I was absolutely appalled the first time I read this story:
PITTSBURGH (AP) — 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.
Mark R. Downs Jr., 27, of Dunbar, is accused of offering one of his players the money to hit the boy in the head with a baseball, police said. Witnesses told police Downs didn’t want the boy to play in the game because of his disability.
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.”
How sorry of a human being do you have to be to do such a thing? My heart just broke for the 8 year old and his parents. What would posess someone to stoop so low? It’s a T-ball game for 8 year olds, for Heaven’s sake! Is there no arena sacred any more, no place free of the disgusting influence of overly-competitive parents?
If it were up to me to mete out justice, Mr. Downs wouldn’t be able to venture outside without fearing a ball inbound towards his head or groin for the rest of his life.
Fortunately, I don’t run the world. I imagine it would be a far harsher place. Good thing God’s in charge.
