Just when I thought I had heard it all. So let me paint this bizarre picture real quick. Palos Verdes Peninsula High was playing Santa Monica in the Southern Section High School Baseball Playoffs. Palos Verdes Peninsula High won the game, 7-2, which should have put them in the quarterfinals, except for one thing. Before the game, Palos Verdes took “batting practice”. And by “batting practice” I mean that players were fucking around with a wiffle ball and wiffle ball bat, throwing from their knees to teammates for about 10 or 15 minutes. So why were they disqualified for this? Well, for some strange reason, this is how Blue Book Rule 1522.2 reads:
Teams entered in the baseball playoffs will not be permitted to take batting practice on the day of a playoff game prior to the commencement of the contest. Batting practice will be construed as ANY type of pitching motion with ANY type of ball from in front of the batter (including pitching machines and overhand throwing). With the consultation and support of the C.I.F. Southern Section Baseball Coaches Advisory Committee, the rules are as follows… THE ONLY ACCEPTABLE BATTING WARMUP WILL BE SIDE SOFT TOSS, BATTING TEE WORK OR PEPPER. …
THE PENALTY FOR BATTING PRACTICE WITH WIFFLE BALLS, SOFTBALLS, BASEBALLS, ETC. MAY BE FORFEITURE OF THE GAME.
I don’t know who the fuck came up with that rule but that, alone, is bullshit by itself. What’s even more bullshit is that wiffle ball for 10 minutes is interpreted as batting practice. The worst part? The fucking assistant coach for Santa Monica filmed the kids playing wiffle ball on his cell phone and submitted it to officials after they lost the game. Talk about a sore loser. Palos Verdes head coach John Hangartner had this to say, “We weren’t trying to hide, or cheat. We simply didn’t know the rule. We thought you couldn’t stand and throw like a pitcher… We are asking the coach to call off the appeal and do the right thing. My players don’t deserve to go out like this. But it doesn’t look good. The only one who can change this is the head coach.” Ed Haus, a senior on Palos Verdes also had this to add, “They filmed us throwing/hitting wiffle balls to each other, and as a team we’re shocked that this happened. We can’t believe their coach would blame a five-run game on us hitting wiffle balss prior to game time. It’s unreal”. Couldn’t have said it any better myself there Ed. Total pussy move on Santa Monica here. I don’t give two shit about what the rule book says. Fucking around playing wiffle ball had absolutely zero impact on the outcome of the BASEBALL game that was played. Santa Monica lost, and they were butthurt about it so they blamed it on the “batting practice” Palos Verdes took. Absolute bullshit. I hope Santa Monica’s head coach mans up here and does the right thing and calls off the appeal. If not then he should be ashamed of himself for being a gigantic puss.
welovefun 