At first it seemed like one of those stories – kids and their parents go to a judge to seek redress because of perceived unfairness about something important to them – that you can’t help but empathize with. It’s the principle. Teachable moment stuff. It was prominently reported by both the local print and electronic media.
Then I read the details about a controversial youth baseball call — that was overturned by a national commissioner — that adversely impacted the Spring Hill National Triple-A Majors All-Stars. They’re a Dixie Youth Baseball team of 11- and 12-year-olds. I’ll spare the specifics, but it involved the commissioner making a decision more steeped in the spirit of the law than the letter. It didn’t go Spring Hill’s way, so they took it to a Hernando County judge who, ultimately didn’t rule in their favor.
“Rules Bench Youth Team” read one daily’s headline. “Ruling Spikes Youth Team” read the other. Photos of the despondent and disappointed accompanied the accounts.
So the script, as it’s usually written, ends with the Spring Hillers — players, parents, friends and attorneys — not quitting. They gave it their best shot. They fought the good fight. They wanted to right a wrong.
But this really wasn’t a Jimmy V moment. Nor a movie starring the adolescent Mickey Rooney. Uncue the Rocky theme. No, this was, frankly, the sort of unnecessary case an overburdened court system in an overly litigious society doesn’t need. It couldn’t have been a judicious use of Hernando County Judge Kurt Hitzemann’s time.
In rendering his decision, Judge Hitzemann’s pointed to the league’s own rule book for the basis of his decision. “I didn’t see anything in this book that said if you don’t like what the national commissioner says you can take it to court,” explained Hitzemann.
That, ironically, was the teachable moment’s lesson.