In terms of judging how good their kid is in comparison to another player? Not from what I have seen. I also think most parent don't know much about the game..Which is fine. If my kid played field hockey I would just keep my mouth shut because I would have no clue..
That's an interesting point. How do you judge who is better on a softball field. Sometimes it's easy -- one player makes errors, the other doesn't. One player his .350, the other .200. But in lot of cases it comes down to the eye test, and the eye test of who happens to be watching or judging. For example, a girl might make a great dive at SS to stop a ball getting through. Another girl might have positioned herself better for that hit off the bat and make the play with ease. Which is better? A catcher who has a cannon and throws it every time even if she's got a 2nd who misses it, or a catcher without a cannon who doesn't want to sacrifice the base on the off chance the tag gets made? A girl who's got sprinter's speed to first but not great instincts or a girl who always watches the ball in the field and coaches so she knows what to do when she gets to first?
Or even in the example you gave. A girl throwing strikes shouldn't get pulled. A girl who walks can/should be, but just because a pitcher is getting hit doesn't mean she's failing, at least not at most levels. Would a coach rather have a pitcher who's walking more but not getting hit, or a pitcher who is getting hit but not walking anyone? That's a subjective decision, isn't it?
That's one of the problems wiht being a parent in this game. In basketball, you can see a kid missing, shots, not blocking out, committing dumb fouls. In football you can see someone miss block or tackles. But in this game and baseball, a lot of what is "good" is in the eye of the beholder.