Chose to get out of pitching, despite success, because he didn't enjoy it. :- ) I encouraged this.
My goals were for him to have a happy, well-adjusted childhood, and the kind of pressure that most Seattle-area coaches put on kids aren't always conducive to that.
One year, in Little League (!), John pitched his team into the playoffs and before the first game, the coach brought John out to warm up (I wasn't there; his mom was) and had John throw about 100-125 pitches to warm up and diddle with his stroke. It might have been more than that; his mom said that John (at 11 years old) threw fastballs for 45-60 minutes pregame.
Once the game started, John BB'd and HBP'ed the first 5 batters and walked off the field sobbing. To this day, I'm sure the coach thought that John was too nervous.
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Later on, John developed the game face, toughened up, but still, how many kids ever ask if they *enjoy* baseball? It's a high-stress game.
So John played basketball, a joyful game to play, flag football, and if memory served he bought a video game or two :- )
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