What are you willing to do to win?

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2luckey- My DD is a pitcher and her pitching coach has taught her to not say sorry when she hits a player. That batter knows when they step in the box that they could be hit. Its the risk they take.

My daughter has been hit before by a batted ball and the players have not said sorry. Not once

Pitchers have to be tough. My daughter throws inside better/as good as any pitcher out there. She is not afraid to hit a batter. Throwing inside makes her very effective.

By The way- She has pitched over 120 innings since april and has hit 3 batters- two of them on change-ups (Big no no) "If you are going to hit a batter it better be on a fast ball" (again pitching coach)

College coach I spoke to said they will not let the "Stud" determine the out come of the game. Her words-"Hit them or walk them" Coaches for Division 1 program who beat U of Mich last year.

 

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moz - not that easy to let it go.- as a pitcher.

Pitching is 90% mental when your on the mound. You can not be thinking about not hitting someone or that you may hurt someone.

Being able to throw inside and do it effectivley is very important.

My DD never throws a ball down the middle of the plate- Never- unless its a mistake. It doesnt matter what the count is.

 

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There are a few coaches/players who will do whatever it takes to win and hitting a batter is only 1 example. I'm very sure there are many other ways.........just remember when you choose this path, the example it sets. :

 

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Agree with sideliner on this ... pitching inside is part of the game and occasionally players get hit. While I think its a class act for a pitcher to "apologize", I don't have a problem with it if she doesn't, as she wasn't trying to do it intentionally.

I saw it done on purpose once - by my dd's coach last year - we were up 6 or 8 runs in a fall game and he had taken out my dd for a relief pitcher. At one point, he called time out, went out to the mound spending no more than 10 seconds there and the next pitch nailed the batter on the backside - I asked him after the game if that was on purpose and he told me that it was to teach the other team for stealing his signals. This was absolutely a factor why my dd is playing for another organization this year - I didn't want her to have to make a choice to do something like this or disobey her coach, and I also didn't want her to be at bat and be the subject of retaliation. I don't care what they do in the major leagues ... it just never right for an adult coach to ask a minor to hit another minor.

 

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If my dd had a coach that told her not to apologize for hitting a batter, I would take the coach aside and inform him that there are things more important than what you perceive as a pitcher's strategy. Playing sports is supposed to develop character and integrity. When we hurt people, intentionally or not, it is ALWAYS appropriate to acknowledge it and ask for forgiveness (apologizing). Any coach that teaches to the contrary is missing a valuable opportunity, and doing his/her team an incredible disservice.
"Nervous laughter" is something else that I am well aware of, and this too, can be addressed and dealt with effectively. Pitchers (or ballplayers in general) can and should be taught compassion, and that will not necessarily make them lose their competitive edge.This is one of those life lessons that I feel is sorely lacking with some coaches and players.

 

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moz- do you feel if a position player gets hit with a batted ball that the batter should ask forgiveness?

We just see things different. I am a fan of compassion in life also.

 

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Any time where we may accidentally injure someone--on or off a ballfield--sure. When a team or organization wants to build a tradition of excellence, quite often you may read on their website a slogan or creedo that may speak of their team as 'dedicated to excellence, on and off the field'. They want to be recognized as developing their players in their skills and their character. Why do you think more people admire a talented athlete who is kind and humble as opposed to a conceited and arrogant, but talented player? I think that compassion belongs in the sports arena as much as it does anywhere else.

 

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Moz- at least your consistant. I respect your opinion. The games may get a bit long if we are apploigizing all the time.
To see if a kid is okay is one thing, but to say your sorry because you hit a ground ball and it went off the fielders leg is totally different. Its kind of cavalier but somtimes when you play you get hurt. When you play the game or any game there is a risk of being hurt.

No one wants to see any kid get hurt. But it happens.

Back to the subject- I can not stand a win at all cost attitude. I do not teach it as a coach and I do not promote it with my DD. It is a game and there will be times when there are injuries its the nature of playing sports.

Sports are a mirror to life. So play sports as you live life.

 

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Fastpitch11 you tend to oversimplify!

When was the last time you saw a coach tell a batter "Hey go out their and take out their shortstop, she has too good of an arm and she keeps getting our batters out!"

Come on.... The pitcher is the only player that has a target standing right in front of her 40-43 feet away. ?If she has an attitude and thinks she can get away with it and the coach says take her out, how hard would it be to throw a pitch at an ear or an elbow or a knee? ?

My DD has been pitching and playing for 8 years and has hit her share of batters too, they all have. It is part of the game, and I want her to pitch the inside corner too. ?If the batter gets over the strike zone then it is her problem and that is the game! ?My DD has been hit a lot of times over the years also. But she is a very very good batter. Fast hands and can hit inside outside hi or low. If it is around the zone she will hit it or foul it off till she gets one she can drive.

What I am talking about and this thread was started about is what would you as a coach or player willing to do to win a game. If your pitcher is not good enough to pitch around the 3 4 5 batters then you better get her a pitching coach who can teach her better or she should work harder at improving her movement or speed.

As far as apologizing, I think that after the game, if you have broken an elbow or given a concusion to a batter you could at least ask if they are alright or say sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you that bad.

I can see it now, in 2-3 years we will all be buying elbow shields knee shields, rib protectors and special no concusion helmets for our kids because all the Travel or High school coaches think it is ok to bean someone because everyone else is doing it.

