Little League, Big Dreams

It’s mid-August and baseball is in its dog days. Pro and college football are still a few weeks from the regular season. Hockey and basketball are nowhere to be found. Most sports fans are a little bored this time of year. Not me, I love this time of year. I anticipate it and look forward to it. In fact, when I watch ESPN and see the tease for it, I hum along with the little jingle. And as soon as I see when the first game is, the first thing I do is the same thing I have been doing for about 15 years straight. I call my grandma and tell her, “Nanny, the Little League World Series starts this week.” Her reaction, “Oh good mijo, I’ll have to tell Poppy so we can start watching.” 

As a kid growing up playing baseball, I had always heard about the Little League World Series and used to watch the championship game every year. It was always a Sunday afternoon in August. It always seemed like a big deal because it was opened with ABC’s Wide World of Sports. You know the opening, the downhill skier with the ridiculous crash while Jim McKay uttered “the agony of defeat.” Well that was preceded by the Kirkland, Washington little league team celebrating their Little League World Series win while McKay says, “the thrill of victory.” Who did Kirkland, WA beat? Taiwan. As a kid, just about every year it seemed that the little league team from Taiwan represented the world and would dominate. Naturally it was a huge upset when Washington or Trumbull, CT topped Taiwan, but it never happened often. However, sometime in the early 90’s, Taiwan faded and other teams had their day in the sun.

In many ways the Little League World Series has changed and evolved in the past 20 years. Early on, television only showed the championship game. Then, around 15 years ago, we got to see the entire tournament. This happened around the time the playing field expanded from 8 teams (four from the US and four from the world) to now 16 teams (8 and 8). Along with this expansion came a need to make sure the playing field was even, and in 2002, they began cracking down on the birth certificates requirement, making it harder to fabricate age and making it harder for kids who are too old, i.e. Danny Almonte, to play. About that same time, they began showing the regional finals or play-in game to get to Williamsport, Pennsylvania. Today, we get to see even more of the regional games. It is apparent that the tournament is big and will continue getting bigger. Luckily, Howard J Lamade Stadium now has a partner, Volunteer Stadium, because the tournament keeps growing.

Some may wonder or ask, “Why would you want to watch little kids play baseball?” One of the main reasons is the fact that you have these 12 and 13 year old kids who have remarkable poise with all the world watching. They seem to have the perfect balance of that serious look during the pressure situations while smiling when making a play that makes Sportscenter. I would venture to guess that multiple MLB locker rooms watch these games before their own. In addition to that excitement, it is a well run organization. All of the umpires and workers are volunteers. The players get to stay in a dorm that is shared by every team, and the parents aren’t allowed in. The ballpark and rules of the game also make it fun to watch. As far as size of the field is concerned, the dimensions figure out to about 2/3 the size of Major League Baseball stadiums. For the rules, it is governed that every player has to play. They have also added the safety factor to it. Before the pitch count rule was put into place, a pitcher could throw up to 12 innings per week, which meant an unlimited amount of pitches could be thrown in those innings. Now, there are limitations as to how many pitches a kid can throw, helping to protect their young arms. But the biggest reason I watch? It is a chance to watch extraordinarily talented kids have an experience of a lifetime, in a battle for all the excitement and glory.

To show what I mean by excitement, here is a highlights reel from the 2009 LLWS:

Twice in the last five years the championship game was won in the last inning or extra innings with a homerun, a dream all young baseball players have had. Whether it was Sean Burroughs leading the Long Beach team to back-to-back titles, the dominant teams like the kids from Hawaii or Chula Vista, CA, or the perennials like Warner Robbins, GA, the Little League World Series is here to stay. Did I mention it’s free?