Chairman's Notes May 2020 Week 3

May 19, 2020 ·   Chairman's Notes

Managers, when I was a young man in college, I remember hearing a wonderful story called "The boy who wants to play."  I was fortunate, because I had always been a good baseball player, and was awarded a full ride to play college baseball.  But, I always had a soft spot for the guys who almost never played, from little league through college ball.  That guy was always cheering the starters on, and worked their butts off just to be on the team.  I have carried that thought with me all my life, and I still believe we should do everything thing we can to "let them play."

Quite often, we do paperwork for new Players at the last moment, and bring their new cards to the Site they where they are playing.  Our Commissioners and Site Directors know this, and do everything they can to help new Players, as well as our veteran Players.  Why?  Because we want them to play.
 
In 2019, we instituted a rule whereby if a person is disabled, coming off an injury, or whatever, we allow them to petition me to have a 'Courtesy Runner' for them when they bat.  They must provide medical proof that they need help from the batters box, and then they are approved.  The Manager must provide that message, from me, at the pregame Manager's Meeting.  The CR starts at the rear of the catchers box, on the right hand side of the box as you look out to the field.  The runner cannot move until the batter hits the ball.  That CR can only run that one time that inning for the batter.  If the batter makes an out, that CR is done for the inning.
 
I have been told by only a few Managers that it is not fair for someone to have a runner.  I do not understand their logic.  This is a league.  We are not playing for a National Championship, nor for money.  Why we do this is really simple.  Just like the "boy who wants to play," we want to be known as the league who does everything we can do allow most everyone a chance to play.
 
Mike Knowles
FHC Chairman


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