Yeah, it’s alway somebody else’s fault.
BTW, if I had acted like that in my little league, my momma woulda kicked my lilly white ass. And so would the opposing pitcher, at a later time.
It wasn’t stupid, it was mean.
And again, the overwhelming majority of these kids played the game as it was meant to be played. Oddly enough, they were not poisoned by the scourge of proffesional sports. Whodathunkit?
I never did anything stupid when I was 12 years old. And neither did anyone I know. We’re fun people.
Boy, that USA Today article that was linked to is . . . misguided, at best. There’s a legitimate argument to be made that the semifinals or quarterfinals don’t deserve to be highlighted on ESPN while major league games are bumped to ESPN2 and other stations. But comparing this to neighborhood pickup games or playground basketball is just specious, for several reasons:
–Little League Baseball has a Federal Incorporation from Congress, the only youth baseball league to have such recognition. It may in fact be the only youth sports organization of any kind to have Federal Incorporation. (Does Pop Warner football have it?)
–Little League baseball is of enormous historical importance. It’s been around for 50 years now, and has represented the earliest exposure to organized baseball for many children in this country.
–The winner of the Little League championship is legitimate news. There’s a lot of prestige attached to having the National champions. Ask Tom’s River, NJ. Sometimes, it’s the only thing that puts a town on the map.
So the argument that the games shouldn’t be televised is just silly. It takes a lot to take your team to the championships, and the kids on these teams should be proud of that and have a chance to be in the spotlight. I certainly agree that the games should not be subjected to the level of scrutiny and analysis that ESPN apparently provided, but that doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be on TV at all.
As for the kids – well, I’m glad the kid apologized, but it was pretty damned stupid. Little League is supposed to be as much about good sportsmanship as it is about baseball as such, and somebody dropped the ball in teaching these kids. You never, ever deliberately humiliate your opponent in organized sport, and anyone who does needs a good slap back to reality. And that goes for major leaguers, too.
A 12-year-old arguing balls and strikes? Jeebus help us. If I was the ump, that pitcher’s strike zone would have suddenly been about two inches wide and six inches high.
spooje said
Not along the lines of dancing, but don’t try to tell me that the Little Leaguers didn’t get some ideas from the likes of:
Barry Bonds - I can remember one homer in particular a few years ago. He hits it, and in the course of his follow through, spins around in the batter’s box finishing with a flourishing high five to himself.
Derek Bell - A nutjob anyway, but anyone that hits a homer, stands at home plate, and quite obviously stares at the homer in awe while saying “Oh my god” needs a good slapping.
Rickey Henderson - Never has a man taken a more meandering, showboating trip around the bases for a home run.
I found this article on the subject interesting. It comments on the fact that they celebrated not so much because they are kids, but because they are black kids
Some quotes:
"To many blacks and Latinos, the dances and the showing off are simply no big deal. In fact, it’s kind of funny. "
“When the game is on, they are having fun, pumping themselves up. To blacks, that is important, too. In fact it is more than that. To blacks it is a vital part of the game.”
“The whites who had mostly black friends showboated and talked trash, too.”
I couldn’t believe this was in the New York Times.
Exactly.
Some of you are blowing this way out of proportion.
The KID, made a mistake, and he apologized.
What else does he have to do?
Community service?
Give up his first born?
Cut off an arm?
Castration?
Shave his head?
What he did was stupid and unsportsman-like.
So what.
Did he kill or maim anybody?
Was anybody irreparably harmed?
Were there any wars started because of this?
Will people turn away from baseball because of this and never come back?
No.
Baseball will get by.
My head hurts.
They should have beaned the next guy up, just like the majors. Then the kid that got beaned would smack the showboater, and all would be solved.
[sub]I’m being 50% sarcastic so don’t jump down my throat[/sub]
They’re doing what they see the grown-ups do. That’s why Little League was started in the first place: because kids wanted to play baseball the way the pros did, with definite leagues, schedules and playoffs.
If they get as far as the LL championships without the coach intervening to get them to clean up their act, that’s as much his shortcoming as theirs. And telling kids that they’re risking their chance to be in the LL championships should be an effective threat.
Also, take into account that the parents have probably been condoning this all season, and, if I know sports parents, disregarding the rules of sportsmanship themselves a time or two. Then the kids get on TV. They’ve already established this habit of grandstanding, so they mug even more for the camera.
How does one high-five himself?
Standing and watching your shot go out is one thing. I don’t like it, but who cares. The dancing and acting up is, to me, a taunt of the pitcher and is unacceptable. Ricky Henderson, insane as he is, never danced down the 3rd base line. Why? Because there’s no dancing in baseball!!! 
The kid should have known better. Maybe he knows better now. I sure hope so.
But were it not for the uproar, this kid would have thought it was OK to do this. Because of the uproar, these kids, and maybe some others, can learn something from this. Celebration is one thing, showing somebody up is another.
I still don’t get the ‘They’re just doing what they see the pros do’ argument. Does that make it OK? Does it excuse bad behaviour? Does that mean we should not comment?
Again, I point out that this behaviour is an aberration in Little Leauge play. Most kids would never dream of acting in such a way.
No, I don’t think that makes it OK, nor that it’s an excuse, nor that we shouldn’t comment. Just saying that this kind of behavior is equally uncool in pro sports, but that is where it started, not in Little League.
From what I saw, little league baseball is children performing a play they don’t understand for the benefit of adults who can’t remember how to have fun. Because I remember the baseball-type games we played when I was 12, and concepts like “sportsmanship” and “common courtesy” were totally alien to us. Well… not totally. Sportsmanship was what kids with athletic skill and no sense of fun trotted out when they found themselves being beaten by a riotous combination of taunting, cheating, and violence.
Sportsmanship is just a arbitrary set of rules designed to favor people with physical strength and an inability to think outside the box. A kid’s world is like that anyway… why reinforce one of the shittiest aspects of their life? I say more dancing, more taunting, and more cheating.
-fh
Hey batter, batter, batter, batter, Hey batter, batter, batter, batter, SWING!
When I was six years old I played in a T-ball league. One I was up at bat and the umpire did something or said something I didn’t like. I proceeded to kick dirt on his shoes because, I suppose, that what I thought people did to umpire’s when they disagreed with a decision.
Marc
Babe Ruth didn’t really point his bat to the fences at Wrigley Field in the 1932 World Series. It wouldn’t be his style to do so. He loved kids and would surely chuckle if he saw some young lad do an homage.
The guy (Diaz?) who waved ‘bye-bye’ to his homerun and trotted down from 3rd base like Deion Sanders irked me.
Aluminum bats – now they really piss me off.
Corbomite–even my skinny no-skills ass could have hit several home runs in Little League with those bats they have now.
I think this whole thing is exhibit B in the compelling case of why Little League tournaments and playoffs should end at a very local level. (Exhibit A being cheating scum like the Danny Almonte people last year).
Now I’ve actually seen the events.
First, the “that’s what I’m talking about” crap on second base was way out of line. I’m talking really bad sportsmanship. Same goes for the ‘creative’ baserunning.
Second, the calling your shot thing was sort of funny since the only reason he got a double was the centerfielder mishandling the ball. I guess he ‘called’ an error.
Third, the coach really bitched the kids out. Good for him. Sportsmanship does still have at least some small place in sports.