A Random Observation and my Issues with Little League Baseball

A quick observation and then I will talk about Little League baseball.

Music to listen to: On Bended Knee by Boyz II Men

I mentioned the group a post or two ago so respect is deserved.

-I was in Kroger tonight waiting for the express self checkout minding my own business. When my turn finally came at an open console, I went to it and waiting literally one foot behind me was the next customer. This woman looked over my shoulder while I did my purchase.

This is my second-biggest pet peeve currently in rotation. The first one is sports announcers constantly saying “walk off” like a walk off home run or walk off base hit. That isn’t the proper term and is grammatically incorrect. The proper term is “game-winning.” For someone who works in sports journalism in some capacity and has an English-based college education, hearing this said on ESPN or any sports network in general makes my stomach turn.

So back to the annoying lady at the store. Why do people feel it necessary to stand too close to you in lines? I can replace my Kroger example with the bank, public restrooms, any checkout in general where a line is involved.

I have issues with personal space and it needs to be respected. I try my best to do the same with others but sometimes you will bump into someone or be in a closed space. That happens at times but should be avoided at best.

-So this is the time of year when ESPN feels the need to broadcast the Little League World Series. It’s the worst time of sports for me and I’ll list the reasons.

1) Its crappy baseball. I’m a fan of baseball. I enjoy Major League baseball. I worked extensively in college baseball for four years so I have an interest in that as well. I played high school baseball and can even appreciate that to some degree. I have no interest in seeing 12-year-olds play a weakened version of the sport.

For those of you who use the argument that these guys are like little professionals, that argument really doesn’t work. Sure they know how to perform skills at an advanced level for their age but its still at an amateur level.

2) Its creepy. You’re watching 12-year-old kids who you have no connection with play baseball. I have nieces and nephews who are in this age range give or take a year or two. I make every effort to see them play baseball, football or basketball because I love them and want to see them succeed. Is the quality of play good? Of course not. They are still learning how to play the game. Eventually, they will reach a maximum level of skills that may translate all the way to the professional ranks. That would be great but I understand that they have to start at this youth level to eventually reach their highest potential.

What I’m trying to say is that I understand the place of Little League baseball and youth sports in general having in the lives of young kids. However, if you have no connection with the kids on the field, whether it’s a family member, neighbor or something along those lines, why watch it? I can almost predict your response to that and I rebut it with this…

3) Little League baseball isn’t pure. You have the baseball apologist out there using statements that the kids are out there “for the love of the game,” that they “don’t play for money” and so forth.

The sport stopped becoming pure the day that you put a sponsor on your jersey.

When I played Little League back in Williamsburgh, Brooklyn represent, we were sponsored by the local corner deli shop. Our colors were green and yellow like the Oakland A’s. It was cool to have the store that all of us got sandwiches from on our jerseys and they gave us things like free drinks. However, the store was benefiting greatly with the exposure that we were giving to them.

We didn’t deserve a cut of the profits or anything like that. However, it showed that even at the smallest level of Little League, there is a commercial element to it you can’t ignore.

By the time you reach the level of the World Series you see on ESPN, there’s significant financial value on many levels. You have the sponsors for the broadcast, so ESPN makes money in that way. The city of Williamsport, Pennsylvania becomes an international tourist attraction, so it makes money. The coaches of the teams and even the private trainers gain exposure that can eventually turn into financial gains with more clients. The clothing apparel and baseball vendors gain exposure as well.

Once again, similar to me and my local deli, I don’t think that the kids should be getting paid. However, the “pure” element of the game is non-existent. ESPN wouldn’t show it if a profit wasn’t being made. That network would show a checkers tournament if it got enough viewers.

4) Finally, this one may be the most annoying on a personal level. Once every few years, there is a player on one of the teams that just happened to mature at an earlier age than everyone else and he dominates. They’re easy to spot. I flipped the channel to one of the games by accident and saw a larger kid from the California team throwing about 65 mph from the mound, which is fast at this level. He struck out two batters and I changed to something else.

However, I’m waiting for a profile of the kid to come about if his team happens to win the World Series. Then you’re going to have people trying to tout him as the next big superstar.

This doesn’t only exist in Little League but its most prevalent in this example. I get tired of hearing these guys who don’t know much about the development of an athlete see some middle-schooled or even high school-aged kid and tell me that they are going to be in the pros. There’s about a 99% chance that it isn’t going to happen.

Everyone wants to be that person who saw a ninth-grader and knew immediately that they were going to be an All-Star.

5) An offshoot of my last point above. When I played Little League, all of us on the team knew that we weren’t good but the most important thing was to have a good time. The concept of being on ESPN was the furthest thing on our minds. We were just concerned with getting sandwiches after the game.

Back to my main point, when you start broadcasting the frickin REGIONAL FINALS to just make the World Series, something isn’t right. The only game that we would see back in 1992 and 1993, my Little League years, was the championship game between the US team and the International team on a Saturday afternoon on ABC for Wide World of Sports. I saw the game, thought it was cool that kids were on TV and went along with my day.

Now, you have a generation of young ballplayers being sold on hopeless aspirations. Life isn’t fair and you will lose a lot more than you will win. The sooner that kids learn that reality, the better we are all in this society. These life lessons are usually learned at your local ballpark in front of a dozen people and not in front of a national audience.

When you see the losing team crying on the bench, and isn’t it always odd how the camera finds the weepiest kid immediately, part of me feels good because the kid is finally experiencing pain and not being coddled for being an awesome ballplayer in a crappy baseball league. It will toughen him up. However, the other part of me does feel kinda bad for him to have to experience it on TV.

6) Final point. The continued promotion of the Little League World Series opens the door for two obvious things, cheating and overbearing parents.

It can’t be ignored that with added exposure and money comes cheating. We’ve had numerous incidents of players lying about their ages, playing for teams not in their region of residence, etc. My rule of thumb on this is that if you’re a high school student or older, you should take blame for it. None of that “he’s just a kid” argument. If you’re 16, you know right from wrong.

However, since these kids are younger than that, it usually comes back to the overbearing parents.

Going back to my nephew who’s in the 11th grade right now. He’s a good football player who has the potential to play in college at a high level, wherever that may be. However, it’s hard to be objective about it because he’s like my little brother. I think the kid is going to be in the NFL but I’m looking at it from a proud uncle’s prospective. That’s for my nephew, I can imagine it being worse for my child in the future.

I think that some parents see their kid playing Little League and think that if they can play at this level, then the Major Leagues are right around the corner, hence putting added pressure on the kid to perform well, which usually doesn’t end well.

What’s the solution to all of this? I don’t think a solution is really in place because I’m in the minority on this issue. More and more games are on TV so people care about it. I just can’t get myself to watching it on TV.

Your thoughts?