As I travel the area covering local sports, I have often found
myself wondering about the term “good sportsmanship.” I saw this
article online where the Little League teams in a city in Ohio
had voted to ban chatter during games. I remember chatter quite
well. I was an average pitcher at best, but every time I reared
back to throw, I could hear my teammates around the infield
chanting, “Hey batta….hey batta….hey batta….SWING batta!” I
don’t know that it ever had an impact on an at-bat, but we did
it every pitch. Now some leagues around the country are banning
the practice because it is considered taunting the batter. That
sounds awfully overprotective, but I suppose it is setting a
good example. What exactly is good sportsmanship? It is when
teammates, opponents, coaches and officials treat each other
with respect. Kids learn the basics of sportsmanship from the
adults in their lives, especially their parents and coaches.
What I find interesting in covering high school sports is that
baseball teams already do