It's Just a Game, Dad? Pa. Youth Baseball Coach Accused of Hitting Son

By: Barry Leibowitz
Topics: Daily Blotter

(CBS)

HARRISBURG, Pa. (CBS/AP) No, it wasn't the kind of "hit" that dad can brag about after the game.

A Pennsylvania youth baseball coach is charged with simple assault for allegedly punching a player on his team after the boy got ejected from the game. The boy who the coach hit... is his own 9-year-old son!

Police charged Ray Boudreau of Enola, Pa. after he allegedly struck his son twice with a closed fist at a game last Monday. Boudreau's lawyer Brian Perry says the boy had been ejected for throwing his helmet after being called out at third base.

Perry admits the dad handled the situation poorly, but claims he hit his son on the back.

After that "father-son moment," according to court papers the umpire and scorekeeper called police, who later arrested the coach at his home. An officer says he observed redness on the boy's face.

The coach is probably red in the face, too - he spent last Monday night in jail.

And whatever the outcome of the criminal case, his son may be in no hurry to run home in the future.

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by shaferg July 14, 2010 7:44 AM EDT: I GREW UP WITHOUT A DAD AND EXCELLED IN ALL SPORTS. I LOVED AND WAS MOTIVATED BY SPORTS. MY MOM DID NOT CARE FOR SPORTS. SHE DID SHINE MY FOOTBALL HELMET !!! ALL MY CLASSMATES HAD FATHERS. SOME WERE HARD ON THEIR KIDS HOWEVER. MOST DROPPED OUT OF SPORTS OR DID NOT EXCELL AT ALL. I HOPE FATHERS READ THIS AS WELL AS KIDS WITHOUT FATHERS !!!; Reply to this comment


by peguesplace July 13, 2010 7:01 PM EDT: The Dad certainly over-reacted. He should have dealt with it at home, when he was calmer, and not where he would shame his son even more...
All that aside, this wouldn't be such a circus if Dr. Spock's ideas hadn't become so popular. All corporal punishment isn't abuse. But, this sure sounds like it...
I quit playing ball because it was no longer a game to our coaches, and that was fifty years ago.. Even then, we got "hollered at" by overzealous adults who were obsessed with winning. It was no fun for us mediocre players to be bawled out because we weren't as good as the coaches' favorites, when we were doing our best..; Reply to this comment


by iamproteus July 13, 2010 3:54 PM EDT: If this situation went down as reported, the father really missed what is known as a teachable moment. Many years ago, I was a Little League umpire. I frequently officiated my own 9 year old son's games. On one occasion, he complained (on the spot) that I called him out on strikes. I told him we would discuss it between innings and sent him to the bench. His complaint, as it turned out, was that I didn't give him special consideration because, after all "I'm your own son!". I explained to him that "when we're on the field I am the umpire, not your father and your are not my son. You are just another of the 18 players on the field and as an umpire, I must treat you no differently than any of those other players." He looked at me and said "Oh, OK." and gave me a big hug. I never heard another complaint from him about either my calls or those of any other umpire.; Reply to this comment

by playa1165 July 13, 2010 8:41 AM EDT

It is a sad state of our nation when a father is merely disciplining his child and two other grown men run off like little girls and cry to the police. Why couldn't they talk to him, or better yet if they did not approve, why didn't they stop him? A couple of hits on the back, really that deserves the police? Some kids are little turds that need a higher level of discipline

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by wahoosam2 July 13, 2010 9:00 AM EDT: Child abuse isn't discipline. And this is another example of how parents ruin youth sports.


by nyc_logic July 13, 2010 9:10 AM EDT: Maybe that's the way you would treat your own kids, but we're talking about a GAME. The kid doesn't deserve to be disciplined with 2 closed-fisted punches to the back OVER A GAME. The father has much bigger issues called "re-living his life through his son". Did you need to be disciplined this way? Were you one of the "little turd" you were refering to? The only turds I every see are the @$$h01e parents who clearly lack any parenting skills.

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by barbaram99 July 13, 2010 2:00 AM EDT: Years ago there were the art of winning and losing gracefully.True there are brats of all ages..Time out don't alway work. I know what child abuse is. I was abused as a child. My late dad could stop me cold with his voice.There one one tone he used and I knew what it meant. I got my seat spanked.
To often parents go overboard. I have seen children throw themselves to the floor,run wild,boss their parents etc. It is mostly boys.
Parents want to live their dreams thru their children.
I saw a man kick a woman to the point he made her cry..I was appalled just I am over this boy's father. My father is now dead. It is the public business. We pay for their education in the states we esch live in.; Reply to this comment


by geeroy July 13, 2010 12:16 AM EDT: Isn't this just a game?? All this child might learn from this incident is that to get what you want you should punch someone - if they punch harder than you, then you get a stick, if their stick is bigger than yours you get a gun.....; Reply to this comment


by ElizabethA2010 July 12, 2010 10:46 PM EDT: I cant believe some of these comments. Hitting a boy of nine in the face with a fist is not appropriate punishment. Yes, sadly today it appears discipline may be lacking in some families but striking a child in this way is dead wrong. I spanked my children and they are none the worse for it but I never struck them in the face, even with an open hand.

Shame on the ones who thinks this is okay.; Reply to this comment

by tcravenna July 12, 2010 9:23 PM EDT

All of you that are condeming the father are whats wrong with are society. You are the reasons are youth have no respect for teachers, coaches, referees, police, or even there own parents. The kid needed more than just a time out. When we were kids and got out of line we got cracked and you can bet your azz we didnt do it again. The article said the boy had "redness" on his face. Do you really think this man hit his son very hard and only caused "redness".

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by nyc_logic July 13, 2010 9:24 AM EDT: Maybe you're whats wrong with society. Did you ever think of that? You hit a kid, all you're teaching them is that hitting is ok when they're angry. So they hit another kid in school or on the street. I'm a parent too, and I have observed with my own child that a time out is way more painful than a "crack in the mouth". Hitting your kids only make YOU feel better. We need to raise a generation of thinkers, that's what this country needs. This country does not need another generation of neanderthal ditch-diggers. Trust me there are plenty of those already.


by inlander40 July 12, 2010 6:39 PM EDT: Yes kids need discipline but that was not discipline it was assault and battery. And he is being charged with "simple" assault?? Would it be considered a "simple" assult if he had hit an adult in the face with his fist?
It is just a game, a kids game, he is just a little boy trying to have fun playing a game. How sad and humiliating for the boy.
I hope the Dad is never allowed to coach anything and I hope social services looks closely at the family because if he did that in public I am sure he wouldn't hesitate to do it at home too and probably has. The jerk should be made to attend anger management classes.; Reply to this comment

by jus4umz July 12, 2010 5:08 PM EDT

Standard overreaction from the media, those who WERE NOT there. Dude, what has our society come to? I clearly remember our pop warner football coach roughing us up a bit after a "bone-head" mistake. The same coach would be to congratulate us for making a smart play. Besides, more often than not the coach will be harder on his own son than the other players.

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by nyc_logic July 13, 2010 11:14 AM EDT: Yea, what you just described is abuse, dude. Today that great football coach of yours would be fired then arrested. If a coach of any sport hit my kid, I would rip his arm from the socket and beat him to death with it. The only one that I expect to discipline my kid is ME, because that's MY job as a parent. Not the school, not the community and certainly not some failure football coach.