Fred Bowen's "The Score" column,
Friday, September 15, 2006, Washington Post

A Walk That Ran Into Controversy

During summer vacation, you might have missed a big sports story. It occurred in June during a league championship baseball game for 9- and 10-year-olds in Bountiful, Utah.

The Yankees were leading the Red Sox by one run. The Red Sox were at bat in the bottom of the last inning. They had a runner on third base and two outs. Their best hitter, Jordan Bleak, was coming to bat. Their worst hitter, Romney Oaks, was on deck. So the Yankees' coach had to decide: Walk Jordan and pitch to Romney, or try to get Jordan for the final out.

Now, there's something you should know about Romney. He has been real sick with cancer. He has to wear a helmet all the time on the field to protect him from injury. And he's so skinny that he takes medicine to help his bones and muscles develop.

The Yankees' coach decided to walk Jordan and pitch to Romney. Romney struck out, and the Yankees won the championship.

When Rick Reilly wrote about the incident in Sports Illustrated, lots of readers responded. Some thought it was terrible that the coach walked the slugger to get to Romney. Others thought it was okay, a part of the game.

It's not an easy call. After all, aren't coaches and players supposed to try to win? In the major leagues, coaches decide all the time to walk sluggers such as Ryan Zimmerman and Miguel Tejada to pitch to an easier batter. Once a game starts -- even a kids' game -- no player gets special treatment. Don't teams try to steal bases on catchers who don't throw well? Don't basketball players pick on the weakest defender to score on?

Maybe Romney didn't want any special treatment. He cried himself to sleep that night, Reilly reported, but told his dad the next morning: "I'm going to work on my batting. Then maybe someday I'll be the one they walk."

I think the Yankees should have pitched to Jordan, the Red Sox slugger. Being sick with cancer is not the same as having a weak throwing arm or being slow on defense. And these Yankees and Red Sox weren't pros, just kids playing their hearts out on the baseball diamond.

Besides, the Yankees' coach was sending a terrible message to his team: that he didn't think they could get Jordan out. Kids' sports should be about building skills and meeting challenges, not winning and losing. The Yankees' coach should have had his pitcher face Jordan and let the kids decide the game.

What's the worst that could have happened? The Yankees might have lost the title. To me, that seems better than winning the wrong way.