another little league scandal

[dumbdumb]

and all i did was put the words, little league umpire attacked into google, just like with the other post

so let me get this straight. just like the umpire who was punched. one gets outed without a subpoena,

and one gets to hide (not outed) behind a subpoena.

https://www.axios.com/local/philadelphia/2024/06/18/little-league-scandal-springfield-airplane-flyover

and another article(s) on this just found

https://www.crossingbroad.com/2024/06/scandal-hits-montco-little-league-after-flyover-names-parent-who-complained-about-scheduling.html

https://patch.com/pennsylvania/plymouthwhitemarsh/montco-little-league-scandal-escalates-airplane-flyover

https://glensidelocal.com/springfield-little-league-parent-targeted-by-flyover-banner-during-a-game-investigation-ongoing/#google_vignette

interesting about investigation

https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/mlb/scoop-springfield-little-league-ousts-board-member-over-flyover-scandal/ar-BB1p17PK?oci

[The Man in Blue]

Read the first article . . . more evidence that youth sports parents have more money than sense.

[Coach Carl]

A coach and his assistant who were known to me were unhappy with his league's annual race to get the season done so all-stars can start by mid-June.   This is in the northeast where you are lucky to get on fields in April so your season ends up being 5 weeks plus playoffs. 

By the time their boys were 12, they knew all the good players who didn't participate on the league's all-star teams.  They proceeded to make sure they had as many of them on their team as they could while drafting no all-stars.  The goal was to win the league championship as a farewell.  It was fun to watch them win that final best of three championship series with a run rule shutout in game #2.   

[The Man in Blue]

This was something I used to struggle with when I ran our local program.  (I still don't like it, but it isn't my problem.)

There is a need to balance community and travel ball (I deliberately chose those terms over rec and competitive), but we have been failing miserably at it for decades.  It is hurting the game.

The ideal answer is the two find a happy balance where the community season is played fair and in good spirit, and then travel players take off for their jet setting pursuit of that full ride scholarship (which the leprechaun has tucked right his unicorn saddle).

Sadly though, community programs really only have two options: (1) just ban the travel players, which severely reduces your customer base and does not benefit the game, or (2) put up with the community players being used as target practice and breeding grounds for the travel programs which reduces your long-term customer base and does not benefit the game. 

If I was still having to deal with this, here is my creative solution (it is a terrible idea and even worse that I have to come up with it, but it offers some restitution): Charge them for not playing and for punishing their rest of the players on their team.  Find out who abandoned the season the previous year.  Charge them an extra (insert the amount here) on top of their registration as a deposit (or a surety bond).  If you play the season out, you get that refunded.  If you skip out and we have to forfeit games, I'm using the forfeited deposit to issue refunds to the kids you screwed over.  This is not selfish or punitive . . . When you sign up for a team, the team relies on you.  We need you to be able to play.  When your team cannot put enough players on the field, and the team they were suppose to play ALSO does not get to play, is that fair? 

[Coach Carl]

2 hours ago, The Man in Blue said:

This was something I used to struggle with when I ran our local program.  (I still don't like it, but it isn't my problem.)

There is a need to balance community and travel ball (I deliberately chose those terms over rec and competitive), but we have been failing miserably at it for decades.  It is hurting the game.

My program is a Little League so we are talking about players from two different groups who are both supported by the league.  The problem was always that the all-star manager wanted to get going with practices as soon as he was allowed (June 1) so when the tournament started in late June the team was ready.   

I always found it a shame that just when real baseball weather was kicking in from Memorial Day on, we were winding them down.  All the non-all-stars that I ever coached wanted to keep playing.  Their parents pretty much would have been happy to keep them going as long as the season ended right before July 4th week, which is when their summer really started.

[The Man in Blue]

That was always my frustration . . . coaches only look out for "their" team.  They forget they need all the other kids to get that team and to have somebody to play against.  I could never figure out the answer on how to provide incentive for them to not do that.

[SeeingEyeDog]

I wonder if it even occurs to Williamsport, ESPN or the viewing public that the best 12U players do not even play LL Baseball?

