Why Little League?

My 2 cents.

Recreational. Come on say it with me Recreational.

LL, Dixie, Pony, etc all have evolved. USSSA/AAU were part of that evolution.
The Recreational leagues should not be confused with USSSA/AAU. These are obviously not comparable.

Like you have different levels of play in the travel circuit, recreational is also a level of play.

Would you suggest that an adult minor league A level team be comparable to an adult AAA team. Nope.

I think the evolution of youth baseball has been a good thing. Talent dilution sure to some degree.

The kids that migrated from the recreational leagues to the travel circuit opened up places for other kids to see these all-star type of scenarios.

Those kids playing in the LLWS are all-stars. Just like the MVP award at an elite 24 tournament or when you win a tournament= you're a superstar.

The changes I would like to see in the recreational level are the base path distances. I think they should be moved to the same distances that USSSA/AAU play on. The kids will adapt. If you go to some of the these recreational league all star tournaments you will see balls hit like lazers on 46/60 fields. Its insane. At least for the 11-12 y/o the base should be 50/70. and 225-240 fences. The regular season recreational teams will adapt just fine.


Last thing. The recreational level doesn't need to be made easier. Its still a program that needs to challenge the kids.

 

I agree Gloveside, but here is the side that doesn't get reported much. The majority of players on the LL WS teams play travel ball. There is something about that that is not right.

Either you play LL or you don't. To me, it goes against everything you stated.

 

There's alot to respond to in this thread as I think folks are missing the point. We have LL Baseball to thank for the majority of our kids being interested in the game as I know I would sit with my son when he was 6-8 yrs old (he's 16 now) watching the game. More importantly the exposure LL Baseball gets today keeps the sport of baseball healthy for ALL types of leagues and associations as it hopefully is attracting kids to the sport as a whole. We all need to support anything that shows kids what a great game baseball is to play.

LL Baseball was never setup to be THE most competitive organization rather it is community focused with actual boundaries from which players can be drafted. Sportsmanship, playing with friends who you go to school with and from your neighborhood, teamwork and playing in an environment which encourages developing a love for the game are more of a focus than what goes on in travel ball. Making a comment that the top AAU/USSSA teams would smoke a top LL team is a no brainer because of the difference in goals and objectives.

As far as the top Showcase teams I can tell you that at least in the Charlotte area they are full of kids who played LL,Ripken, etc as are the top HS programs. The South Charlotte Panthers, Megastars and On Deck are full of kids who played "Rec" ball thru age 12 then decided to go to the next level. You do not have to drag 8-12 yr olds all around NC to play travel ball to learn the game or become skilled at it. At age 8-12 let them gain a true love for the game being with their friends to play ball and have a life other than baseball. Playing travel ball for 10 years has to burn out more kids (and their arms) than it helps, but thats my opinion.

I would do the same thing again today if I had an 8yr old as we did 8 yrs ago and play LL.

 

??

Braves, are you saying that a kid should only play rec OR travel, but not both?

 

I'm absolutely against a kid playing both LL and travel ball at the same time at that age. Forget about the problems of wearing young pitcher's arms out. The fact that these kids of 11-12 years old are playing anywhere from 75-100 games in the summer presents a recipe for disaster: Concern of injuries, concern of burnout and concern of elitism between teammates (the one's that are playing travel ball and the one's that don't).

If you are looking for reasons why so many young kids are having arm problems at such an early age...start here.

 

I played Little League (1997 Matthews American District 3 Champs ) and I think most of the best players do play in Little League and play AAU on the side. I know that my age group did not have an AAU team that year because the 12 year old Little League rules were different than 12 year old AAU rules (only age where there was a difference). The bases for 12 year old AAU were 70 ft. and 50 ft. from the pitcher's mound to home and there were leadoffs, pickoff moves like middle and high school baseball and we didn't know how to do that and at the time it is overwhelming learning how to play on a bigger diamond and especially as a pitcher to learn how to pick guys off. Matthews used to be AAU in the younger age groups leading up to 12 year olds but 12 year olds were always Little League All stars that went from District-State-St. Pete's-Williamsport. AAU you can pick from anywhere and that is a distinct advantage. I don't know about Babe Ruth that much. I played it when I was 13 and 14 since Matthews switches from Little League to Babe Ruth after 12 year olds so I never knew it was for younger kids. Little League was the best though. I remember Lastings Milledge's team made it out of the South Region that year and he pitched in the first game and was not good at all pitching but they advanced and lost to Mission Viejo California in the US Title Game. Never forget the story about him being called Lastings cause he was his mom's last child. He ended up playing for the Tampa Tornadoes AAU team who won it all in 2000 for 15 year olds. I'm still not sure if the 12 year old AAU rules are different from 12 year old Little League All-Stars. It's been a while.

 

Braves, Little League regular seasons start early in April (essentially before Travelball is rolling) & end before June 10. A Kid generally only plays 16 regular season games spread out over 10 weeks. The games are only 6 innings. And pitching rules are stringent.

You're problem is with Travelball, not Little League.

 

Missing the Point

Everyone seems to be missing my point. My point is that I don't like the way LL presents itself as the premier league in 12U Baseball. That's all. I see it as an intentional and blatent misrepresentation of the truth done solely because they have the money, history and influence to get away with it. No they can't compete with travel ball teams (but weren't designed to). So what! Anyone that thinks otherwise is very sadly mistaken.

I never bothered to sign my son up for LL after age 9 because I saw it as a waste of his and my time. I knew my son would enjoy it more (spending time practicing with Dad) and be better off practicing than playing recreational baseball anyway. Along with practicing with Dad, the AAU practices and games have proven to be the right amount of baseball for him.

 

Top Talent

If you gave me the opportunity to recruit from any area; charge $1400 per kid for a month and a half; and charge for tryouts - i would bet you that i could put together one heck of a great team. If i could fly a kid in from Alabama (like one team i know) to pitch one game - then watch out!

It has already been mentioned that LL Allstars pulls from the local community - typically the top players from 7-8 teams in a division. They practice together for several weeks; play hard in districts; states, and regionals to make it to Williamsport - and if you think the competition is weak - think again - the Kentucky team from '02 was one of the powerhouse 12 year old teams of all times..... won the LL World series that year (beat Japan 1-0) - and i would stack them up against ANY team from ANY league.

Playing in front of the cameras, the crowds, the announcers, and the lights is not nearly as easy as you think!!!! It looks easy on TV -

I have watched every game this year as I have in the last several years. I have seen some spectacular plays, some fantastic pitching, and some errors - just like I have seen in every AAU/USSSA/College World Series game that i have watched.

Little league does need to extend the base paths - so stealing comes into play - but overall they run a terrific program - and i can tell you in Winston Salem - the numbers only keep growing!

oh - and by the way..... we DO play showcase ball - but we also played little league and loved the experience.

 

issues

In my years of ball, I always heard parents bickering about there should be rules preventing kids from playing both rec and travel ball. In my area, the rec league is actually scheduled to allow for both. Rec games are weeknight affairs only with a practice on the weekend. Most young kids want to play rec with their local friends, and some then venture out to the travel ball scene. The issue was mostly brought on by kids missing weekend rec practice when playing in travel tournaments. But I could never figure out how you could make a "rule" to force kids and parents to make this a either/or choice of the two levels.

Another thing always debated was well if they don't show up for weekend practice, then they have to sit out the next game. My problem as a coach was I seldom had at least 9 at a practice so if I sat out all that did not come to practice we would have to forfeit the game. That wasn't a viable option, so you couldn't really use that as a disciplinary "rule".