From the Sidelines: World Series brings the kid out in us all
Sports reporter
Little League.
A phrase so common it's often misused to the same tune of a tissue being called a Kleenex.
The name Little League is actually a trademarked name of a world-wide recognized youth baseball league. But it also is the generic term for youth baseball leagues.
In this column it will be used both ways.
Everyone has either played little league baseball or been around it in one way or another. The sad thing is, most people forget how great it really is.
No salaries, no contracts, no hold outs, and especially no George Steinbrenner. It's just good ol' fashion baseball.
There is just something about little league baseball. Something that usually isn't honored or cherished until you are no longer a part of it.
People often forget how special it is. Especially for those who didn't have the Internet, or video cameras to catch every moment.
Then, long after high school baseball season is over, late August hits, and 12-year-olds with baby faces, bent cap bills, and baggy pants show up on ESPN and remind us.
Little athletes who have never used a razor and some who still can't reach the gas pedal, are showing us how great little league baseball can be. And we remember. We think back and just smile.
The Little League World Series: The one tournament every little leaguer in the world dreams about.
Right now ESPN is airing qualifying games for the World Series, and will continue broadcasting games until the series ends Aug. 28.
Don't get me wrong. I love watching Major League Baseball, but a regular season MLB game doesn't even compare to a Little League World Series game.
I've seen Alex Rodriguez mash homers plenty of times. I want to see Jimmy Jones of Whereverville, USA single home the game winning run with two outs in the sixth inning (the final inning of a Little League game) of a heated World Series game right after he was in tears in the dugout because an error he made the inning before led to a run.
That's drama. That's real.
More real than any episode of The Apprentice.
A few years ago a pitcher named Danny Almonte wowed the world with a perfect Little League World Seires game, and Randy Johnson-like velocity on the mound.
Turned out the Bronx native was 14 and had actually already been shaving.
His coaches who sneaked him onto the team, (why they thought they wouldn't get caught is beyond me) tarnished the image of the game, and made him look bad.
The sad thing is, that situation was real as well.
Sometimes people do the wrong thing. It's life.
The team was stripped of it's United States runner-up title, and not allowed to compete in future World Series.
The blame falls squarely on the shoulders of the adults, while the young athletes get punished for playing a game they love.
Even during those illegal games, there was a sort of magic in the air when Almonte took to the mound.
A magic MLB hasn't seen since the 1994 strike.
If you aren't convinced, watch a game. These kids come to play and they come to win.
All they care about are things like whether or not the pitcher will throw his nasty curve with the count full, or where to go with the ball if it's hit to them.
When it's over, then, and only then, they'll get back to their normal routines.
They might even take up shaving.
