PITTSBURGH - A T-ball coach allegedly paid one of his players $25 to hurt an 8-year-old mentally disabled teammate so he wouldn't have to put the boy in the game, police said Friday.

Police said the boy was hit in the head and in the groin with a baseball just before a game, and didn't play, police said.

"The coach was very competitive," state police Trooper Thomas B. Broadwater said. "He wanted to win."

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I enjoy watching sports. When I was younger (and thinner!) I enjoyed playing sports. But I've never understood this rabid foaming-at-the-mouth need to win at all costs. I'm not sure I want to...

<font color = lightgreen>Understanding it is acceptable...as a psychological disturbance that requires therapy. Accepting it is not acceptable--this kind of coach should be permanently banned from sports.</font>

I didn't even think they kept score in T-Ball.

Theres a reason they started the Special Olympics, that article should be a clue.

But it's T-Ball... T-Ball! Did I miss something? How long have I been asleep? What year is this?

The over-the-top competitive spirit is courtesy of the grown-ups involved in the game. This usually means parents, referees and coaches. Kids are usually not to blame... usually...

T-Ball?

Think cricket, but instead of someone throwing the ball they put it on a pedastal in front of the kid (usually 5-8 years old) (and using most baseball rules)

It's like baseball for small children. Analogous to using a tee in golf, the batter whacks the ball from its perch rather than having uncoordinated children hitting eachother with baseballs lol. As a kid, it's pretty challenging to get that ball going.

And, talk about morally unambiguous here. Wow.

There is NOTHING wrong with wanting to WIN, there is nothing wrong with being competative, "HALE" ALL life is competative. What is wrong is trying to hurt another human over a stupid game, a game for children. Anybody that doesn't have what it takes to handle lossing, shouldn't be on the field of play, No matter how good you are there is ALLWAYS somebody out there that can and will beat you.

Coach to Stand Trial for T-Ball Bounty

Eight-year-old Keith Reese testified at a preliminary hearing that T-ball coach Mark R. Downs Jr. made the offer before a June 27 playoff game.

"He told me if I would hit [the teammate] in the face, he would pay me $25," Keith said.

Reese said he had never before warmed up for a game with his mentally disabled teammate, Harry Bowers. But on that day, he did.

His first toss hit Bowers in the groin area. As the boy walked away, he said his coach told him to "go out there and hit him harder."

"So I went out and hit him in the ear," Reese said.

...The younger Reese said he asked the coach for the money when the team met at an ice cream parlor after the game, but did not receive it. He said the coach told him he'd get $25 if he signed up for the fall season.

I'm not even a parent and this pisses me off. I hope the prick does time in prison for this...