I can remember way way back to a time called “The 80′s.” 1983 to be exact. That was the year Marietta, Georgia won the Little League World Series. It was the first Little League World Series where I saw a U.S. team win.
I’ll never forget the star pitcher on the Georgia team. He was (supposed to be?) 12 years old. He was big. He threw hard. He dominated.
But I’ll also never forget the follow-up piece ABC did on that team (specifically the stud pitcher) when they were about juniors in high school.
The stud pitcher was big, only in the wrong way. He looked like he was enjoying playing, but it was clear that his best playing days were behind him. The same appeared to be true for most of the players from that championship team (at least those that continued to play ball after their big win). I hope the intended message wasn’t a fond look back, because I certainly didn’t feel it.
I remember feeling so disappointed. Actually I was kind of mad at the star pitcher. How could this happen? How could he let this happen? How could someone be so good, and in only a few years be so average at best?
It took me a little while to realize that it wasn’t his fault.
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It’s now 2011. Several generations have grown up watching (for select few, playing) games at Howard J. Lamade Stadium in South Williamsport since that triumphant day, and things have certainly “developed” for Little League Baseball. The stadium that featured the great 1983 game, is now the centerpiece of a huge complex. The ballpark itself has gotten bigger. The crowds are larger than the average attendance in many MLB ballparks. More and more kids throw the ball faster and hit the ball further. The coverage seems to be around the clock. The analysis is the equivalent of the breakdowns of today’s greats in The Show. Even the uniforms are major league quality.
Some people might call this progress. Not me.
I heard an announcer mention that once the tournament was over, kids would be going back to school… some to high school.
High School!
I saw one hitter take a check swing and nearly hit the ball out of the park… to the opposite field… in a ballpark that in recent years, moved its fences back from 180 feet to 225, but continues to keep the mound the same distance from home plate.
I watched more than a handful of six foot 190 pound 13 year olds, throw fastballs the equivalent of an upper nineties fastball. (Because in little league baseball, we need to have a radar gun displaying every pitch.)
I watched coaches make sure they got every single pitch out of their best pitchers’ maximum pitch count, because of course state (and even National) championship teams only have one stud pitcher.
I turned off the analysis when the “experts” were informing us who they thought the best players in the tournament were… as if that REALLY matters?
Now you might argue that this type of baseball has been going on for, well at least as far back as 1983, and probably all the way back to the league’s inception in 1947. I’d have to agree with you.
But 1983 was a long time ago, and we’re still following the same game plan that left the 1983 winning pitcher looking back at the good old days… before he graduated high school! (I don’t know about you, but I wouldn’t even wish my worst enemy a life where he “peaked” before he could muster some peach fuzz above his upper lip.)
What is this type of baseball teaching our young ball players? Throw gas. Hit bombs (with bats that are already illegal in college and high school). Play on a field that’s obviously too small for you, so WE have a better chance of winning. For a few weeks, we’ll treat you like rock stars…
And then you’ll turn 14 and find yourself at least a year behind the “other kids” who played “50/70,” Pony League baseball, and even a few games on “the big field.”
I’m not saying that Little League baseball should be churning out future big league players left and right. (It is pretty fascinating though, that Jason Marquis is the only person in the history of Little league Baseball to pitch in both the LLWS and the big leagues.)
What I am saying:
- A successful little league program teaches. It develops. It encourages. It prepares players for the next step.
- A successful little league program allows and yes, even requires players to play multiple positions, and not “typecast” players by sticking them at one position, only to be told that they will not play the only position they know once they get to high school.
- A successful little league program shouldn’t have rules that tell coaches that they need to play everyone. If coaches do their job, each and every player on their club should be able to at least hold their own either with their glove, their bat, or both.
- A great “all star” little league team wouldn’t have to worry about pitch counts, because the league they played in would have developed enough pitchers (doubling as position players) to basically play musical chairs with their defensive line up. Teams would not have to rely on (or wear out) one or two pitchers. They would simply split games between two or three pitchers, and do very well in the process.
- A successful little league program remembers that little league baseball’s rosters are filled with kids, not miniature adults.
Lastly, we all need to remember that little league baseball is not about how many tournaments your team has won, how many trophies the boys have collected, or the stats they’ve piled up. It’s about the experiences and the lessons learned from those experiences. Some of those lessons will help them to develop as ballplayers. Most, however, will prepare them for life after 13.
Coach Bones
