Life is not an even playing field
By Staff
Kim West
Part of growing up is learning how to deal with challenges. Tiger Woods, Tom Brady and Michael Jordan are synonymous with winning but they also have plenty of stinging losses to go along with their collection of Masters jackets, Super Bowl rings and NBA championships.
I think failure teaches just as many lessons as winning, if not more. Losing is a bitter pill to swallow but it can make us realize we're not infallible and that there are no guarantees in life.
By now you might have heard the story of 9-year-old Jericho Scott, a righthander with a fastball that has been clocked at 40 miles per hour. Last month he was banned by a youth baseball league in New Haven, Conn., because of his pitching prowess.
According to the Times Union (N.Y.) newspaper, the eight-team New Haven LJB (Liga Juvenil de Baseball) League announced that Scott's team would be disbanded and his teammates would have the option of playing for another team or receiving a $50 sign-up fee refund.
"He is a very skilled player, a very hard thrower," said Peter Noble, attorney for the LJB League. "There are a lot of beginners. This is not a high-powered league. This a developmental league whose main purpose is to promote the sport."
Tom Hanks, who played baseball manager Joe Dugan in "A League of Their Own," famously said, "There's no crying in baseball."
Scott, who also pitches for the all-star Dom Aitro Pony League, was also singled out for safety reasons even though he had not struck any batters. Scott's velocity scared the other players in the 8-10 year-old league, according to Noble.
In hindsight, maybe Scott should have focused on playing only in his all-star league where he faces the competition he'll need to improve his skills. But it seems ludicrous that a league would single out one player during a season, and I think the league could have changed its bylaws after the season ended to prevent "all-star" players from playing.
Hopefully Scott can learn something positive from the league's unfair ruling but I'm not sure what kind of lessons his LBJ peers have gained.
