Won't Someone Please Think of The Children? Let's Eliminate Chatter.

This article will not provide deep insights into Major League Baseball or provide information about some grandiose large scale baseball event in the world, but rather a new rule for little leaguers in the Knothole Club in Cincinnati. These boys will still be able to play the game we all know and love, but there will be a factor missing, chatter. In other words, no more “Hey batter batter, hey batter batter…” and then calling the batter fat. Some may claim this to be a trivial aspect of the game, but think back to your youth experience and would you really want to give up that portion of each game?

Knothole is following the Major League rule which states in essence, that no one on the field (or close to it) may use any language that will refer to or reflect the opposing team, umpires or spectators. Anything that isn’t positive and directed to your own team is outlawed under the new rule. This new rule addition is coming from an incident that occurred last year amongst two teams of 14 year olds after a coach was ejected for arguing a balk which led to a full scale brawl, in which a parent was hit in the forehead with a metal spiked cleat from one of the players and needed to receive 15 stitches from his injury. Let’s first be real about this particular “nasty” situation, if a parent received 15 stitches from a player, he probably deserved it. Comments from the peanut seats are likely to rile up the blood much more so than an opposing player because at least with myself, I realized chatter amongst the players was part of the game. Let’s also notice something curious about the situation, a coach was ejected for arguing a call and this led to a full out brawl. Was some kind of emotionally stirring language one of the reasons for the brawl (or allowed it to escalate)? No doubt, but chatter didn't cause this brawl to happen (although I tend to think something the injured parent said caused his injury.) Comments said in the heat of the battle so to speak will happen regardless of this rule being in place though.

You might argue that chatter is not important to baseball as a youth, and you have a right to that opinion. However, let’s think about some of the positive attributes chatter has brought to the youth experience. First and foremost, it’s a team bonding experience. You realize that when you get up to at-bat and the other team is letting you get it good, you and your teammates have the following inning to return the favor. Especially with younger children, chatter isn’t directed all that specifically to one player but rather every player regardless of skill level (for the most part) and that’s why the comments usually are not all that damaging even if they are embarrassing when you prove the chatter to be true. Taking away this ability I believe will lead to more singling out with comments given under a player’s breath, which is more damaging to hear than to hear chatter that everyone receives in some degree. It also teaches you how to let criticisms roll off your back. If you played little league for any period of time, you know that you get to a point where you eventually let the normal chatter go in one ear and out the other, with no concentration given to the message. There are jerks in the world, and chatter is that obnoxious jerk who doesn’t do enough to justify a brawl (for the meek stuff anyway) and who is a lot easier to forget about it while you do your thing but to make sure you give them a taste of their own medicine in the next inning. And the simple fact is, chatter is just fun. Guys like to yell, especially in group settings and this is evident from the random shoutings you hear in the auditorium as a kid to the drunken ramblings you hear at the ballpark late in the game as an adult (and quite possibly coming from your own slur.)

My question to the Knothole Club is why didn’t they consider their own experience playing baseball and make a more reasonable decision. Kids should be allowed to be kids. I am not a father so I suppose my opinion could change when I have children, but I am not under the impression that kids today are different from kids yesterday. Kids did not all of a sudden become faberge eggs that we must handle with the most delicate of gloves. By nature, most kids are designated to be cruel to other kids at some point, so why treat them as if they are fragile? The occasional scuffle, hurtful thing said and upset emotion are all part of growing up. Of course there is a limit to chatter, and we know the boundaries that it should stop at, but normal chatter that any kid knows is not so damaging that it will lead to either emotional or physical scars of any sort. Their rules currently state that coaches and players found “guilty” will be warned and then if done again, suspended for one game. How about we expect the adults to act like their name indicates and let the kids enjoy the fun? Spectators and coaches should only be there to encourage and raise the spirits of their kids, their players. If they are there to get inside the head of a nine year old through chatter, they are more than likely deranged, but even if they are not they should still be immediately tossed from the game. Coaches need to act like the leaders they should be and explain that some chatter is in good fun and other chatter will be crossing the line, and players will be punished for acting in a manner that is not suiting to what a good person would be acting in.

The bottom line is this, let’s not ruin some kids’ fun because there are supposed adults who can’t keep a grip on their team or parents who can’t keep a grip of what they say…. to children of all people. What's next for the future of youth baseball, a lack of keeping track of the score so no one is upset from losing? Or maybe if one kid hits a homerun, we credit every player for doing so because we wouldn't want anyone to feel left out. I am still alive and standing from chatter suffered, I don't think the kids of today will be any different.

(Original Story: The Enquirer - No chatter, chatter!)