I was just remembering playing baseball as a kid. When facing opposing teams who were at bat, we used chatter to unnerve (supposedly) the batter. It was all mild, of course. We were very young. Stuff like a shorthand version of "Come on, batter" which came out as "come baaa, come baaa, come baaa" over and over.

I can't imagine that such aggression is allowed in the game today. They'd have grief counselors on the field.

Does anyone here coach little league? Any parents here? What can you tell me about the hobbling of developmental tools for these young guys? Are teams still allowed to actually lose games?

Just curious, that's all

Coach here. Definitely allowed to lose...ask me how I know!

Trash talking (mild) still goes on...more seems like ribbing, actually.

I can tell you that at age 5/6/7, score was not kept officially, but the kids knew.

Age 8 and up, score officially kept.

I remember "hey batter batter, swiiing!".

Former Little League Parent, Coach, Board Member, and Umpire, up to and including State Championship Games here. Sportsmanship is pretty much the 'Prime Directive', along with Player health & safety, and teaching the game. Yes, Teams are actually allowed to lose games, and on my Team(s), I emphasized that my Players, as a Team, would ALWAYS be humble in victory, and gracious in defeat! Regarding sportsmanship, and bench chatter, it's the Umpire's discretionary call, but in my experience, this is self policed by the Coaches. Generally, the defensive team should cease their chatter by the time the ball is released by the pitcher, and the offensive bench should cease their chatter when the pitcher goes into the windup. Regardless, the 'chatter' is NOT permitted to be personal or derogatory in ANY way. I've NEVER had to issue a warning on this particular issue.

All that said, I've only issued a warning to ONE Bench in nearly ten years of umpiring (Literally 'Your Bench has been Warned'!) and that was due to behavior of the Coaches, NOT the Players!

My son played till he was about 9 when it was starting to be apparent if you had talent or not.
Kid pitch can be brutal but they support each other and cheer their teammates on. No serious crap talking to other kids at that age.

My daughter is 13 and is still playing softball. and this last fall played in a fall-ball league under-16 meaning she was among the youngest and they had high school girls playing in the league. They have these chants to cheer each other on. And some of those young ladies can bring the smack talk. Like infielders cheering their pitcher in by saying stuff like she’s a terrible hitter and other things. And bench players cheering their batter on by saying the pitchers a bum and has nothing. Mainly to try to rattle the skill players head

My 9 year old played his first year of little league last year. He is hooked. In both spring and fall seasons teams will win or lose or tie. No everyone wins crap. Code of conduct that parents must sign to have their child play Little League forbids parents arguing with the umpires.

In my experience the kids on the benches usually encouraged one another or lightly razzed each other about non baseball related things. They did not try to psych out the opposing batter. One relative of a player (grandad) started getting a bit loud about how the umpire was calling things wrong and was told to knock the commentary off by his family. He looked around and saw that no one appreciated his color commentary and from then on kept his thoughts to himself.

I remember when I played little leaque, granted this was over 50 years ago, we were giving it to the opposing pitcher. The coaches thought we were saying "pitchers got a rubber arm when we were saying pitches got a rubber ON

Jim

We play here, neighbor is head of the little league. He wants me to coach, too busy. We are just getting out of the mind numbingly boring years, and it's getting kind of fun to watch, still 2-3 hour ordeal.

There are winners and losers. All star game is still in tact, although political not a huge deal for 10-12 year olds. They have evolved their chatter into rhymes kinda like cheerleaders. The girls go nuts with it. Basically little songs and stuff, some they can fit a batter or pitcher's name into.

There's some big league chew going on for the boys, I was happy to see that. And sunflower seeds. Get em ready for the hard stuff later.

My son played Babe Ruth, but only tee ball and machine pitch, which was like 7-8 years old, and then he was done. The boys did not talk much, either on his team, or any team.

My daughter played Babe Ruth softball and travel softball, from 6 years old until 13 years old. And the girls put the boys to shame in the talking and cheering department. When on offense, they would all line the front of the dugout, cheering and singing. For example, the other pitcher throws a ball low in the dirt, the chant would be, "Rollin' Rollin', pitcher's goin' bowling!"

They had more of these chants than I could ever keep up with. There seemed to be a new one each weekend. At some point in the process, they began banging on upside down buckets. And then someone brought drumsticks to use on the upside down buckets.

The coaches were great sports and let the girls have their fun, but I would see them move at times because the girls were so, so loud.

So, yes, there is still lots of chanting and mild ribbing of the other team, at least in softball.

Coached for 6 years of travel ball, and now a spectator. Pretty much any jawing is okay as long as it's not directed at a specific person.

Lots of chants and things trying to break the pitcher's rhythm etc...

So it's all still in full effect. At least here in the south east.

My grandson plays baseball . He's 10 . There is trash talking going on but don't make it personal or direct it toward the officials . Grandson is a catcher and he talks trash to the batters .

My kids haven't played for years, but the local fields are still nearby, and I'll watch a game for a while every so often. It is all the same as it has always been, even back to my little league days in the '70s. Chatter, taunting, chanting, etc.

When I was a kid, we didn't even play organized ball until the kids could pitch, so tee-ball and coach pitch seem like innovations to me.

So, no worries.

It's actually the parents that need to learn to shut their pie-holes.

The amount of vitriol and hate that comes out of their mouths because their little Johnny struck out on a close call is sad.

Can't stand the parents. I'm borderline rude sitting off by myself and not engaging them. Idiots most of them, and loud.

My kids chatter in their baseball games even in a very non-competitive, church-affiliated league. Everybody thinks it is funny.

quote:

Originally posted by Shaql:
It's actually the parents that need to learn to shut their pie-holes.

It's funny, and sad, how right you are. My daughter was already playing travel ball by the time my son got to tee ball. The parents of the girls are mostly pretty good. And our team parents were like family.

But the parents of 6 year old boys playing their first season of tee ball? Whoa man, watch out! Those parents took tee ball WAY too seriously.

After a little time, I realized the parents that were the worst were the first timers. If they had older kids that had already played, they had usually calmed down some.

Last year my grandson played in a league that was 99 percent black . The trash talking and coaching from the stands was " different " to say the least .Actually quite entertaining at times . When you hear a Mom yell " Swing at the fucking ball , James ! "