Ethics, Loyalty and Vivar

“Losing Justin took our life away.  We’re one and a half pitchers short,” said one of the coaches from the Outlaws.

                Justin Vivar, the big lefty for the Outlaws seemed to have jumped ship.  Perhaps the writing was already on the wall when he joined the Outlaws in the middle of the 2011 season leaving the Frozen Ropes Spartans; now in the middle of the 2012 season, Vivar leaves the Outlaws and joins the Future Elite.  In all fairness, we must not throw Vivar under the bus – he is only a 14 year old kid.  Ultimately, it is the parents who make the decisions and choices for their kids.  That being said, there are some serious questions regarding the ethics of the Vivar family pedagogy if the rumors are true. 

                The apparent problem is that Justin had concerns of being pigeon holed into one position of the team that being the pitching position.  Keep in mind that Justin has a very live and active fast ball between 72 – 75 miles per hour and a nice change up to complement it.  He threw a no hitter at Cooperstown Dreams Park when he was 12 years old.  He shut down most of the top teams in Illinois 14u travel ball.  He is highly sought after by Saint Rita, and he was without question the Outlaws stopper.  Although he can put a charge in the ball from time to time, he is not thought of or known for his batting.  No one comes to watch him play first base.  He is blessed by God to throw the ball.  That being said, he is only 14 years old and it is understandable that he would prefer to do more than sit on the bench until it is time to pitch.

                During the Downers Grove Longshots tournament, Justin was allowed to pitch twenty one innings by tournament rule.  He pitched twenty of them.  He batted in the championship game when the Outlaws threatened to rally – bases juiced and one out.  Justin hit into a double play to end the game.  His complaint allegedly is that he did not get enough time in at first base and so he did not want to play for the Outlaws and coach Gould anymore.  According to the coaches, Justin had complained about a sore ankle and so it was a collective decision by the coaches to use him only for his strengths.  The Outlaws have two other first basemen in Connor Fredland and Michael Sebby, so the coaches did not see the point in risking additional injury to their number one pitcher. 

                The initial rumor was that during the tournament Justin was enticed to leave the Outlaws to play for the Illinois Sparks, a team coached by coaches from Saint Rita where Justin considered attending high school in the fall of 2012.  Sense then it was confirmed that he joined the Future Elite and rumors surfaced that some underlined promise to a spot on a USA baseball region team. This news coming after his Outlaw teammates voted him off the team for ditching them at a tournament because he did not get enough time at first base.

Former Outlaw Ranko Stevenovic hits a two strike two base hit against Justin Vivar as the Illinois Indians beat the Outlaws for the first time.  Now Vivar is also a former Outlaw.

                Without hearing the Vivar side of the story, the team is left with a hurt sense of betrayal. This says a few things about the insensitivity and decadence that has crept into the baseball world. There was a time when children played this sport for the love and the fun of the game. There was a time when kids learned to hit up the middle by playing in the alley with the fear of losing the ball if they hit it in the mean old lady’s yard or the yard with the big dog. There was a time when kids played Running Bases and Strike’em Out with a rubber ball and a square box on a brick wall. There was a time of innocence.

                There was also a time of moral virtue, tenacity, and fiber that was displayed in attributes like loyalty, sportsmanship, and team spirit.  In those days when a kid did not start on his team, dad would hit him a hundred ground balls a day in the hot July sun. Parents did not beg the coach for playing time and certainly did not blackmail them.  It used to be that baseball taught children that hard work pays off and although winning happens on the field, it starts long before the winners cross the lines.  Somewhere in all of the smelly mess of USA baseball, National tournaments, Perfect Game showcases, and Little League World Series, parents should be reminded of the old days and what really matters – the lessons we teach our children. 

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