A big part of Little League baseball is the All-Star tournaments that decide district and state champions at the end of the season. Every year, Eagledale fields a team that is supposed to “win it all”, but every year, they are only able to achieve the title “lose them all”.
This is in large part due to the coaches. The players on the team are very talented for their age, but the coaches are just complete idiots and inept in everything they do. All it takes is a skilled leader to coach an all-star team. It takes a man (or woman) who can rally the kids to achieve the single goal of winning and to make smart decisions that are based on what is best for the team. The kids on the all-star teams have the skills, but if they can’t put them to good use, than they are being wasted.
The 13-14 year-old All-Star team my brother plays for is coached by a man who has no leadership skills. This All-Star team was compiled from the three Eagledale 13-14 year-old teams, with four players being selected from each, and a fifth player from the team I coached picked as an alternate.
Wednesday this team went into battle against glorious Brownsburg, and lost 11-5. I blame the loss on the coach of this all-star team. I will call him by the alias of “Corey”. These are the reasons I have a problem with the guy.
1. Instead of using the alternate player that’s played baseball his entire life, Corey calls up a 12-year old who played on his team in the regular season. Why would you want a 12-year old on a 13-14 year old team? The alternate player chosen from the team I coached who was supposed to be used in case a player was unable to show up. Well that was thrown out the window for this god sent 12-year old who could run the 40-yard dash in about 3 years.
2. My brother, who plays on a travel team for one of the best leagues in Indiana, is the best all-around player on the team. He can pitch, hit, run, and catch. Yet, he was 6th in the lineup and even played right field for two innings. Yes, that right field, the position designated to the worst player on the team was where my brother was playing at.
3. When my brother did get called in to pitch it was the bottom of the 6th, with the score 8-5. He had not warmed up all night, and only had eight pitches to warm up on. He gave up a three-run homer and walked two batters and told the coach “I’m done”. Some of that can be put on my brother, but Corey should have told my brother earlier that he was gonna pitch and he could have had time to warm up throughout the game.
4. The pitcher he had in before my brother pitched with the speed of a sloth on roller skates. There are at least two pitchers that have more speed and accuracy than that kid. It seems like Corey only wants to play the kids that came off his team, even though they are the worst on the all-star team.
I really try not to judge people that I don’t know on a personal level. I always try to put myself in those people’s shoes and think about how I would want to be treated. Doing that in this situation has left me with the notion that Corey is a complete doofus. He makes decisions that leave me scratching my head and wondering what exactly is he thinking. I would have handled the entire game and everything he has done completely differently.
The saddest part about all of this is the kids. Most of the kids only get to play baseball a few months out of the year, and those months are really cherished. Those are the ones that deserve better. They deserve to get to play the game all summer and be able to feel what it’s like to be on a great team. They deserve a coach that wants to win no matter what; a coach that can put his pride aside and do what’s best to achieve victory.
UPDATED 7/9/2011- The Eagledale 13-14 year-olds won their game today 16-6 and will play tomorrow afternoon.
UPDATED 7/14/2011- This is late, but Eagledale defeated Zionsville on 7/9, then lost to Brownsburg on 7/10. Again, the loss could easily be blamed on the coach for numerous reasons.
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