Why Little League?

Gut wrencher, huh? Semi-final of World bracket. Extra innings....bottom of the 7th.

Venezuala scored in top of inning, so Curacao was down 1 run. 2 outs & 3-2 count: single. Then intentional walk.

Then BOOM: Walk off 3 run bomb. Wow. Losers a-cryin' & Mommas sighing & Dads high fiving. Real drama at any skill level.

 

Baseball is good all the time!!

I did get to see the walk-off today while at home for lunch. Don't tell the boss that's why I was gone so long. I love to watch the LL World Series every year. My son played Cal Ripken and then Babe Ruth at 13 & 14. We went to the World Series when he was 13. It was not on TV of course, but now some of those Cal Ripken and Babe Ruth games are on TV some. I wish you could get all of them on TV. It is a big deal to the kids. It is also a big deal for Grandmama and Grandpa to see their grandbabies play on TV. I do agree that the announcers "play the game up" as the best there is. But what do you really want them to do? How would you like it if every time a kid made a play or hit a ball the announcer said " well that was nice but it would have been an easy play for the average AAU player". Of course they can't do that. I hope the smaller leagues start getting more air time and I would think MLB would be willing to help get the showcase teams on TV. That way they wouldn't have to send any scouts out to watch a player they could just get a bunch of big screen plasmas in a big room and fill it with scouts. LOL.
When I watch the games though I have always compared those kids to our kids we had on our All Star team as well as our AAU team. Most of our AAU team was made up of our ALL Star players. We were one of the top AAU teams at that time so we had a very good ALL Star team as well. I always thought we looked better than the guys on TV. Just to go back and do a comparison, our AAU team played in a tournament in 2002 and the big kid from Kentucky LL team pitched against us. We bombed him. I say we but my son didn't actually get to go to that tournament because of arm trouble back then. Our team came back on cloud 9 because they had just watched that kid dominate on TV. But this was an AAU team he was pitching against. My real point though after rambling down memory lane is that I will watch any baseball that they put on TV if my boss, the wife, lets me. To see those little boys smiling and having fun is as real life as it gets.

 

Yeah...that's what I meant; my problem is with trave...er...I'm not going down that road

 

PROOF!

AHA! D'Backs, I told you so! It would (almost) have been worth it to pay this fellas way to Orlando a few weeks ago so he could see the 12U USSSA Elite 24 for himself! But........what do I know.

 

I think Braves is saying comment to one. Not to do both. My son has played the travel ball venue and for a coach that had the kids health first. Winning second. They were very successful. LL is a differant level with differant rules. Just to throw this in Travel ball season is a year round deal if you go to FL, southern Texas and Cal. NC spring and summer start around March to mid July. Then starts back up after World Championships or whatever they call it till the winter. Pitch count for LL just came into affect this year. And they may change it. It think Braves was refering to that more so than the organization itself. Remember it is the team that pays for these events and LL is a schedule of games. Coaches play a lot into this.

 

PlateDad, I think we're all on the same page. A few points:

...This thread began w/ the question about 'why LL' is spotlighted in the media. I'm an avid supporter/participant in our local LL, so naturally I came out swinging.

...My son now plays college ball. But along the way he played LL & travelball (mostly AAU) through 8th grade.

...LL has always had stringent pitching rules. If I recall correctly, before this year if a kid threw an inning & 1 pitch, he was dead for the next game. 6 innings per week max except in All Star tournament. I like the pitch count approach better.

...I'm a huge fan of all forms of Travelball. It's absolutely the ticket if you want to excel in highschool & beyond. When Ty hit the high school campus, he started Day1 as a Freshman & hit in the middle of the order. No, he's not a phenom athlete. Travelball prepared him & elevated him above kids who weren't so fortunate.

...But Rec ball is the foundation. T-ball...ah, those were the days! Rec ball is the purest form of baseball that exists. No pay to play...Everybody gets playing time...And the highlight of the day is the free team drink after the game.

...Rec ball (not USSAA or AAU or Showcase) deserves to be glorified on the Television. And the Granddaddy of them all is LL.

 

Georgia on my mind

Ga. wins it all on a solo walk-off homer in extra innings. 3rd straight world title for the U.S. , second straight for a Ga. team. that scene after the dramatic ending was very touching. the US players hugging and consoling the Japan guys. great show of sportsmanship.

seems there were several walkoff homers this year at the LLWS.

Why do they play separate international & US brackets , then have a US vs. international championship game? why not just lump 'em all together and play to a championship no matter who the final 2 teams are?