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If only somebody had watched out for my self-esteem

2:51 PM Tue, Aug 26, 2008 | Permalink
Jack Perry

Here's proof beyond the gray hair (or lack of hair of any color) that I was born too early.

In a Connecticut youth baseball league, organizers have banned 9-year-old Jericho Scott (left, AP photo) from pitching because they say he's too good. They say the other kids are afraid of his 40 mph. fastball.

Kids today get all the breaks.

I sure could have benefited from a rule like this back in my Little League playing days. If those adults had the foresight to bar, say, a half-dozen or so pitchers who were too good (for me anyway), I would have spent a lot less time marching back to the bench, bat in hand, head down.

Who knows what it would have done for my self-esteem? Maybe I'd have ended up as something more than a frustrated wannabe athlete who spends too much time on the couch watching other people play sports.

Hey, any chance Major League Baseball could ban the Yankees' Mariano Rivera? It sure would make life easier for my favorite team and its fans.