The game was called after five innings and several more runs. I think at some point we all stopped counting how many times the opposing team made it around the bases; although awhile before, I heard a young boy yell out “They’re winning 15-1!” as he pointed to the opposing team’s dugout after running back from the woman keeping the books.
The players didn’t seem at all worried about the loss. They were too concerned with playing and chasing one another around the dugout.
The post-game conference barely existed, consisting only of a few statements from a player who was prompted by his father and an opportunity to listen in to the meeting between the players and coaches about the next practice.
“Y’all come to practice and give 110 percent,” said the head coach. “We play them again Friday, so we have another chance.”
The game was one of four being played on that warm Monday evening at the Columbiana Sports Complex in Alabama. There was cheering and excitement coming from all directions. As I sat on aluminum bleachers facing the game I was attending, I could hear roars of cheering and clapping behind me, opposite me and down aways to my left.
Fans brought their dogs, who didn’t always get along with other dogs, therefore adding barking and low growling to the excitement.
Among the screaming fans were grandmas who appeared to have used half a can of hairspray on their bangs that morning after dressing themselves in shirts of team colors with “Billy’s G-Mom” stitched on the back, undoubtedly by their own embroidery machine.
The players walked, ran, skipped or raced to their positions on the field in their white pants, washed in plenty of bleach by their mothers the night before.
This was 8U Coach Pitch Baseball.
8U means 8 years old and under, “...but if they’re 8, they just turned 8,” said a mother of one of the players.
Attending these games is a family affair for her household. Her husband spends games in the dugout, helping the team any way he can.
“Is your husband helping coach?” said this team mom’s sister, who also attended the game.
“Yeah, he’s the bat boy,” she answered in jest as she watched her husband give the next hitter a bat small enough for him to swing.
She and her husband are also the parents of two young daughters who attend the games. She admitted she wasn’t able to pay much attention to the games, considering she was often making sure her daughters weren’t getting into trouble or running off.
As I observed the other moms in the stands, they seemed to be dealing with the same issue.
Until that day, I hadn’t attended a coach pitch game since I played, myself. I attended due to a school assignment, and I was surprised at the things I saw. It amused me that Little League coach pitch produced players for a game as structured, disciplined and fundamentally sound as Major League Baseball.
What I saw that night was the exact opposite. There seemed to be no fundamentals whatsoever.
MLB pitches are thrown at an average of about 91 mph from 60 feet, 6 inches away out of the hand of a player; one who has, no doubt, received countless years of training, coaching and discipline in their position. In 8U, coaches lightly toss the ball to their own player at a much slower speed and distance. Checking the rulebook of Little League coach pitch baseball, I found the distance between the pitcher and home plate to be “N/A.”
On an MLB field, a player waiting for a ball to fall into his glove might hear “MINE!” At this point he would oblige the man whose voice he heard, and kindly step out of the way, in hopes that his teammate has a better chance of catching it.
His teammate would make the catch, then immediately offer up a beautiful, textbook throw to the nearest - or most essential - out.
On the opposite end of the baseball spectrum, when a ball was popped into the air, these 6- and 7-year-olds would bump into one another, fight over the ball, get in the other’s way and do anything possible to prevent their own teammate from catching the ball.
Once the ball would fall between them, or sometimes a far ways past them, they changed dispositions altogether, as if someone were to say “After you,” “No, after you,” in deciding who would retrieve the ball.
Not only is there a vast difference in skill and knowledge of the sport between these two leagues, there is also a difference in the equipment used.
MLB pitchers are allowed on the mound wearing only their uniform. Their umpires stand directly behind the catcher, wearing similar equipment to the catcher. Coaches have restrictions on what they are allowed to wear.
8U requires the player in the pitcher position to wear a protective facemask and chest protectors. Their umpires wear no protective gear at all and stand several feet to the right of the catcher. No one cares what the coaches wear, though most wear a team shirt and athletic shorts.
The differences don’t stop there, however.
I’m not sure who started it, but nearly every MLB player has a “walk-up” song. Their particular song busts through the speakers each time they walk up to bat. It’s been awhile since I attended a baseball game whose batters’ songs didn’t play over the speaker each time they were up to bat.
Needless to say, I was a little surprised when scattered claps and “Hi, Mom!” were the only sounds I heard as some of the 8U players walked up to bat.
As the game went on and the opposing team multiplied their runs, morale on my set of bleachers was wearing thin.
“We don’t expect him to get a baseball scholarship,” the same baseball mom told me, speaking about her son.
After the boys were done chasing each other and settling down after the loss, I was able to speak to one of the players. He shared with me that pitching is more fun to him than any other position “because you get to wear a mask.”
That was his only statement.
In a sports world that is dominated by price tags, trades, records, trophies and rings, I was delighted that the sentiments were the same as the players, coaches and fans of this 8U team — just have fun!
After all, this league is what instills the love of baseball into those finely-tuned and disciplined Major League Baseball Hall of Famers.
