Why don't youth hitters ever charge the mound?

In my job with the Sportsmanship Initiative, I get to see a lot of youth baseball. Kids have varying skill sets. Some field better than others. Some hit better than others. Some have really strong arms, while others would do better if they played right field with the help of a t-shirt cannon. However, there is one characteristic of youth baseball that's almost universally true: Kids are not very good pitchers.

The ball is literally all over the place. Youth batters need the athleticism of an Olympic gymnast to avoid some of this stuff. St. Louis Cardinals fans will remember this not-so fondly, but think of Rick Ankiel in the 2000 MLB Playoffs and you've got a pretty good picture of youth pitching. Walks are issued by the truckload and the batters are as dirty as Pig Pen from Peanuts fame before leaving the batter's box.

Youth batters get hit all the time and you know what I've never seen - a kid charge the mound to fight another kid. I'm sure it's happened somewhere, but the truth is that kids are so much better behaved than their professional counterparts. In the sixth inning of a game on Thursday night between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the San Diego Padres, Dodgers pitcher Zack Greinke hit Padres slugger Carlos Quentin on the shoulder on a 3-2 pitch.

Quentin gave Greinke the thousand-yard stare, took a few steps toward the mound and this happened (email subscribers click here):



Greinke suffered a broken collarbone in the scuffle and a lot of people are clamoring for Quuentin to be punished. He should be. Charging the mound is one of the most reckless and dangerous things a baseball player can do. Nothing is gained from fighting the pitcher. MLB should take a page from the NBA on this one and suspend players for even taking steps toward the mound. If a player charges the mound after being hit by a pitch, he should receive a 40-game suspension. Missing a quarter of the season would prompt hitters to take their base as the umpire instructs.

I know there are pitchers who throw at hitters intentionally, but that still doesn't give the hitter the right to step outside of his role and mete out his own punishment. Baseball has been known as America's Pastime. Well, it's past time for the sport to clean up its act concerning charging the mound. A good start would be to use kids as role models.