Foul call needs plenty of review: Sandy Koufax League spat gets uglier than needed
A column of mine that recently ran in the HDN and garnered several strong reactions.
There were three undefeated teams, two district bids available, and only one man to make the decision.
When you factor in the presence of parents and coaches of 13- and 14-year old baseball players and understand that a volunteer of a local rec league had few blueprints or rules to guide him through the decision-making process, you can understand how things could get messy.
Aaron Blair and Kevin Butters, a pair of baseball coaches for the undefeated Homer team in Hillsdale's Sandy Koufax League, have gone public with their cry of injustice — a cry that revolves around their opinion they were snubbed from postseason play without due cause.
They cannot fathom that their group of boys was passed over for two other teams with spotless records, without so much as a phone call or chance to state their case.
And they certainly don't understand why there is no "forfeit rule," when a team no-shows because they can't field a full squad. Instead of being held responsible and taking a loss, the team that cancels is off the hook as if the game was never set to happen.
Blair and Butters' team was ready to take on the Hillsdale and Jonesville boys, but struck out looking when both teams cancelled the scheduled contests.
Interestingly enough though, Jonesville and Hillsdale had plenty of guys in gear for July 8 when they happily accepted their district invites, without once having to take the field against Homer.
