Dear Snarky,
My son is 11 and plays Little League baseball. There is a boy on his team that is really ticking me off. This kid’s family has what I’m guessing are very nice seats at all of the Royals games. It’s like a suite or something.
The child is using his family’s fancy tickets as bribes to get the other boys to do stuff for him. For instance, he told my son last week that if he would say he was hurt and couldn’t pitch, thereby allowing this kid to be pitcher, he could go to a Royals game over the Memorial Day weekend.
Do I say something to the coach, the parents, who are way stuck up and I’m a little afraid of, or do I just let it go and bite my tongue?
Signed, Mad Baseball Mama
Dear Mad Mama,
It sounds like you have a royal pain on your son’s team. Sadly, it wouldn’t be Little League season without some crazy going on and a kid bribing other pla
yers, well, that’s a cray-cray home run.
That said, I would definitely say something to the coach. He or she needs to know that another player is attempting to mess with the roster via a little ticket payola. At the very least it’s horrible sportsmanship.
As for the parents that’s a harder call. If you’re already uncomfortable around them I don’t know if I would say anything. There’s a very good chance they could laugh it off or even do that lame “boys will boys.” They might even be proud of their spawn’s “ingenuity.”
What I would do is treat this a teachable moment and emphasis to your son that real friendship can’t be bought and that he should feel sorry for his teammate who feels he has to use Royals tickets to get and manipulate friends. The poor kid is striking out in the game of life.
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Snarky in the Suburbs 