After spending a weekend at Power Park covering the 2008 West Virginia high school baseball tournament, I’ve compiled just a few observations, pleas and decrees toward those tournaments past present and future.
Flush the Courtesy: I won’t beat a Dead Horse on the Designated Hitter rule. There’s another rule that robs the game of its traditions and purity: the courtesy runner. It allows a replacement to run for the pitcher or catcher, provided they reach base. Sure, this gives non-starters the chance to impact the game, but it waters down the quality of the game. It’s telling kids they don’t need to do all things well, just a couple. This bogus rule does a courtesy to no one.
Nip/Tuck: Shape up, kids. The number of untucked jerseys by players in this years tournament was alarming. Have a little pride. I blame the umpires just as much for the general sloppiness of players.
C’mon, Blue! …Or Red! …Or White!: How are you supposed to heckle the umpire if he or she isn’t in their traditional garb? The umpiring crews were on top of their game with uniform/color coordination. No day went by with the same colored shirts by crews.
Pride and Prejudice: Maybe it’s just my non-parental mindset, but if my kid simply participated in organized team sports, I’d be proud. If my kid’s team won their region, I’d be proud. That said, it irritated me to hear family members scream to their kids, “Make us proud!” What, are they going to walk home if they strike out? Are they better off sleeping on the front porch if they drop a ball? Though I’m sure those that yelled this had good intentions, I still think it’s a weighted statement.
5. 5 dollar. 5 dollar footlong: Nope, not the deal from Subway. That’s the price of a footlong hot dog at Power Park during the tournament. I’d have no problem dishing out 5 bucks for a couple regular hot dogs to a high school boosters club, but these were Power Park concessions. Pro team prices for an amateur tournament? That ain’t right.
“The Scoreboard Doesn’t Lie.”: Well, most of the time. During this tournament, the names on the scoreboard reflected the actual batter about 60% of the time.
“Home of the Wildcats”: On that same inconsistent scoreboard, the same logo was used for both the Logan Wildcats and Nitro Wildcats. Each logo had the saying “Home of the Wildcats” listed underneath it. The only two teams bearing the name proved that saying true. Both were dominant in their championship efforts. Maybe next year, they can tweak the logo a bit. Each team is deserving of their own semi-unique logo.
Hot sun, Coldplay: To add insult to farmer tan injury, mid-inning music selection was dreadful at best. Not once in the time I was at the park did patrons hear “Wild Thing” or “Cotton Eyed Joe.” Instead, Madonna’s “Material Girl” was among the theme of the tournament. Because if there’s anything that gets my baseball blood flowing, it’s “Brown Eyed Girl.”
Easy E: I’m not sure of the number of errors in the 2008 tournament. Really, I’m not interested. But never before have I seen so many errant throws and bobbled catches. That said, hitters took advantage of these mistakes and pitchers stepped up and pitched out of trouble. Good baseball and deserving champions at this year’s tourney.
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