A coach in the Little League World Series delivered a speech on the mound on Wednesday that is being labeled the greatest of all time.
During a West Region tournament game between Arizona and Hawaii, Arizona had a 2-1 lead in the top of the fourth inning. That’s when Coach Drew Breivogel visited his pitcher on the mound.
‘This is a baseball game, right?’
Little League teams from across the globe compete every year to become world champions, and the pressure can be overwhelming for many of the young players, who are all ages 10 to 13 years old.
Pitcher Camden Burke of Chandler National Little League in Arizona seemed to be feeling the heat when Breivogel came to speak to him. What happened next was unexpected.
“I’m so proud of you. I’ve known you since you were 8,” Breivogel said, as ESPN microphones picked up his comments. “Not a lot of people get to see the fruit of the labor that you put in, right?”
The coach went on, “Remember Zacchaeus in the Bible? Someone planted that tree 30, 40 years prior so he could climb up into it. Salvation — we’re talking salvation. This is a baseball game, right?”
In an effort to help the young player relax, the coach seemed to be letting Burke know there are more important things in life than the outcome of the game.
“If you walk the next five guys, Jesus is still Lord,” Breivogel continued.
“If you strike out the next five guys, guess what: Jesus is still Lord. Okay? I love you. Have some fun,” he concluded.
A post that showed the exchanged labeled the coach’s speech “the greatest [Little League] mound visit of all time,” and had already been viewed more than 10 million times at the time of this writing.
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Although Burke had the lead, he was already 82 pitches into his night, a lot for even a major league hurler. This no doubt had an effect as Kawaihau Community Little League of Hawaii scored four runs in the inning.
Neither team scored in the remaining innings, and Hawaii took home the victory, 5-2, eliminating Arizona from the tournament.
The speech was not without controversy, however. Several responses criticized the coach for not talking strategy or offering the boy pitching advice.
“How about a scouting report?” Tim Earle replied, suggesting the coach should have given “some advice about mechanics.”
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Dylan Buell/Getty Images
Another widely viewed remark accused the coach of “using TV to make himself look good [.] He knew he was Mic’d up, that was his BIG moment.”
Although the coach received a lot of support, detractors of his speech were split between those who found it to be inappropriate for the situation and those who preferred the coach to dish out strategy during his time at the mound.
Neither the coach nor the player has addressed the memorable moment.
Hawaii will play Southern California in the West Region championship Friday at 9 p.m. ET. The winner will advance to the elimination tournament.
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