What to Know
Have you ever been watching your kids play anything from soccer to baseball and witnessed one of the kids do something during the game that likely was a faux pas found in the gamer’s handbook? When it’s young kids playing these sports, you might just pretend like you didn’t see something or just let it slide because they’re still learning. Now, what if they were playing in a the Little League World Series?
An eleven-year-old player’s surprisingly cheeky behavior at a Little League World Series baseball game while they were up to bat has caused quite a stir online as people discuss everything from proper sportsmanship to where exactly the strike zone rests when someone is up to bat.
Seriously, should this be allowed?
According to BroBible.com, during an elimination game at the Little League World Series between Panama and Canada, there was a play that happened during the fourth inning that has caused quite a stir.
The outcome of the game was Canada defeating Panama in a final score of 3-2, but people are still talking about an incorrect ball four being called.
It was eleven-year-old Ianne Salcedo, who’s no taller than 5 feet and about 90 lbs soaking wet who was up at the batter’s box and proceeded to wiggle around and dance while holding his bat like he was going to lay down a bunt.
As the pitcher on the Canada team wound up to throw the ball, Ianne yelled something out at the mound and ducked super low below the pitch which resulted in a ball four. Panama was able to walk even though the ball crossed the plate because the umpire was confused by Ianne’s little dance break. Does this all seem like fair gameplay to you?
According to the experts, there are a few things that went wrong here.
Even though experts are saying that this ball four call did not change who ended up winning the game, there were important several things to note.
According to the current edition of Little League’s Rules, Regulations, and Policies shared by BroBible.com, if you’re looking at where the strike zone is in terms of what Ianne did, it’s named as “that space over home plate which is between the batter’s armpits and the top of the knees when the batter assumes a natural stance.” The umpire determines the strike according to a batter’s usual stance when they swing at a pitch.
What the umpire perhaps should have noted was being “aware of a batter who tries to give the impression of a small zone by squatting,” which is pretty much what Ianne did.
It’s also listed that “once the umpire determines the batter’s normal stance, he/she should call that strike zone no matter what the batter may do to alter his/her stance and zone.” BroBible.com explains that the umpire ended up calling the fourth ball on how Ianne stood in the box, not his natural stance, so, it was a “wrong” call.
Also, Ianne could have very well been called for “unsportsmanlike conduct” for yelling at the pitcher during the game. Seriously, what kind of precedent does this set for other kids watching? They might start to get the wrong idea about what kind of behavior or gameplay is standard protocol at their sports games.
Some folks online have some things to say about this kind of gameplay.
In a video shared on Facebook that shows Ianne Salcedo up to bat, people in the comments are sounding off with their stance on both what happened and what probably should have been called by the umpire.
One person shared, “Calling strikes on this kid. This actually falls under unsportsmanlike conduct on the batter, though it’s up to the umpire. A batter or batter’s teammates cannot do intentional acts, make loud noises, or disruptive actions against the pitcher.”
Another individual shared their thoughts by looking at the player’s rulebook. They wrote, “Strike zone doesn’t change when the batter ducks, or crouches as the pitch comes in; umpires should judge the zone based on the batter’s normal, natural athletic stance.”
One person couldn’t help themselves as they cracked a joke. They wrote, “Are you sure he doesn’t have to go to the bathroom ?? Looks like the pee-pee dance to me!!” Another individual blamed the coaching staff for what happened. “Pathetic….reflection of the coaching staff. Foolishness,” they commented.
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