So first and foremost, introduce yourself.
Hi, I'm Josh Cordova.
How old are you? 13 years old, man?
13 year old in the middle
of that, yeah. I want you
to 1st tell me about your love for
baseball. Where did this start?
Well, so I was started playing for the
Bear Creek Junior Sports Association
when I was at the age of five and
it's such an amazing organization.
And they really taught me how to play
baseball and they prepared me for
the next level, which is high school.
Very cool. Are you in high school now?
Yeah. Are you? What grade are you in?
9th? Ohh. You're a freshman. Yeah. Ohh.
A fun ride begins.
I hate it. Middle school and
high school so much better.
And then college the vest.
So what position do you play?
I play shortstop and catcher.
Shortstop and catcher.
Very good. It's OK.
Come on in. No, it's OK. Yeah.
So they cannot. Yeah, totally.
So they can have the water.
Ohh. OK OK. Sounds good.
So what got you into?
So you play and you also empire.
And what got you into that?
Well, just the love of baseball
and being around baseball. Really.
Really. Yeah. Just wanted to
be around it all the time.
Yeah. And hopefully teach the younger
generation how to play the game of baseball.
Ohh, really. So it was more of a
passion to continue being in the sport
and teaching it. Yeah, very cool.
Do you want to be a coach one day?
I hope to be a player in the MLB.
Really. Yeah. Rockies course.
I'll cheer for you.
Very cool. So you got into
it because you loved baseball
and you wanted to teach it.
And how long have you been doing that?
Two years. You've been out for years?
Very cool. Had anything
like this ever happened?
No, never. A similar situation.
Never. This is the first time.
Anything even remotely close to it,
yeah. Take me back to that day.
What do you remember?
Well, I issued a warning to both
sidelines to watch the language.
And then one of the teams didn't find
satisfaction in that warning or ruling.
And so they said, uh,
the coach started getting
my face before I knew it,
and they wanted me to change the call.
And then one of the Bear Creek
coaches stepped in and told
everyone to get out of my face.
And then it just escalated from
there. Within it. It just got out
of control. Yeah. Where'd you go?
Towards the outfield. Yeah,
just went away. Yeah. Were you
involved in, like, were you
stuck in the middle of or did you
get out of there just in time not to
get stuck in the middle of fight?
Yeah, I I think, I'm pretty sure
I got out of there in time.
Yeah, but they, they were running
around fighting all over the field.
How many friends do you remember seeing?
Ohh too many.
Tell me throughout
the game, how was the game?
How far in the game did this happen?
The top of the 7th or 6th and
the coaches were chirping to each
other the entire time and you could
tell the teams didn't like each
other tripping. What does that mean?
Chirping. Chirping. Yeah,
like they were just like making
sly comments or remarks.
Oh, so they were just going out the
whole time? Yeah. What kind of come?
Like, I don't know, it's just like
you're cheating and stuff like that.
Like comments that should have never been
made out of a 7 year old baseball game.
Who were they directing
those comments towards?
Fans. Coaches. Everyone, really.
Cool. Really good. Yeah.
Why do you say it seemed like there
was bad blood between the two teams?
Well, because I heard in a previous
game that they played that they
were about to fight in a similar
situation was gonna happen.
So you have heard that
before you went into the
game? No, after. I didn't know that they
had bad blood before I went into the game.
I feel like that's something
you should know, yeah.
When what was the boiling point that
made you say, you know what, I'm make
sure you're worried this is too much
when an old man dropped the
F bomb on the sidelines.
You're 13 years old.
In the United in Old man to please
watch his following which yeah.
What was that like? I don't
know, it's kind of weird.
I shouldn't have to tell a grown man
to how to act around little kids.
I remember when I was like your age,
I used to be intimidated to like,
tell an adult anything,
let alone issue them a warning.
You know, like I I can't imagine.
Yeah. What did he tell you
when you told him I'm getting
well, I issued it to the entire
field and then everyone just
started yelling and screaming
and it just got really chaotic.
What were they yelling and screaming like?
He should be ejected?
He should be out of here.
Coaches were pointing.
So it wasn't necessarily a call for the game?
No, it was just tell everyone to calm down.
But they didn't, no.
How did they get from the
stands to the field? They
just run around the fence.
For you as an umpire.
I can't imagine because an empire is
supposed to have control of the field.
Yeah, you're 13.
And you are surrounded by adults who
are saying things to each other and
now they're in your field, yeah.
What did you think at that point?
It was very chaotic and I was scared
not only for me but the seven-year
olds that happened to still be on the
field at the time but then ran off.
Who grabbed the seven-year olds?
One of the team moms from each side.
Luckily, none of the little
kids were in the radio.
I wanted to ask you. What would
you tell those parents now,
after the fact of the fight, that
they're teaching the children bad lesson
that they shouldn't be fighting over a game?
You know, so many people in
comments and just about this story,
because this went national,
we're saying that you were
the most mature adult.
