Little League - do the coaches’ kids always get the best positions?

[Anonymous]

Our LL team is great in some ways but the two dads who coach play their sons every single game at pitcher, catcher, and shortstop. We always have a few extra kids so that a few have to sit out each inning, but their sons never sit out. Is this stuff generally considered acceptable since they are volunteering their time to coach (which is a huge time commitment)? Or is it considered bad form to show such obvious favoritism? Genuinely curious if there is a norm around these issues. For what it’s worth, both kids are among the better players but are not the very best, and frequently they’ll stay in at pitcher even when they are walking kid after kid after kid.

[Anonymous]

Yes. It’s the way it works.

[Anonymous]

Yes, totally valid and a price I’m willing to pay for not having to coach.

[Anonymous]

Welcome to Daddy Ball. A privilege you get by volunteering your time and energy to the team and organization. The fact that the kids are among the better players helps. It could be worse. Also, I bet the best kid on the team, who is not the coach’s kid, also plays all innings. Right?

There is no such thing as fair playing time in baseball.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Welcome to Daddy Ball. A privilege you get by volunteering your time and energy to the team and organization. The fact that the kids are among the better players helps. It could be worse. Also, I bet the best kid on the team, who is not the coach’s kid, also plays all innings. Right?

There is no such thing as fair playing time in baseball.

+100

Take a shot at being a volunteer coach. BB coaches put a ton of thought into lineups and the best defensive positioning so games won’t be a blowout.

[Anonymous]

This sort of sums it up:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wnAsE9AnCSY

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Welcome to Daddy Ball. A privilege you get by volunteering your time and energy to the team and organization. The fact that the kids are among the better players helps. It could be worse. Also, I bet the best kid on the team, who is not the coach’s kid, also plays all innings. Right?

There is no such thing as fair playing time in baseball.

My son was on quite a few teams where coach’s kids played over better kids. Baseball is the worst for this for some reason.

[Anonymous]

Baseball is the worst for having a million assistant coaches, all their kids not sitting out. Luckily the leagues have minimum olay time rules.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Welcome to Daddy Ball. A privilege you get by volunteering your time and energy to the team and organization. The fact that the kids are among the better players helps. It could be worse. Also, I bet the best kid on the team, who is not the coach’s kid, also plays all innings. Right?

There is no such thing as fair playing time in baseball.

My son was on quite a few teams where coach’s kids played over better kids. Baseball is the worst for this for some reason.

Right. Hence the, “it could be worse.” At least in OP’s case, the coaches’ kids are among the better players.

[Anonymous]

Yes, normal. Baseball is the worst sport for this. Some coaches are better than others.

If your kid ends up liking baseball a lot, move to a club team with paid non-parent coaches later on.

FWIW: generally (9 times out of 10) the coaches’ kids are not that good (oftentimes that is WHY they coach). But without parent volunteers, there wouldn’t be any little league at all.

I promise you that the position a kid plays in little league has ZERO influence on where he plays later on (if he keeps playing).

[Anonymous]

I’ll put it this way: 3 kids (2 play baseball, one softball) and I have never (not once) seen a coach or assistant coach’s kid play an inning in corner outfield. Ever! Not in little league/ rec ball anyway (club ball- yes). Remarkable, you have to admit.

The batting order is a different story (too difficult to justify as hitting skill - or lack of- is far more obvious and measurable)

It’s just the way it goes.

[Anonymous]

Yeah that’s BS

I coached 20 plus years of kid baseball at a variety of ages and levels. With 12 year olds and under - for sure - and at this time of year (early in a season) a couple of basics are going on.

1. The coaches don’t want anyone be getting hurt. But - if anyone is getting hurt, they want it to be my kid. So, if there is a position on the field where a kid is more likely to get hurt from a lack of skill/experience your kid is not playing it until I know your kid can play it. Catcher, and 1st base in particular.

2. Being the coaches’ kid sucks in large part. You are first to the field and get to spend time racking up any puddles, putting in the bases, and getting the equipment ready. You are also last to leave. You get to spend time putting equipment up and getting it to the car. Helping pick up the trash parents and kids left around because you can’t leave until the field looks good, and you often have to wait until some parent gets back to the field to pick up their kid because they didn’t know it was the last inning and ran out to get coffee and ran into a friend at Starbucks and didn’t hear their phone ring and only realized it had been 45 minutes - oops. I’m sorry doesn’t begin to cut it.

3. I need to know if your kid can play the position without getting hurt. I can’t put your kid at shortstop if your kid can’t get in front of a ground ball and make the throw to first base. Safely. Meaning without substantial risk that your kid will get hurt or that your kid will put the 1st baseman or the runner in danger from a wild throw. If your kid can’t catch the ball consistently I can’t play them at 1st or catcher.

4. What are your leagues playing time rules? Little League is the harshest on limiting the time. My area played “Pony” rules which are more lenient. Basically in a 6 inning game every kid plays a minimum of 3 innings - 1 in the infield. Pitch counts are kept now - game and weekly - so you have to deal with those too.

