Bone Head Coaches

I see it week in and week out! Bone head coaches ruining the game, and why our youth is growing up spoiled and whiners!

Tonight at a tournament in Wilmington a coach is in a tied ballgame, and they are in the top half of the last inning. He has a runner on 2nd and two outs. So the go ahead run is on 2nd and he decides to steal 3rd and gets picked off for the third out!

What was he thinking? A base hit would have probably scored the runner from second or at the very least move her to third. So now instead of having his team ahead going into the bottom half of the last inning, and heading to the championship game he is now at best case scenario headed to possibly extra innings.

The home team has bases loaded after he decides to intentionally walk and load the bases. He has his outfield in and his infield in hoping to turn a double play. A pop up goes over the shortstop's head and as she heads back runs into the base runner! The umpire declares the ball was not catchable and the coach goes CRAZY! Kicks dirt on the umpire and goes into a full blown Lou Pinella! Turns red as his veins pop out of his neck. Starts telling his coaches he's filing a protest (which if he knew anything can't protest a judgement call). As he walks off the field yelling and screaming one of the kids says jokingly "go get him coach" (testimony of what a great role model this coach is). Proceeds to blame the umpire for the loss.

If this coach had any sense of responsibility he would realize his decision while coaching third to have his runner steal third with two outs is what truly cost his team the "W".

If the parents knew more about the game they definitely would not hire this guy or sign up their kids to play for this coach. If he were a highschool coach I guarantee you the AD would not renew his contract the following year. Not just because of his immature tirade (remember these girls are 14. At least Pinella is fighting for his mulit million dollar contract), but because of his bone head decision as a coach.

As I said I see stuff like this every week, and parents are paying big money for travel ball? I would expect this type of coaching decision in rec ball, but not travel ball where I'm hoping a coach is trying to teach kids the game, and gamemanship!

bmanhour

Maybe it was a hit-and-run, and the batter missed the sign? It's not inconceivable to try that in that situation.

I will sometimes steal third with two outs if I know the third baseman is covering. We have a play to draw her in. I'd estimate we've been thrown out maybe 5% of the time, safe at third about 40% of the time and scored a run when the throw goes into left field 55% of the time. The better the pitcher and the worse our current hitter, the more likely I am to call the play.

Can't justify the kicking dirt on the ump and all of that. But with the winning run on third in the bottom of the seventh and less than two out, the infield and outfield does need to be playing in, as the runner on third ends the game if she scores. Does no good to have the outfield catch a fly ball too deep to throw out the girl tagging from third, or the infield no good to field a ground ball too deep to throw home to get that winning run.

Building on Joe's comments, there is some missing info. In the top of the inning, what part of the batting order was up and what were their legitamate chances of getting a hit, let alone just putting the ball in play? Were the next batters studs or were they girls who will stand at the plate and hope for a walk?

Did any of them pull 2nd base up or lob a hand grenade rosin bag at the ump while doing a belly crawl. Did anybody get tossed in Wilmington?

hmmm, maybe he never heard, "dont make the first or last out at third" rule

Statman Ray said:

hmmm, maybe he never heard, "dont make the first or last out at third" rule

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There was one?? :lmao:

TheRinger said:

Did any of them pull 2nd base up or lob a hand grenade rosin bag at the ump while doing a belly crawl. Did anybody get tossed in Wilmington?

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Saw this on a sports clip. Extremely funny, but no so adult behavior! :lmao:

2 did. An asst coach and score keeper from ***** **** ***

bmanhour

amen! Seems from replies not many know that rule. I played from 82 thru 86, and coached travel and highschool for 16 years, and that rule was instilled in me from very early on.

bmanhour

bmanhour said:

2 did. An asst coach and score keeper from **** **** ***.

bmanhour

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There WASN'T a coach or a scorekeeper thrown out on **** **** *** this weekend in Wilmington!

There are indeed alot of boneheads. I saw a team this weekend that played a little over their heads and won couple big games only to have their coaches berate them on everything they did wrong. The girls were excited coming off the field and looked like they had lost the game after the little pep talk.

Here is another one - At 10u the team needed 1 run. They got a walk and instead of stealing 2nd on a catcher that hadnt come close to throwing anyone out all day they did two straight sacrifice bunts to get to third. To top it off he had not paid attention to his lineup in planning this and had his weekest hitter up in a must get a base hit situation. To her credit she had a nice hit ball but was thrown out at first and they lost. Have some guts - there was probably at 3% chance of getting thrown out 2nd and a 85% chance the hitter would not get a single with 2 outs.

well, only u, wgman, hasnt been privy to that sort of information

Many know the rule. That rule is more for baseball, and a fastpitch game is a tad different than a baseball game in certain aspects. Normally, a base hit into the outfield in baseball will plate a runner from second. This is not necessarily so in the higher level of play in fastpitch. High level fastpitch has a higher strike-out ratio and many more infield plays than baseball per inning. In other words, the chances of plating the runner from second with two outs is much lower in fastpitch than it is in baseball.

As JoeA1010 stated, if you can draw in the 3rd baseman, and the shortstop is either asleep or is not covering 3rd after the pitch, many coaches will take that opportunity to advance the runner, and it will work the majority of the time, and will, on occasion, score the runner.

Len

Another great summary from a bleacher bum. Standing at 3rd base and actually being a part of the game, the coach is generally ACUTELY aware of many things the people in the bleachers with their own concerns are not aware of. The coaches have a feel for the game as they are involved with each pitch from start to finish. Coaches have a feel for where their players are mentally and physically by the 7th inning. Maybe in the 1st scenerio the coach was simply was was simply gambling or had a play on. As Joe A. said, I've seen a fair amount of balls tossed into left field. IF THAT HAPPENED the opposing fans would be saying,"the catcher should have just let her have 3rd, and worry about getting the hitter for the 3rd out." When you're standing at 3rd, your thinking about a miilion things and possible scenerios. Give the coach a break.

A coach far wiser than I explained something like this to our H.S. team. In a basketball game that ends 109 to 110 isn't lost on the last shot of the game that was missed.(Which is the play people will remember) The end result of a game is based on the play of the game in it's entirety. As an informed adult, I think it would be wiser to think this way, than to blame any loss on any one play, team member, umpire,or coach. That's a far better example for parents and coaches to convey to their daughters and players.

well said TR

That wise thought is coach speak that competitive coaches tell their team, parents, anyone that will listen but what they really think is that that their bonehead move lost the game. That is if they are a decent coach otherwise they are obblivious. Every coach has had some bonehead moves all the way up to the top college and even world class teams. You just hope that you have less bonehead moves than the other guys hahahaha

Statman Ray said:

well, only u, wgman, hasn't been privy to that sort of information

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Lol. I was actually quoting a line from Stripes where the sarge is asking guys why they joined the Army and the dumb one says, and I'm paraphrasing here: "I joined the Army before they could draft me" And when sarge says there hasn't been a draft since Viet Nam or something to that effect, the dumb guy says "There was one??" a line that me and my buddies used all of the time in High School. Maybe I'm the only one, but that kills me every time I think of it. :lmao::lmao:

The only difference between brilliant and bonehead is a single thumb in the air.