In that field that day.
I would hope so.
You're 13.
And yet you showed much more maturity.
I just tried to be a great example for the
kids and you know how to play baseball.
Your bottom line.
What was it like when they
were fighting? Scary.
I got to know when they were gonna stop,
how many injuries they were gonna be.
It went on for a while, yeah. Where were you?
Kind of in the middle of it,
but then I walked towards the outfield.
Just watching, yeah. Were your parents.
Know my both of my other brothers play
for the Bear Creek Junior sports and
they both had games that day. So yeah,
yeah. Did at any moment
you fear for? Your safety.
Not really, because the coach from Bear
Creek really protected me and kept me out
of harm's way with the other coaches.
It sounds like the coach from Bear Creek
really stepped up to protect you, yeah.
Can you tell me a little more about that?
Well, like, so they were
really all pointing, screaming.
And then the coach from Bear Creek
pulled aside one of the coaches
that was like mainly in my face.
The guy who was in your face, who was
it in what in the world really tell?
It was just one.
Go ahead, you can describe who
was in your face and who was the
chief actor from better point.
It was one of the assistant
coaches from the opposing team,
from Bear Creek, and they were just
saying that he should be ejected,
that their whole team
should be just qualified,
and just random stuff that didn't
make sense to the game at all.
And who's he, the older guy
who had dropped the ball?
No, it was a he was one of the
he was the first base coach.
He was a younger guy. Kind
of the assistant coach of the
other team was asking for you
to eject the coach, the other
and the head coach from
the other team. So both,
yeah. And why were they
asking for them to be ejected?
I don't know. If I issued the
warning, then that's the warning.
Should have left it up that.
So who was the older guy who
was to drop the F1 that made
you say, OK, this stops here.
I believe it was just a grandfather or
parent of one of the kids on the field.
But then coaches come over and.
Tell you inject coach exactly.
Hence why you were like. Yeah.
Wow.
At that moment, did you realize
there's got to be something bigger
than me happening here? Yeah,
it was pretty scary.
When he was in your face, what?
What were you thinking?
Did you tell them, like,
can you please go sit down
or what you're saying?
I don't know.
It was kind of intimidating
and I was trying to take a step
back from the entire situation,
but they just kept following
me and getting closer.
A grown adult, yeah. To a 13 year old, yeah.
And at that moment you said you did,
and in the video you can see him.
Appointing him in the chest walked him
from home plate to the pitchers mound.
The head coach? Roman soldiers.
Pushed him all the way back to
almost home plate and the gentleman.
Was the gentleman who got knocked
out during the game during the
video where you see he got punched.
Ohh yeah. That's the gentleman who
was pushing my son all the way to
home plate and yelling in his face.
Yeah, physically pushing him,
pushing him back, like intimidating me,
getting in his personal space. So he had
to the point where he had
to continue stepping back.
Or did you step back to
get to almost a home base?
I was a bit aways away from
where I was originally standing
going at it, yeah.
And just telling you inject them.
Like what? What was he telling you
to that he shouldn't be here anymore,
he should be ejected and.
Just stuff like that.
And you were saying what
it's I issued a warning,
so it should be up that
should be left at that?
To the the protocol for officiating.
And they're trained whether they're
13 years old and they're 30.
As you try to deescalate things first
and foremost, and you do that by warning,
I mean that's sort of standard operating
procedure and all of this stuff.
And that's the first thing that I'm telling.
I think it's also important
to note that every parent,
every coach signs a code of
conduct and the terms are absolute.
That anybody who does this sort
of behavior is not permitted to
be part of this organization.
So he was doing this.
He was told he he probably
received hours of training.
That's yeah, that's
what I was gonna ask you.
So what obviously was to get this job,
you had to go through some training,
you know, some protocols.
What were you trained to do
in a situation like this?
Well, you're never really trained
for a situation like this.
This was just like.
We only we never thought anyone
would fight a League Baseball game.
True. Any training
that he's ever really received
from Mom and Dad? Yeah.
And hey, if the situation arises,
I mean the training that
we've given him, like, hey,
make sure you back out of the situation.
We always had that conversation
to be a good young man, correct?
Just the other situation
if you can't handle it.
Call one of us or the police right away.
What have your parents taught you
about this situation like this if
you didn't necessarily talk about
this specific situation with the?
In training at work,
what were your parents telling you?
Well, the first attempt to
deescalate it of course,
so it didn't get to that point.
But if it did end up getting
to that point, step out of the
situation and then call someone.
You didn't even have a chance
to finish your first stop.
Because that's what we're
trying to do, right? Yeah.
And I thought maybe by issuing a
warning everyone would just chill
and take a step back and realize
how stupid they're acting. But
I guess not.
Did you at any point feel
guilty for the what you.
For the warning that you should
instead of ejecting people
at first I kind of did,
but looking back on it,
I feel like as if I made the
right call and judgment.
Is there anything you're.
