Shout Out To This Judge Who Allowed Bat-Flip Little Leaguer To Play Tonight
Marco was issued a suspension for "unsportsmanlike" conduct.
LET THEM PLAY!
A New Jersey judge has ruled in favor of 12-year-old youth baseball player Marco Rocco and his family after they asked for an emergency court order to allow the 12-year-old little leaguer to play in an upcoming important tournament. Last week, Rocco was suspended by New Jersey Little League Baseball for tossing his bat in the air during a previous game. The bat-flip was considered "unsportsmanlike," and the league issued the initial one-game suspension.
The ruling by Gloucester County Chancery Judge Robert Malestein, in which he granted a temporary restraining order against the league so that Marco could play, came just hours before the Haddonfield, New Jersey team was set to play in Game 1 of a four-team, double-elimination tournament.
The winner of the tournament could possibly advance to the Little League World Series playoffs.
SHOUT OUT TO THE JUDGE WHO GOT THIS RULING RIGHT!
"If you’re gonna have rules and enforce them they can’t be enforced arbitrarily and capriciously," the judge said in his ruling Thursday afternoon. "[I’m going to] allow him to play in tonight's game." "You can't unring a bell if the game goes on," Malestein added.
Earlier this week, Rocco's family took the league's suspension to court and argued that during Marco's "brief moment of celebration," which included the bat-flip, New Jersey Little League had breached its contract, because it "didn't allow [Rocco] to play baseball and failing to follow its own appeals process."
"By punishing this youngster and not others who are on the website and social media of Little League baseball, it appears (the players) are engaging in the application of their rules," Judge Malestein continued.
Make no mistake about it - Judge Malestein got this one right and understands what the purpose of youth sports is all about; just letting them play!
To ruin a kid's love of sports for something as minuscule as a bat-flip celebration (which even Major League Baseball players do at times) is ridiculous, which many on social media have argued throughout the past few days.
MANY SPORTS FANS WERE ON MARCO'S SIDE
"We won!" a jubilant Joe Rocco (Marco's father) said after literally doing everything he possibly could to make sure his son had the chance to play in Thursday night's game.
In a statement released on social media late Thursday afternoon, Little League Baseball officials said that they "respect and uphold" the court's decision.
"They were taking the fun out of sports!" one person tweeted. "This should have never even went to court in the first place," another wrote on X.
Others criticized the "unsportsmanlike" rule in the first place for penalizing bat-flips, which, ironically, Little League's social media accounts had previously posted on their pages in a positive light!
Congratulations to Marco and his family for fighting for young athletes that just want to go out and have a good time.
And once again, shame on the adults that continuously try to ruin sports with their power-trip moments.
Do better, adults!