So - let’s take an example - You are the coach and you have 14 kids on your team. Print out a couple blank youth lineup cards for this example. Make out your lineup with the positions everyone will play each inning this game. Keep in mind you must follow the minimum play rules for each kid. For this example assume 3 of your kids cannot safely catch a ball. And 6 of your kids cannot safely make the throw from the left side of the infield. Coaches know this already but parents often do not - most outs will be made by your 1st and 2nd basemen with 12 and unders. So if you want to avoid too many mercy rule innings you likely want to put your best fielders there.

Now make up your card. Everyone sits a couple innings. Got it done. Now - take a pencil and cross out whoever is batting 8th because it’s 5 minutes to game time and they are not at the field and their parents aren’t answering their phones. You need to give your lineup to the opposing scorekeeper so rewrite it and let them know a kid may or may not show up but you will put them in batting last if they do show up. (It won’t be a big deal to the other coach because parents will have pulled the same crap with her.)

You also now need to redo your fielding assignments because you had that kid playing 4 innings and you need to get those positions covered. Hopefully the no show is not a kid you use in a more responsible position because your replacement options are limited. So - let’s make your no show a kid who you have pitching 2 innings because your pitch count tracking means you need someone to cover about 4-6 innings a week over and above your “regular” pitchers. (Meaning kids you hope can basically throw strikes to get through an inning without walking in some runs.)

So - start thinking about who has a pitch count that would allow them to pitch the 3rd (and oh to dream the 4th) inning since that player is a no call no show. Make sure they are sitting out the 2nd inning so they can warm up. So you need to shift the position assignments around to get that covered. But the kid willing to pitch is excited about the chance which is fun.

Got your new position assignments done yet? Good. Because now it is the top of the second inning and the kid just arrived. Grandma got the time wrong but they are sorry for the late arrival and really excited about him pitching. And you need to tell the umpire and opposing coach the player arrived and will bat last - and you need to rework your position assignments to get the newly arrived player in for 3-4 innings. Yes - the easiest thing to do is cut your own kid’s playing time to the required minimum so you do that and figure you will make it up along the way later.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yeah that’s BS

I coached 20 plus years of kid baseball at a variety of ages and levels. With 12 year olds and under - for sure - and at this time of year (early in a season) a couple of basics are going on.

1. The coaches don’t want anyone be getting hurt. But - if anyone is getting hurt, they want it to be my kid. So, if there is a position on the field where a kid is more likely to get hurt from a lack of skill/experience your kid is not playing it until I know your kid can play it. Catcher, and 1st base in particular.

2. Being the coaches’ kid sucks in large part. You are first to the field and get to spend time racking up any puddles, putting in the bases, and getting the equipment ready. You are also last to leave. You get to spend time putting equipment up and getting it to the car. Helping pick up the trash parents and kids left around because you can’t leave until the field looks good, and you often have to wait until some parent gets back to the field to pick up their kid because they didn’t know it was the last inning and ran out to get coffee and ran into a friend at Starbucks and didn’t hear their phone ring and only realized it had been 45 minutes - oops. I’m sorry doesn’t begin to cut it.

3. I need to know if your kid can play the position without getting hurt. I can’t put your kid at shortstop if your kid can’t get in front of a ground ball and make the throw to first base. Safely. Meaning without substantial risk that your kid will get hurt or that your kid will put the 1st baseman or the runner in danger from a wild throw. If your kid can’t catch the ball consistently I can’t play them at 1st or catcher.

4. What are your leagues playing time rules? Little League is the harshest on limiting the time. My area played “Pony” rules which are more lenient. Basically in a 6 inning game every kid plays a minimum of 3 innings - 1 in the infield. Pitch counts are kept now - game and weekly - so you have to deal with those too.

So - let’s take an example - You are the coach and you have 14 kids on your team. Print out a couple blank youth lineup cards for this example. Make out your lineup with the positions everyone will play each inning this game. Keep in mind you must follow the minimum play rules for each kid. For this example assume 3 of your kids cannot safely catch a ball. And 6 of your kids cannot safely make the throw from the left side of the infield. Coaches know this already but parents often do not - most outs will be made by your 1st and 2nd basemen with 12 and unders. So if you want to avoid too many mercy rule innings you likely want to put your best fielders there.

Now make up your card. Everyone sits a couple innings. Got it done. Now - take a pencil and cross out whoever is batting 8th because it’s 5 minutes to game time and they are not at the field and their parents aren’t answering their phones. You need to give your lineup to the opposing scorekeeper so rewrite it and let them know a kid may or may not show up but you will put them in batting last if they do show up. (It won’t be a big deal to the other coach because parents will have pulled the same crap with her.)

You also now need to redo your fielding assignments because you had that kid playing 4 innings and you need to get those positions covered. Hopefully the no show is not a kid you use in a more responsible position because your replacement options are limited. So - let’s make your no show a kid who you have pitching 2 innings because your pitch count tracking means you need someone to cover about 4-6 innings a week over and above your “regular” pitchers. (Meaning kids you hope can basically throw strikes to get through an inning without walking in some runs.)

