon_mx]

The coach is wrong, IMHO. If the runner holds the CF should run the ball in. Making a hard throw when unnecessary creates the possibility of a throwing error.

14yo should NEVER run the ball in from the OF. They are playing on 90 foot basepaths and 300+ ft fences. This is not LL.

If the ball was by the fence you would have a good point.

No, if he were playing CF then I have a good point. He was backing up the play and was in very shallow center.

BTW "throwing the ball in" means to get it to the cutoff (2B in this case) and NOT to the catcher.

The facts of the case were the kid rounded third and stopped then proceeded to run and the kid was thrown out by a long ways. The kid was obviously in short centerfield and could make the throw home without the cutoff. Again, if the play requires a cutoff, you would have good point. From the facts that were presented, it did not seem necessary to make the throw once the runner stopped. You run the ball in, and try to catch the runner in a pickle. You do not make throw.

 

[GOB]

Sounds like it was your kid. Tell him to throw the ball in next time because this isn't the Bad News Bears.

 

[Cjw_55106]

Sounds like it was your kid. Tell him to throw the ball in next time because this isn't the Bad News Bears.

Actaully it wasn't, but thanks for the input.

 

[jon_mx]

Coach is right. OF need to learn to get the ball in right away and yes he threw him out this time but next time he may not be so lucky. Are you an assistant coach?

I do not coach this team in any capacity. I have coached many of the kids in various sports over the years including this season's school baseball team.

I asked this because if you aren't an assistant how did you hear the entire conversation? Maybe the coach complimented the throw after his initial coaching moment.

Two of the players told me what was said.

He could've gone to the kid later and had a private conversation with him. I do that all the time with the kids I coach.

He could, but he hasnt yet and this was yesterday.That isnt my point anyways. The game is suppose to be fun and the kids were having a great moment and he chose to piss on it IMO.

Because the coach was a simpleton. He probably did instruct the kids to throw the ball in immediately, which is probably the right play 90 percent of the time. The kid instead made an intelligent decision and a more advance play but that pissed off the coach.

 

[eoMMan]

Was the kid Cuban?

 

[belljr]

Um if he doesn't hold it that run might score next batterhth

 

[Johnny Bing]

There probably isn't a right or a wrong answer.

If it were me I'd pat him on the back on heck of a throw. Either later that night or at the next practice I'd talk to the entire team about getting the ball in quicker. Because since you didn't address it the team sees him being congratulated and that habit may be shown as the way to play the position.

Even though Willie Mays Hays had a great throw, we don't want to put ourselves in that position. We always want our outfielders to get the ball in right away and not tease or "dare" the runner to go.

 

[Politician Spock]

Any well coached runner doesn't stop in that situation. So yes, the correct thing for the outfielder to do is to get the ball in as soon as possible.

This however is a situation where the runner isn't well coached, and as such holding the ball until the runner decided where he was headed was a better strategy.

If you're playing stupid people, then take advantege of their stupidity.

 

[chet]

I wouldn't expect great coaching out of a grade 8 coach. He could have handled it better but then he'd probably be coaching a better team.

 

[Cjw_55106]

I wouldn't expect great coaching out of a grade 8 coach. He could have handled it better but then he'd probably be coaching a better team.

This is a pretty naive comment.

 

[Patriotsfatboy1]

Coach is right. OF need to learn to get the ball in right away and yes he threw him out this time but next time he may not be so lucky. Are you an assistant coach?

I do not coach this team in any capacity. I have coached many of the kids in various sports over the years including this season's school baseball team.

I asked this because if you aren't an assistant how did you hear the entire conversation? Maybe the coach complimented the throw after his initial coaching moment.

Two of the players told me what was said.

He could've gone to the kid later and had a private conversation with him. I do that all the time with the kids I coach.

He could, but he hasnt yet and this was yesterday.That isnt my point anyways. The game is suppose to be fun and the kids were having a great moment and he chose to piss on it IMO.

Was this a rec league or a tournament? I like the non-competitive thing, but we don't have much of that for 14 year olds where I live. After 12, it is just competitive and the kids have fun by winning and getting better. We have a much shorter season.

 

[Gordang]

14 year old kids (8th graders) playing baseball in a 0-0 game last night. They usually play 7 innings, we are in the bottom of the 8th. Two outs and a runner is approaching 3rd as the CF picks up the ball. The runner hesitates, the CF raises his arm to throw and then puts it back down when he sees the runner isnt going. The runner changes his mind and the CF reloads and throws him out by five feet. The fans are pretty pumped up and the kids are happy. When they go in the dugout, the coach says nothing of the throw and criticizes the CF for holding the ball too long and says if the ball was in sooner, the runner would have never tried to go in the first place.

My thoughts:

While a coach should try to point out things that can be done better, I feel there is a time and place for that. To me, this isnt the time for that discussion to take place. If you simply cant fathom skipping the "coaching moment" at that time, I think its best to say something in passing after telling the kid he made a great throw.

"Hey great throw! Next time lets get it in right away so the runner doesnt think about going".

Am I off base here? Is the coach right and Im wrong?

Your life must be really boring if you can afford to give so much worry to something so silly.

 

[Officer Pete Malloy]

LINK

 

[meatwad1]

Coach is right. OF need to learn to get the ball in right away and yes he threw him out this time but next time he may not be so lucky. Are you an assistant coach?

I do not coach this team in any capacity. I have coached many of the kids in various sports over the years including this season's school baseball team.

I asked this because if you aren't an assistant how did you hear the entire conversation? Maybe the coach complimented the throw after his initial coaching moment.

Two of the players told me what was said.

Yes...lets rely on seventh graders to get to the bottom of what was said.

Plus, he is the coach...unless he was abusive to the kid, who cares what his advice was? If you don't like it, you should volunteer to coach seventh grade baseball.