A well-known, some would even say infamous, Pennsylvania nimrod has announced that he is starting a new mission. He has now shifted his sights from protecting toddlers (in some cases he calls them infants actually), from the risk of high powered rifles; stocked fish from bald eagles; sight impaired hunters from antler restrictions; and pancake breakfasts from extinction due to more people hunting on weekends. “The Scam” as he is called by those who know him best, is sounding the alarm on a risk that he feels must be abated immediately.
“I question whether extremely young children under the age of 7 should be permitted to be wielding menacing solid baseball bats” said the Scam. “These kids are not old enough to absorb the intent or meaning of baseball at the age of 4 or 5 or 6! Toddlers, INFANTS ACTUALLY, can be allowed onto the field, but there’s no way these kids should be actually swinging those bats, making contact with a ball, and actually participating in a game. And the risk of injury, and the impact that would have on our future baseball programs, could be significant!” he said. “What happens when one of these 5 or 6 year olds get hit by a 100 mph fastball!”
The Scam is proposing that if a coach wants kids under the age of 7 to actually step up to the plate, the coaches will have to give up any kind of recreational sports they might play outside of youth baseball. “We see the photos and hear stories of these young kids hitting the ball and making it all the way to home sometimes, but that’s not reality. The reality is that the coaches are putting these balls on a tee, adjusting the tee to the height of the toddler, and we know in some cases those adults are the one swinging the bat!” he said. “If the adults want these kids under the age of 7 to play for real, then they need to put down their own bats, balls, and gloves. It’s only fair.”
“The Scam” claims to have legislative support in place with legislation teed up and ready to go to force the hand of the Pennsylvania ball Game Commission (PbGC) if the Board of Commissioners won’t take immediate action on this risk that he’s believes he has clearly demonstrated is a serious issue.
But not everyone agrees with “The Scam”. Many coaches are coming forward with strong evidence that every youth ballplayer has different skill levels, and their age really shouldn’t be the only deciding factor as to when players can start playing with a real bat. “My son is 6 this year, and we have him playing with the 8-10 year old players” said one parent who asked not to be identified. “My son has spent a lot of time practicing his baseball skills, he might be just 6, but he’s ready to swing the bat and field the ball!”
Other coaches are coming out in support of the concept of “let parents decide when their kids are ready to swing the bat and actually participate in the game”. They are asking the PbGC to challenge The Scam to produce some verifiable facts that show there is a risk when kids under the age of 7 handle the bat and actually play in the game.
As “The Scam” works to build support for his restrictive approach to the recruitment of future ball players, a counter-movement appears to be growing. Many coaches and parents are pointing to a widely popular legislative effort that culminated with Gov. Rendell officially signing HB 1690 on Dec. 22, 2005, authorizing the Pennsylvania Game Commission to create a mentored youth hunting program. The governor held a ceremonial signing on Jan. 27 to help further educate the public about the new program and help promote Families Afield in other states. The Pennsylvania Legislature passed the historic measure with 202 of 203 Pennsylvania Representatives supporting the idea that parents are the best authority to decide when a child should be permitted to actively hunt, under the guidance of an experience mentor. The legislation received the support of all 50 Pennsylvania State Senators, the Governor enthusiastically signed the legislation, and the 8 PGC Commissioners all supported the program.
There is growing support from Little League coaches and parents to attempt to get similar legislation passed to ensure that parents continue to be allowed to decide.
When asked if he thought this growing base of support was a threat to his idea of restricting the “under 7 participants”, The Scam insisted the effort would fail, just as the Families Afield legislation that was passed with 252 of 253 legislators supporting it ultimately failed after the Unified Sportsmen of Pennsylvania questioned whether “extremely young children,” under age 7, are able to “absorb the intent or meaning of the mentoring.” When pressed on what his strategy would be to defeat any expansion of parental authority over their children and the attempted recruitement of future baseball and softball players, The Scam said “listen, all Unified had to do was to refer to unspecified reports of abuse of the mentored youth program being made by wildlife conservation officers and publicly cast doubt on whether a big game tag should be issue to children this young (under the age of 7), and it was over! We will see the same from the PbGC on this issue. Safety first!” he proclaimed. “Besides, I had to wait until I was 8 to start playing baseball. Today’s kids should have to wait too!”