So - start thinking about who has a pitch count that would allow them to pitch the 3rd (and oh to dream the 4th) inning since that player is a no call no show. Make sure they are sitting out the 2nd inning so they can warm up. So you need to shift the position assignments around to get that covered. But the kid willing to pitch is excited about the chance which is fun.

Got your new position assignments done yet? Good. Because now it is the top of the second inning and the kid just arrived. Grandma got the time wrong but they are sorry for the late arrival and really excited about him pitching. And you need to tell the umpire and opposing coach the player arrived and will bat last - and you need to rework your position assignments to get the newly arrived player in for 3-4 innings. Yes - the easiest thing to do is cut your own kid’s playing time to the required minimum so you do that and figure you will make it up along the way later.

That's a very long answer to say 'yes, because I haven't prepared your kid now to get hit by a ball or even trust you to show up.'

[Anonymous]

Every youth football quarterback is the coaches son too!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yeah that’s BS

I coached 20 plus years of kid baseball at a variety of ages and levels. With 12 year olds and under - for sure - and at this time of year (early in a season) a couple of basics are going on.

1. The coaches don’t want anyone be getting hurt. But - if anyone is getting hurt, they want it to be my kid. So, if there is a position on the field where a kid is more likely to get hurt from a lack of skill/experience your kid is not playing it until I know your kid can play it. Catcher, and 1st base in particular.

2. Being the coaches’ kid sucks in large part. You are first to the field and get to spend time racking up any puddles, putting in the bases, and getting the equipment ready. You are also last to leave. You get to spend time putting equipment up and getting it to the car. Helping pick up the trash parents and kids left around because you can’t leave until the field looks good, and you often have to wait until some parent gets back to the field to pick up their kid because they didn’t know it was the last inning and ran out to get coffee and ran into a friend at Starbucks and didn’t hear their phone ring and only realized it had been 45 minutes - oops. I’m sorry doesn’t begin to cut it.

3. I need to know if your kid can play the position without getting hurt. I can’t put your kid at shortstop if your kid can’t get in front of a ground ball and make the throw to first base. Safely. Meaning without substantial risk that your kid will get hurt or that your kid will put the 1st baseman or the runner in danger from a wild throw. If your kid can’t catch the ball consistently I can’t play them at 1st or catcher.

4. What are your leagues playing time rules? Little League is the harshest on limiting the time. My area played “Pony” rules which are more lenient. Basically in a 6 inning game every kid plays a minimum of 3 innings - 1 in the infield. Pitch counts are kept now - game and weekly - so you have to deal with those too.

So - let’s take an example - You are the coach and you have 14 kids on your team. Print out a couple blank youth lineup cards for this example. Make out your lineup with the positions everyone will play each inning this game. Keep in mind you must follow the minimum play rules for each kid. For this example assume 3 of your kids cannot safely catch a ball. And 6 of your kids cannot safely make the throw from the left side of the infield. Coaches know this already but parents often do not - most outs will be made by your 1st and 2nd basemen with 12 and unders. So if you want to avoid too many mercy rule innings you likely want to put your best fielders there.

Now make up your card. Everyone sits a couple innings. Got it done. Now - take a pencil and cross out whoever is batting 8th because it’s 5 minutes to game time and they are not at the field and their parents aren’t answering their phones. You need to give your lineup to the opposing scorekeeper so rewrite it and let them know a kid may or may not show up but you will put them in batting last if they do show up. (It won’t be a big deal to the other coach because parents will have pulled the same crap with her.)

You also now need to redo your fielding assignments because you had that kid playing 4 innings and you need to get those positions covered. Hopefully the no show is not a kid you use in a more responsible position because your replacement options are limited. So - let’s make your no show a kid who you have pitching 2 innings because your pitch count tracking means you need someone to cover about 4-6 innings a week over and above your “regular” pitchers. (Meaning kids you hope can basically throw strikes to get through an inning without walking in some runs.)

So - start thinking about who has a pitch count that would allow them to pitch the 3rd (and oh to dream the 4th) inning since that player is a no call no show. Make sure they are sitting out the 2nd inning so they can warm up. So you need to shift the position assignments around to get that covered. But the kid willing to pitch is excited about the chance which is fun.

Got your new position assignments done yet? Good. Because now it is the top of the second inning and the kid just arrived. Grandma got the time wrong but they are sorry for the late arrival and really excited about him pitching. And you need to tell the umpire and opposing coach the player arrived and will bat last - and you need to rework your position assignments to get the newly arrived player in for 3-4 innings. Yes - the easiest thing to do is cut your own kid’s playing time to the required minimum so you do that and figure you will make it up along the way later.

That's a very long answer to say 'yes, because I haven't prepared your kid now to get hit by a ball or even trust you to show up.'

DP. Are you saying the coach is responsible for teaching grown ass adults that they need to show up on time?