On Tuesday night, I witnessed first hand a very controversial moment during my daughter’s softball game. The batter popped the ball straight up into the air and the catcher ran forwards after it. The catcher caught the ball just inches from the ground, but as her glove pounded into the dirt, the ball rolled completely out of her glove and was clearly about one inch away.
Since our team was batting, I breathed a momentary sigh of relief thinking that it was a fair play and we now had a runner on first. But in a split second, the catcher scooped the ball back into her glove with her other hand so by the time the umpire made his way around to the other side of the action, he called our batter out. This, of course, caused a huge uproar from our team since most of our fans saw that catcher scooping the ball back into her glove.
The umpire ignored our outrage at the call and the game went on. Now I know things like this happen all the time in sports. Umpires can’t see the play from every angle and they often make calls that we disagree with. What bothers me here is that the girl knowingly cheated.
No coaches called her out on it, the umpire never questioned her and most importantly the catcher did not fess up to dropping the ball. She cheated. It was intentional. There was no mistaking her actions.
If it were me, I don’t think I could have let that happen. If I dropped the ball, then I dropped the ball. I’d own up to it. I sure as heck wouldn’t have scooped it up into my glove and tried to take credit for it. I would let the umpire make the call as it happened and not try to fake like I caught it. If I’m going to win, I want to win fair and square. Cheating is for losers.
And above all, I would not want my teammates and the fans in the stands to think of me as a cheater. If that had been my team cheating, I would be having a conversation with the coach immediately after the game.
There’s no crying in baseball and there shouldn’t be cheating either.
What do you think? What would you do in this situation as a coach, a parent or a player?
2 comments
gretchen
So true. That girl may have been the only person on that team to cheat, but when we play that school next year, you can bet I will remember that play. It reflects on the whole team.
We won the game regardless of them cheating on the play and it was a good lesson for Kirstie (who also saw the ball roll out) that cheaters don’t always win and how it has skewed her view of that school as a “bunch of cheaters” even though it was just one player.
Actually they were also leaving the bases early when stealing them so I have a feeling they have coaches who encourage this behavior. Obviously it did not pay off.
Kel1
We’ve been dealing with this issue in another sport with our son. His teammates, who are all his same age, have been advanced to a higher level even though they’re not of age for that level, because their parents wanted it. (It’s basically not supposed to be done, but the squeaky wheel gets the grease, of course.)
Now I’ve had to explain to my child why ADULTS seem to think it’s ok to break/bend the rules in order to make their children look good. He asked if he could be moved up, too, to be with his friends, and I asked him, “So, what you want us to do is break the rules, too, and then everything will be ok?” And he said, “No.”
So I guess what I’d do in this situation as a parent is what I have done – try to explain that people cheat, and to note the effect that has on others… because one person’s cheating never affects just that person. It’s a ripple effect. As a player, I’m thinking I’d have difficulty trusting that team player again.
Cheating isn’t isolated – it’s a reflection of inner character, or lack of it.