Doing with your employer or
with apparatus to work on.
Like moving forward?
What can you guys do?
I guess it's, it's hard
because it's out of your hands,
like you can't control what
other people could do, you know?
Yeah, but I don't know,
are you working on changing
any policy or training or
anything like that?
Because
we're looking at a lot of things
right now and you're touching.
It would be best if you not comment,
OK? That's OK. Umm.
Is there anything you really want people
to know about your side and how you felt
being a 13 year old in the middle of this
well, kind of just like if
you were to be in my shoes,
how would you feel at that time
with a bunch of grown men throwing
punches and fighting around the field?
That's about it.
And we've gotten some comments
of people saying that you.
Again, we're the most mature and
probably the bravest person here.
Trying to help and then.
This just got so my hand.
Yeah. What would you?
Given that these adults already acted
that way and already did something
wrong in front of their children.
How do you? As as someone who's 13,
how do you fix that?
Like how do you tell a 7 year old this is?
I know this is what they did but.
They should have acted this way.
Just kind of explaining to them like
what to do in the right situations
and how they should handle things
more maturely even though they're 7.
And they shouldn't fight over a game.
Is that something you usually start with,
like in games or you don't even think about?
Well, usually I'd like to tell
them that like, none of the kids
are going to the major leagues,
so keep the yelling and comments
to a minimum because it is
just a Little League game.
You start with that, yeah,
that date that you start with that,
I believe so, yes.
And here's the thing as well,
is this is a developmental. OK.
So the developmental part of it is?
If you have, you know,
there's no stealing,
there's no drop, there's strikes,
there's no real full baseball rules.
This is a league where you can
learn and progress and learn
to love the game of baseball.
So this is what this league is intended for.
It's when you get to 9 years old and above
is when we start to do introduce the drop,
their strike, the stealing,
the bases, that type of deal.
This league is purely for fun,
teaching fundamentals and so.
I guess as adults didn't ask his parents,
we decided, you know,
he would be fine at a 7 year old
baseball game and we're literally up
the street at another baseball game.
So, but again,
this is a developmental meaning.
There's no really, yes, they keep score.
Yes we do.
Have a tournament at the end of the year,
but really it's just to develop the kids
to learn to love the game of baseball.
Wow,
that's what this league is for.
And our 440 years of Bear Creek,
we've never had any type of situation
where this is ever a rose like this before.
We've never had it.
And even in the in the young people,
we've never had a pump experience,
something like this.
So
one thing I can say is we're trying
to figure out how to use this as
a valuable learning and teaching
experience so it doesn't happen again.
What is that valuable teaching? That
comes out of this unfortunate event. They
should just show how every adult how to act.
Or they could look like stupid how they
did on the field, fighting over again,
that's not meant to be competitive.
It's meant to spark love of the game exactly.
I hope it doesn't do the opposite.
Yeah, after that situation.
Is there anything I'm missing you'd
like for me to ask, or if you really
want people to know about this story?
I just think it's really important to
know how heroic this young man was.
I mean that. That was using the
Kennedy presents a profile and
courage to be in the middle of that.
You know that. I hope it doesn't
traumatize him any further.
It's a shame that adults ruin in children's
game. OK. And I also think, you know,
and being my, my son and his love for
the game and what he's done for the game
and trying to get back to the youth,
I think is is you know, I'm a super
proud guy, the parent of this, of my son.
You know, I always try to encourage him to,
you know give back to the community.
He's been, he's been raised, you know,
within that baseball since he was five
years old and this exact program.
And so when we had the opportunity
to come back and be in umpire,
you know, we we did everything we
can to make sure that he was doing.
Giving back to the community and
the kids and just teaching the game.
Like I said,
he's when he's not playing baseball,
he's helping me coach his
little his younger brothers.
When he's not helping me coach,
he's playing.
And when he's not playing,
he picks up after extra umpiring
shifts so that he can help pull.
He's on competitive traveling,
so he wants to help pull his weight
a little bit around.
So every check that I get,
I use towards gear such as like bats,
gloves and stuff like that to take the
financial burden off my parents, yeah.
Because the expenses could get quite high.
So it's all for the love of the game,
yeah? Do you see yourself as a hero?
Well, I just see myself as
like an example of how to act.
When a situation like this breaks up.
Thank you so much. As everything else. I
just have one question.
As somebody who has grown up in
the league, this one game doesn't,
it's not a good reflection of the league,
is it? What? What is a good
reflection of the league?
How is the league in, in your
eyes that you've addressed some?
Well, the league is amazing because
it helped me and a bunch of other of
my colleagues grow up and learn to
love the game of baseball and play,
and now we're striving.
Throughout high school and stuff like that.
In academics and everything
exactly because it taught us to be school
1st and then be the best athlete possible.
Do you want to keep on fire? Yeah.
I find joy in helping the kids
learn the game of baseball.
Has that love and that joy.
It wasn't touched by this. No, not at all.