9 year old boy told he is too good to play
 

I can not believe this what a horrible message to send to the kids.... sorry son you are just to dam good


ESPN - 9-year-old boy told he's too good to pitch - ESPN


NEW HAVEN, Conn. -- Nine-year-old Jericho Scott is a good baseball player -- too good, it turns out.

The right-hander has a fastball that tops out at about 40 mph. He throws so hard that the Youth Baseball League of New Haven told his coach that the boy could not pitch any more. When Jericho took the mound anyway last week, the opposing team forfeited the game, packed its gear and left, his coach said.

Officials for the three-year-old league, which has eight teams and about 100 players, said they will disband Jericho's team, redistributing its players among other squads, and offered to refund $50 sign-up fees to anyone who asks for it. They say Jericho's coach, Wilfred Vidro, has resigned.

But Vidro says he didn't quit and the team refuses to disband. Players and parents held a protest at the league's field on Saturday urging the league to let Jericho pitch.

"He's never hurt any one," Vidro said. "He's on target all the time. How can you punish a kid for being too good?"

The controversy bothers Jericho, who says he misses pitching.

"I feel sad," he said. "I feel like it's all my fault nobody could play."

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Jericho Scott

AP Photo/Douglas Healey

Officials with the Youth Baseball League of New Haven say they will disband Jericho Scott's team because his coach won't stop him from pitching.

Jericho's coach and parents say the boy is being unfairly targeted because he turned down an invitation to join the defending league champion, which is sponsored by an employer of one of the league's administrators.

Jericho instead joined a team sponsored by Will Power Fitness. The team was 8-0 and on its way to the playoffs when Jericho was banned from pitching.

"I think it's discouraging when you're telling a 9-year-old you're too good at something," said his mother, Nicole Scott. "The whole objective in life is to find something you're good at and stick with it. I'd rather he spend all his time on the baseball field than idolizing someone standing on the street corner."

League attorney Peter Noble says the only factor in banning Jericho from the mound is his pitches are just too fast.

"He is a very skilled player, a very hard thrower," Noble said. "There are a lot of beginners. This is not a high-powered league. This is a developmental league whose main purpose is to promote the sport."

Noble acknowledged that Jericho had not beaned any batters in the co-ed league of 8- to 10-year-olds, but say parents expressed safety concerns.

"Facing that kind of speed" is frightening for beginning players, Noble said.

League officials say they first told Vidro that the boy could not pitch after a game on Aug. 13. Jericho played second base the next game on Aug. 16. But when he took the mound Wednesday, the other team walked off and a forfeit was called.

League officials say Jericho's mother became irate, threatening them and vowing to get the league shut down.

"I have never seen behavior of a parent like the behavior Jericho's mother exhibited Wednesday night," Noble said.

Scott denies threatening any one, but said she did call the police.

League officials suggested that Jericho play other positions, or pitch against older players or in a different league.

Local attorney John Williams was planning to meet with Jericho's parents Monday to discuss legal options.

"You don't have to be learned in the law to know in your heart that it's wrong," he said. "Now you have to be punished because you excel at something?"

Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press

everyone has to be mediocre and be called special!

yipee!!!!

it's lame at best, but really at worst teaches nothing about the world at large.

Somebody check his birth certificate. We certainly don't want a repeat of the Danny Almonte saga.

What a misleading article title.
He was clearly caught up in stupid league politics. The "too good to play" thing is just a cover for corruption of league officials.

It's an abomination. It has been covered at length up here. The thing that gets me is that it's not like he's throwing it 100mph, he's throwing 40. And I know these are young kids and the mound is closer, etc, but you have to throw a ball at least 30 to even get it to the plate half the time, he's really maybe 8mph faster, not like 50. gives more credence to the idea that it's all about politics.

That is rather crappy, if anything he should have been offered to move up in the league. To be removed completely is horrible, such a shame.

Just another example of the wussification of America. So sad.

Why could they not have just bumped him up in age groups so he could play against more advanced kids? They do this all the time with "special players" in hockey.

Poor kid.

I heard he's dating a Chinese Olympic gymnast.

Maybe.... they should just let him play and let the other teams lose. Just dumb to tell the kid he cant play. When i was a kid 7-8 years old or so all the kids from my block would play sports together and we would have teenagers playing as well. pitching most likely a lot faster then that kid. These kids these days are overprotected to the point where they start live out disabled. no idea what the real world is like. I am personally sick of seeing 10 year olds riding bikes on side walks wearing helmets knee and elbow pads. or still using training wheels. Or how about a kid on a big wheel with a helmet. I understand wanting to be safe but people are taking it way too far. If a kid cant play sports vs kids his own age something is really wrong.

AHH!!! This gets me soo very heated!!! This is garbage what ever the reason for trying to ban the kid. If it's league politics then the people responsible should be shot. If it's about the kid being too good then the people responsible and supporting it should be shot slowly from the foot up!!! The parents don't have to let there kids forfeit a game when they play this boys team, they can make the coach play by not allowing their kids to leave the field. What's next Junior High kids not playing a game because the other teams pitcher is too good, I can't wait to see this in a High School. It is petty and little of the league and parents to allow this kind of nonsense to even happen, and is a horrible sign being send to their kids. Don't even bother trying if the other kid is too good, just give up. Garbage I say garbage.