Youth Baseball: Grandfather Bludgeons Another Grandfather with a Bat

This past week, I watched all 6 hours of the mini-series on the History Channel called Hatfields & McCoys  If you love history, this show is a must watch.

Hatfields & McCoys

The History Channel chronicled the passion, hatred and vengeance between the two legendary families that led to decades of senseless violence and murder. Human life in the late 1860's on the border of Kentucky and West Virginia was not as important as being respected and settling a score.

At one point in the story, a Hatfield boy fell in love with a McCoy girl and they had a baby. Some thought that the baby would quell the violence, but the shared grandchild of Devil Anse Hatfield and Randall McCoy, the patriarchs of the feuding families, was shunned and the violence continued unabated.

On the field after a youth baseball game this past week, the grandfather of a little leaguer didn't seem to value human life as much as Devil Anse Hatfield when he picked up a metal baseball bat and bludgeoned his grandson's other grandfather.

Just when you think that you have seen it all in youth sports, you read a story like this.

The Main Point

In the movie Hatfields & McCoys, both families often commingled at county fairs and other regional events. At these events, they would listen to music, dance and compete in games of skill all while avoiding each other. Of course, hatred confined to a small area was like a powder keg ready to explode at any moment.

Similarly, youth sports often brings people together who don't want to be together.  Divorced parents, who divvy up major holiday so that they can avoid each other often find themselves attending the same youth sporting events. These unavoidable meet-ups can be civil or explosive. I have seen both, so I was not surprised by the story of the family feud playing out on a little league field after a game.

Do you have any family feud youth sports stories to share? Please do.