Parents Can Be so Rude

This article appeared in the March 30, 2002 Saturday edition of The Tampa Tribune.  It is written by Rozel A. Lee.

The horrible sound coming from the bleachers at a recent baseball game caught my attention.  When I glanced over my shoulder, I was horrified by the sight.  The women had grown fangs and men had sprouted horns.  The women's fingernails were long and cat-like.  The men wore evil sneers.

High school baseball parents can be quite ugly.  Their jeers aren't generic; they've become pointed.  Their expectations aren't sensible, they're unrealistic.

Bubba isn't Mark McGwire.  And the coach isn't Joe Torre.

So, get a grip.

High school baseball should still be fun.  Games are not pennant races and home runs won't bring a fatter contract.  College scholarships?  The good players will earn one.  Repeat:  Good.

Coaches still earn about 5 cents an hour for the time they spend with their players, which, during the season, is more than the parents.  Some coaches are the parent, though they don't seek that role.

Parents think they have the right to question why Bubba isn't getting more playing time.  They think they know more than the coach.  They think Bubba is better than that underclassman who just committed an error or struck out.

I guarantee you, unless you happen to be a current or former college or pro baseball coach, your son's coach knows more than you do.  He spends more baseball time with your son than you do.  He knows what his baseball skills are better than you do.

Coaches are Thick-Skinned

It makes no difference how many so-called world championships your son's AAU team has won since he was 9.

The $4 admission does not give parents the right to grumble about the coach.  Most coaches I spoke with about it are thick-skinned.  What does bother them is when the parent s' venom is spewed at another player.

Ask dads who sit down the right field line why they sit there.  To get away from other parents' ugliness.

Ask coaches why they would prefer their wives not sit in the bleachers among the parents.  It's sp they don't have to hear the whispers.

Already this year, Chamberlain coach Dick Rohrberg has held parent meetings to discuss their conduct in the stands.  And at Wharton, a couple of brave (anonymous) parents penned letters to the coaching staff berating them and some of the Wildcats' players.  Of course, they know more about baseball than Wharton assistant Wade Boggs.

"I hope you write what really happened out there," said one parent recently.  "About who really lost that game."

Who Really Lost The Game?

I assume the parent was referring to the coach.  From what I saw, the coach didn't play any of the nine positions and never once came up to bat.

And it doesn't stop with the parents.  Don't look too far to see where a player's poor attitude comes from.

There was a helmet-and-bat throwing display at one game to beat all temper tantrums.  Surprisingly, the player was not ejected.  No surprise, the parent wasn't behaving any better.

Umpires should kick a parent out of the ballpark for inappropriate conduct aimed at a coach, another player, or themselves.

Better yet, don't kick the parent out.  Instead, yank he offender off their high horse and let them coach, call the bases or pick up a bat.

Let's see how many games they win.