When the pitcher has been throwing junk on the outside corner and not getting calls and the batter happens to be a pitcher that has been shutting down your batters and hitting shots over the outfielders heads, it's just coincidence that she throw a fastball so far inside and hard at the ribs/elbow that the batter can't get out of the way!

Again this is 18U Travel ball from a very competitive team with a pitcher who wants to play in college.

One last point, If my DD hits a batter she does not laugh about it, she does not hi-five anyone, she shows nothing, but inside she does feel a ?little sorry for her if it was a wild pitch. If she is standing on the plate then it is the batters fault. Just don't get her mad, because then she will throw even harder and you won't believe it till you see it in the catchers glove. But she won't ever bean a batter intentionally.

What ever happened to being a role model for GODD SPORTSMANSHIP?

 

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2luckey- I agree with everything you said in your last thread

I only simplfied it because it sounded to me that MOZ5 was being unrealistic about asking for forgiveness.

My daughter has never hurt anyone badly when she has hit them. I know she would feel bad if she had and would express that to that player after the game.

 

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LewRed, thanks for the post. Needless to say, it wasn't my team the one poster was talking about. And I'm sure you wouldn't do that, so that rules out your team. There couldn't have been more than 12 or so teams still playing on Sunday. With such a small number of possible culprits, the post is potentially defamatory. I know the poster didn't mean that to be the case, but it's legally probably defamation.

Anyway, I wouldn't stop a girl from apologizing for hitting a batter, but an apology is certainly not warranted. I think asking them if they're ok is much more appropriate, as "sorry" impllies that the pitcher did something wrong.

 

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I don't think it implies that she did something wrong, and I certainly don't have anything against throwing inside pitches. Be the same person you are on the field and off. People can be tough competitors and still show kindness, that's all. 8)

 

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I think asking them if they're ok is the kind thing to do. I do think "sorry" definitely implies they did something wrong. I got hit by pitches probably 30 or so times when I played baseball. If any pitcher had said "sorry" I would have looked at him like he was crazy. A few asked if I was ok and you just automatically answer yes whether you're ok or not.

 

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We have a 12u pitcher who struggles against left handed batters. We played a game a couple weeks ago, the team we were playing had one left handed batter. Our pitcher hit her twice in a row! There was no malice intended, she just struggles with lefties. Our pitcher was devestated enough plunking the girls twice, but one of the parents yelled out that she hit the batter on purpose! Once our pitcher heard that, she put her face in her glove and kind of lost it. It really bothered me that a parent would think that, but it especially bothered me that a parent would yell that - kind of at the player. We would never ask or allow a pitcher to pitch at someone...it was a very bothersome situation. I really felt for our pitcher. I spoke to the player that got hit after the game to make sure she knew our pitcher was struggling a bit against lefties and it was purely accidental...I also made sure our pitcher knew that it's all a part of the game - and don't ever listen to what the parents yell!!

 

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Hey fastpitch11 isn't a stud a horse? My opinion is that hit batters are going to happen.If a batter has good enough reflexes to hit a 60MPH fastball. they should have good enough reflexes to get out of the way. Of course that don't always happen and its unfortunate.Theirs more to batting than just swinging the bat.

 

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Brute- Sorry "Studett".There a female stud. That was the college coach's word (stud).

 

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i would never want my dd to hit anyone on purpose and i think she would be upset by that. ?however go watch the players who stand with thier front foot on the plate and thier back foot behind the plate. ?if a pitcher misses a little inside the batter is hit. ? i know there have been times when i would like to see my dd hit a batter when you listen to there parents stand behind the screen and scream in an effort to intimidate the pitcher, ? or scream things like you own that pitcher. ? this was by some of the people on this thread complaining about a hit batter. ? i think most players are there to play the game not hurt or fight with the opposing team. ?my dd and family go to the games to enjoy the games not fight with or hurt anyone, ?when that changes we will find another pastime. ?

 

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I was at a game this weekend and I saw something that offended me. The pitcher had hit the pitcher and catcher. If this was intentional then this wasn't bad for the parent to do. A parent in the stands stood up and started screaming at the pitcher. I have seen many batters get hit and every time the pitcher giggles. They just are nervous. The parent was screaming, " You should take that pitcher out!" "Yah, that's right laugh about it!" "Go ahead and high five her" Does anyone have any comments??

 

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Happens all the time in boys baseball games.
right or wrong it happens. My son use to pitch he's
been told to do that on several occasions. My daughter
also pitches.. she 's hit some batters (and she's been hit)but i've asked if they were on purpose and she said no. and it is uncomfortable to be standing on the mound after hitting someone when all eyes are on you and it may look like a girl is smiling but she could be just trying to keep herself under control and get her mind ready for the next pitch. girls are different.I don't think personally its right for a parent to yell out anything like that at a game especially at someone elses kid, that is my pet peeve if you can't yell encouraging things at someone else's kid don't yell anything. The coaches and unpires will take care of it most times.

 

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I have to agree with Fastpitchfan11 if you apologize for every single thing that went wrong the game will go one forever, and it is a risk that a batter has to take especially if they like to crowd the plate. I will not lie i like to crowd the plate a little bit but I know that if I get hit it will be my fault.