I was going to write about the important stuff — unemployment, Fed policy, Ferguson, and the price of the new Hepatitis C wonder drug. But then the Little League World Series came on TV and I knew what really spoke to me.
I’m one of the millions of men and women hooked by the Little League World Series — broadcast on ESPN, brought to you by Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes. I know it’s all brilliantly packaged by the media flacks, but the authenticity of the 11-13 year-old boys and one amazing girl have lifted the event from obscurity to center stage.
A million years ago I played Little League Baseball. But my team could not have challenged these kids. They are focused and athletic, yet still unpolished enough to relate to.
The big hype for the event is around 5’4” Mo’ne Davis, the female star of the Philadelphia Taney Dragons. She is superbly athletic, plays shortstop, and pitches. She can bring it at 70 miles per hour, which is the equivalent of a 91 mile per hour fastball from a Major League mound. She has control and an effective curveball.
When my daughter Sarah was growing up I taught her to “throw like a guy” with full arm rotation. She was bigger than Davis, but not as coordinated. And girls and their fathers would never have dared to intrude on the male domain of Little League Baseball. A pity, in retrospect.
I love the Mo’ne Davis story. The girl has moxie and a remarkable calmness about her to go with her technically perfect left-handed delivery.
Jackie Robinson West, the Little League team from the south side of Chicago, has excited the Windy City. In a year when both the Cubs and White Sox are pathetic, these kids have achieved front page status. With rampant gang violence and kids their age being slaughtered daily in random shootings, it is fresh air for the city to see a cohesive group of black boys, coached by fathers, compete with the best teams in the country. Baseball has lost favor amongst kids in Chicago. The ball diamonds in my neighborhood are neglected. Girls play softball, but boys hardball has generally been forsaken for basketball, soccer and football. So the Jackie Robinson West boys are a delightful anomaly for a city where baseball seems like more a sport for middle aged (and older) white guys.
In South Williamsport, Pennsylvania, the annual Little League World Series has struck a national nerve. The television ratings of Wednesday evening’s Jackie Robinson West vs. Philadelphia’s Taney Dragons were seven times that of the ESPN broadcast of the first place Los Angeles Angels vs. the Boston Red Sox the same night. People wanted to see Mo’ne pitch. She had just been put on the cover of Sports Illustrated — generally a bad omen. She lost that night, but struck out six batters in less than three innings against a powerful Las Vegas team that had a burly blond kid 6 feet tall who threw even harder than her.
The baseball in the Little League games is not as artistic as in the Big Leagues, but the energy and passion makes up for it. The kids really care. They cry after losses. Chubby kids with glasses hit home runs. Shrimpy kids make terrific plays in the outfield. Coaches really coach and comfort devastated young boys who have just lost the biggest game of their lives.
I’m a sucker for a good story. I even loved the Tim Tebow saga. I understand that a Mo’ne Davis autographed baseball is going for $500 on eBay. And the beauty is that she couldn’t care less.
Question: Should girls play Little League Baseball?
Question 2: Will a woman ever play in the Major Leagues?
4 Comments
If girls have the talent to make a traveling Little League team then the absolutely should be allowed to play. Pretty sure that Mo’ne showed everyone that she belonged on the center stage.
She’s a righty, Lloyd…
Lloyd,
Great piece. I totally agree as this is the essence of sport and once again we have to look to our children and this age group that are at the pinnacle of innocence (which unfortunately they will soon be losing) to calibrate us on just what is important. I can still remember when the only LLWS game televised was the championship and how envious I was watching my peers as I vicariously lived my dreams through them. And now girls too can do the same with the long overdue emergence of young heroines like Mo’ne. Long live Little League Baseball and here’s hoping we adults don’t ruin it.
Dave, you are correct. I thought I had mastered knowing my right from left, when I was about twelve by going into my pitching motion in my head. Guess I still need to work on it.