Little League.. What Are You Thinking?

I was reading through the 2008 changes to Little Leagues rules and found this curious note:

“A pitcher who delivers one or more pitches in a game cannot play the position of catcher for the remainder of that day.”

Can you believe this applies to ages 7 – 18? Are they serious? So if a 10 year old pitches to one batter and throws 5 pitches in the first inning he’s done as a catcher that day. Doesn’t this limit kids from becoming skilled at both pitching and catching?

So is it OK to pitch 5 innings, throw 80 pitchers then catch the entire game the next day… this rule allows this.

There are so many problems with this rule I can’t begin to write them.

I have to say this is one of the most absurd policies I have ever seen in youth sports. I hope LLB realizes it and retracts the rule. If my son was a pitcher/catcher playing in Little League I would be looking for a Cal Ripken league close by.

Now an acceptable rule would be if a player pitchers more than lets say 3 innings and throws more that X amount of pitches (fill in the X based on what’s appropriate for that age) he/she cannot catch the remainder of the game… and requires appropriate rest before pitching again.

Sometimes LLB just doesn’t get it.

Coach Bob

http://youthbaseballblog.blogspot.com/