Double Amputee Cut From Team

[Spark]

A Florida high school baseball team's decision to cut a double-amputee player from the squad had critics crying foul.

Pitcher Anthony Burruto -- who has prosthetic legs, can throw an 80-mph fastball and was featured on the cover of ESPN the Magazine -- was cut after he tried out for Dr. Phillips High School varsity team.

Coach Mike Bradley's main concern about Burroto was him trying to field bunts off the pitcher's mound, according to the Orlando Sentinel.

"He's not looking at him as an athlete. He was looking at him like he's a disabled person," Anthony's mom, Diane Burroto, told the paper.

Dennis Rasmussen, who pitched in the majors for 12 seasons, said simply, "This decision was wrong."

"You took away the hopes and dreams that Anthony's been hanging onto," Rasmussen, a friend of Burruto's family, told the Orlando Sentinel. "He crushed a young man with no apparent reason."

But Principal Gene Trochinski stands by the coach's decision.

"I think the coaches made a determination of who could contribute to the team this year and not that Anthony couldn't, but other kids could at a higher level," he told MyFoxOrlando.com.

Anthony had his legs amputated as a baby because he was born without a shinbone in his left leg and without a fibula in his right one.

Despite the setback, he doesn't make any excuses for being cut.

"I want to earn my position on the team. I want him to say I'm good enough to play," he told the paper.

[ravenmaniac]

I applaud the kid for competing but I am not ready to say the coach is a cold heartless bitch because he cut the kid. If the coach feels the kid would be a liability then he owes it to the other 14 or 15 players on the team to do what is in the best interest of the team. It's a shame but when you reach high school it is no longer like tee ball where everyone gets to play regardless of how bad you are. If the coach thought he was one of the best pitchers on the team I am sure he would have kept the kid. Hopefully the kid will work on improving his mobility and will try out next year with better results.

[kbsooner21]

Sounds like the kid has the right frame of mind. It's the other's out there crying foul like usual.



P.S. could have worded the thread title a little better

[insidethe8thpol]

I say Bullshit !! Thats why there are 9 players on the field. Let the kid pitch and enjoy his high school years. What a better way of promoting TEAM PLAY instead of worrying about wins and loses.

Its a good thing the U. of Michigan, the Olympic Team, the Cal. Angels & New York Yankees refused to let Jim Abbott pitch or he might have thrown a No-Hitter on Sept. 4, 1993

[jcindaville]

Props to the young man for his effort!!

[kbsooner21]

I say Bullshit !! Thats why there are 9 players on the field. Let the kid pitch and enjoy his high school years. What a better way of promoting TEAM PLAY instead of worrying about wins and loses.

Its a good thing the U. of Michigan, the Olympic Team, the Cal. Angels & New York Yankees refused to let Jim Abbott pitch or he might have thrown a No-Hitter on Sept. 4, 1993

Because you play the game to WIN! If he can't hack it, he doesn't need to be on the field.

[Spark]

Because you play the game to WIN! If he can't hack it, he doesn't need to be on the field.

You don't think he would be an inspiration on that team??

[kbsooner21]

You don't think he would be an inspiration on that team??

Not if he can't field his position.

[insidethe8thpol]

Because you play the game to WIN! If he can't hack it, he doesn't need to be on the field.

Come on !! Its High School baseball for christs sakes.

Who says he has to be the starting pitcher every game ??

These kids would WIN more in learning how to accept & work with those who are physically challanged when they go out into the real world.

Does the pitcher field all bunts that are laid down ?? No

[kbsooner21]

Exactly, it's High School baseball! I wanted to win every fucking game I played!

Plenty of time to do that other stuff in little leagues.

[Spark]

Exactly, it's High School baseball! I wanted to win every fucking game I played!

Plenty of time to do that other stuff in little leagues.

You would have a good chance of doing that with an 80MPH pitcher on the mound

[insidethe8thpol]

Exactly, it's High School baseball! I wanted to win every fucking game I played!

Plenty of time to do that other stuff in little leagues.

And who says they still cant win ?? You ?? The Coach ??

[ToDaClub]

Maybe the other pitchers threw 85 MPH? It appears this kid wanted to earn a spot on the roster, and this year there were other kids that were better. What year is he? Soph? Senior? Maybe next year he makes the team? If he gets grades like KB he would have 13 years to try and make the high school team.

[kbsooner21]

You would have a good chance of doing that with an 80MPH pitcher on the mound

Obviously not if the coach cut him.

[ToDaClub]

He's a soph. FYI