12/21/24
August 22, 2003
Are Big Little Leaguers (not older, mind you, but BIGGER) making the Little League World Series unfair? Anybody catch the barnburner of a game between MA and TX yesterday? MA won 14-13 in the bottom of the seventh on a tough call at first. I bet it was the best game played anywhere yesterday...
I vehemently disagree with this article. I wasn't 175 at twelve but I was always tall and therefore at the top end of the weight range. When I played pee-wee football I got bumped up to the older age group because I was on the weight threshold (for football it's by age/weight for safety reasons). All I'll say is it's not fun getting bumped up. Instead of being one of the bigger kids of my age group I was one low end/middle of the pack size in a group of kids older and stronger. Killed the fun of playing football. Basically, the author is saying penalize big kids because they're too good, it's not fair to little kids. I think the greater injustice would be penalizing big kids for being too good. I don't even think it's unfair to little kids ... there should be a distinction between unfair (playing against a kid who faked his birth certificate) and unfortunate (playing against a kid who has greater natural gifts).
Some of Levin's arguments don't even make sense. For example, the 60-foot distance between bases takes just a couple of strides. Last time I checked being unusually big doesn't make you any faster.
And the pitcher's mound is where things really get unfair. When a 6-foot pitcher fires a 75 mph. fastball from 46 feet, it looks like Yao Ming shooting down at you with a BB gun. That would argue against letting tall kids pitch, not against letting big kids play baseball.
Bottom line, bigger, stronger kids have an advantage playing sports. So do athletically gifted kids. Should Allen Iverson have been prevented from playing pee wee football because he was too fast? Should we stop tall kids from playing basketball with their age group cause they're too tall? Unless you think that, then we should let big kids play baseball.
BTW ... 175 at 12? Yikes. That kid must be enormous.
posted by Mike McD at 10:45 AM on August 22, 2003
I don't know, I thought the end of the Giants-Braves game was pretty interesting. Why Alou pulled Schmidt after only 105 pitches and a shutout working is confusing but Barry came through in the end, second 10th inning game winning homer in three days.
posted by billsaysthis at 10:52 AM on August 22, 2003
Anyway, as far as the LLWS goes, Boynton Beach rulez!!
posted by billsaysthis at 10:52 AM on August 22, 2003
I was a late bloomer and young for my grade in school, so I always was playing against kids bigger, stronger and faster. But it made me a better player. And is probably why I appreciate the subtleties of gamemanship that negate the physical advantages. It would suck to go from top dog to runt of the litter, but I don't know what that's like.
posted by garfield at 10:53 AM on August 22, 2003
On one hand, I say the pip-squeaks need to suck it up or get cut. On the other hand, many Pop Warner leagues have had weight-groupings for quite a while.
posted by jackhererra at 12:35 PM on August 22, 2003
This is stupid. I'm a runt, but there's no reason to keep big gangly doofuses like Mike McD from playing with the smaller kids. I'm faster than most big guys, although I certainly don't have the power that they do. It all evens out in the end. Athletic ability doesn't neccessarily come in a certain shape. You've got Martin St. Louis and Nik Antropov. Both good forwards, different sizes, different skill sets. You work with what you have and capitalize on your strengths.
posted by Samsonov14 at 12:41 PM on August 22, 2003
The more rules you make the more you're micromanaging kids after-school athletics. I say age limits are fine. Let the big kids be big - it's just baseball (football is a different story becuase of the contact). If you can get seriously hurt playing baseball - you probably deserved it. Take up knitting.
posted by WeedyMcSmokey at 12:56 PM on August 22, 2003
Anyway, as far as the LLWS goes, Boynton Beach rulez!! Saugus is going all the way!
posted by jerseygirl at 04:22 PM on August 22, 2003
well, at that age, some kids are just huge compared to others, some have hit puberty and are therefore much bigger and stronger, perhaps with more of an advantage over the competition than in any other kind of league... sort of like a steroid vs. non-steroid argument, but for the kids... perhaps an even greater difference. But that's part of little league. It's not pro sports, and there's not really any reason to change the rules. I'm sure the teams being beaten have their share of early bloomers too, who just aren't as blessed to have the talent to go with the size. We just don't read about anything but the dominant ones.
posted by Bernreuther at 04:54 PM on August 22, 2003
In a perfect world, the kid's wouldn't even have to play the games. Rather, a computer program would determine their respective records and everyone would get a trophy just for signing up. Seriously though, I agree with Samsonov. You work with your strengths and make do. It's why we love guys like David Eckstein.
posted by usfbull at 11:06 PM on August 22, 2003
If you can get seriously hurt playing baseball - you probably deserved it. With only 46 feet from the pitchers mound to home page, one of these early-maturing kids is going to hurt someone (or worse) with a pitch or a hit.
posted by rcade at 08:20 AM on August 23, 2003
Puh-leeze, this has been the setup for years. Leave the kids be.
posted by billsaysthis at 01:34 PM on August 23, 2003
rcade - yes, but you can't legislate against people getting hurt playing sports - Like EA Sports - its in the game. Plus, if one is truly concerned about one's kids getting hurt playing baseball, football, handball, or jump rope, then simply don't enroll them. They can live their lives cosy and protected - possibly feeble armed and astonishingly white, but protected. Baseball is hardly the sport to fear massive injuries in anyway. Getting hit in the face with a ball just builds character. Happened to me, happened to half the guys on my team. In the same game. That pitcher was a menace. I say let the kids be. And if one gets killed in the line of duty. Meh. Shit happens. As Pacino once said "You can get killed walking your doggie."
posted by WeedyMcSmokey at 01:08 PM on August 25, 2003
Word, Vito! That finish was incredible. 2 close calls up the 3rd baseline. MA looked like they had packed it in, and #21 on TX looked scary good on the mound...before he hit the massive go-ahead dinger. The would-be hero gave the runs right back. What a game! To top it off, I discovered Sam Ryan, hottie sideline reporter. Nice.