~Dawg

[boyinr]

5 hours ago, SeeingEyeDog said:

I wonder if it even occurs to Williamsport, ESPN or the viewing public that the best 12U players do not even play LL Baseball?

~Dawg

Nope and they don't really care.  It isn't about watching the best, those are the best you are watching. 

LL Baseball is an upside down pyramid and has been for years.  Everything is about the tournament in 
Williamsport for those 16 or so teams.  All of the rules are built around it and protecting the brand.  

[JonnyCat]

6 hours ago, SeeingEyeDog said:

I wonder if it even occurs to Williamsport, ESPN or the viewing public that the best 12U players do not even play LL Baseball?

~Dawg

Believe it or not, but many of them do. At least in the west here, most travel teams are still affiliated with local little leagues. They play travel ball, but still play LL for the very reason of possible advancing to the LL world series. There is nothing like that tournament. Not all the teams that advance to the Regionals or world series are like that, but many are. That Hawaii team of 2022 was flat out stacked. The Arizona team that lost to them in the West Regional finals, had never played LL before. They were a travel team that joined a LL just for the chance to compete. Any of those 4 teams coming out of the west that year, Hawaii, Arizona, So Cal, No Cal, could have won the WS.

Those of us that have worked LL regionals and/or world series can tell you that the difference between the regular season teams and tournament teams that make it to the Regionals/WS, is night and day.

Typically the teams that make it that far in LL are shadow travel teams. That's the way it has been for years, and that's the only way you can compete at that level.

Like I said, there is no other tournament like that, and every 12 year old would dream for a chance to play there. You can't imagine the excitement and pageantry that surrounds that tournament, not to imagine the TV exposure. 

[JonnyCat]

1 hour ago, boyinr said:

Nope and they don't really care.  It isn't about watching the best, those are the best you are watching. 

LL Baseball is an upside down pyramid and has been for years.  Everything is about the tournament in 
Williamsport for those 16 or so teams.  All of the rules are built around it and protecting the brand.  

Yep. And most of it is dictated by ESPN. They run the show, and if you make it to the Regional or WS as an umpire, LL will tell you as much.

All the recent LL tournament rule changes like the adoption of continuous batting order, That's ESPN.

[Mudisfun]

On 7/9/2024 at 5:45 AM, JonnyCat said:

Yep. And most of it is dictated by ESPN. They run the show, and if you make it to the Regional or WS as an umpire, LL will tell you as much.

All the recent LL tournament rule changes like the adoption of continuous batting order, That's ESPN.

Since pretty much only the 12u teams are on ESPN, I wish they would have left the Intermediate and above alone. Heck, my regional in Nogales barely had Game Changer due to lack of internet access at the facility.

Only group now that bats 9 is Seniors... Takes all the strategy of the coaches actually having to find time to play their kids out of the mix. 

[JonnyCat]

10 minutes ago, Mudisfun said:

Since pretty much only the 12u teams are on ESPN, I wish they would have left the Intermediate and above alone. Heck, my regional in Nogales barely had Game Changer due to lack of internet access at the facility.

Only group now that bats 9 is Seniors... Takes all the strategy of the coaches actually having to find time to play their kids out of the mix. 

I actually have never liked the mandatory play requirements for LL All Stars. Regular season is about participation. All Stars is win or go home. I never liked the minimum roster requirements, nor the limiting of the number of coaches based on the roster size. I hated all that SH*#. I always felt it hamstrung the coaches in putting the best players on the field to win. Plus keeping track of all those changes took too much time and made my line up card look like my HS math tests, full of red ink!

I always felt that in All Stars they should bat 9 with no mandatory play, and no minimum roster size. Let the coaches pick who they want to play. It's all about winning at that level.

[The Man in Blue]

I always thought LL's mandatory play at those levels was more about not bringing 10 extra kids along or adding somebody's little brother so they could get a trophy, too.  Your brought 'em, you need to play 'em.

I agree ... however, if my kid was #13 or 14 on the depth chart without mandatory play, I would have to think long and hard about committing the resources to going on that trip.