An article from today’s Wall Street Journal–a good a reason as any to like baseball in late summer.
Warm and Snuggly Little League
Kids Kept Our Attention Amid the Summer Sports Lull by Jason Gay
If the Little League World Series were an animal, it would be a baby seal. It’s undeniably cute and cuddly. It’s very hard to criticize without unleashing public scorn. It’s lovingly bathed and groomed each day by Brent Musburger. And on a mostly listless late summer afternoon of pro sports, it’s the best game in town.
Now we’ve previously admitted that the LLWS telecasts make us feel strange. We stand by that: It’s kind of discomfiting to hear adults talk so seriously about the sporting exploits of 11- and 12-year-olds. We know they’re excited, but we have concern for these young men. It’s hard enough to figure out girls and acne and what slacks to wear to school without hearing the stentorian Mr. Musburger intone about your defensive prowess. We worry about the lifetime of psychotherapy and VH1 reality shows awaiting any poor child making an internationally televised blunder.
But it’s a mostly winning cutefest. Who doesn’t love six-inning games, chin-strapped helmets, those I WON’T CHEAT! arm patches and Little League Hill, the grassy, seatless fan field beyond the outfield wall?
Why is it that, after a generation of stadium redesign, no major league baseball team has stolen this gimmick? How great it would have been in the new Mets ballpark, where each night it could be filled by Mets players recuperating on the disabled list.
Sunday’s game pitted the kids of Taoyuan, Taiwan, versus Chula Vista, Calif. We say “pitted” loosely here, because the LLWS is a collegial affair, and each
Little League
contest must be concluded by dusty handshakes. But this was a gritty game, with a see-sawing lead, surprising home run punch by Taiwan (Mr. Musburger said a dinger by Wen Hua Sung was “hit as hard as any ball I’ve ever seen”) and a spectacular game-saving double-play by Chula Vista shortstop Andy Rios, whom we do not foresee having any awkward, early-adolescence dating problems. In the end, Chula Vista prevailed, 6-3, presumably heading off to completely destroy a Dairy Queen.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125168031594371289.html
Little League Rules in Summer
An article from today’s Wall Street Journal–a good a reason as any to like baseball in late summer.
Warm and Snuggly Little League
Kids Kept Our Attention Amid the Summer Sports Lull by Jason Gay
If the Little League World Series were an animal, it would be a baby seal. It’s undeniably cute and cuddly. It’s very hard to criticize without unleashing public scorn. It’s lovingly bathed and groomed each day by Brent Musburger. And on a mostly listless late summer afternoon of pro sports, it’s the best game in town.
Now we’ve previously admitted that the LLWS telecasts make us feel strange. We stand by that: It’s kind of discomfiting to hear adults talk so seriously about the sporting exploits of 11- and 12-year-olds. We know they’re excited, but we have concern for these young men. It’s hard enough to figure out girls and acne and what slacks to wear to school without hearing the stentorian Mr. Musburger intone about your defensive prowess. We worry about the lifetime of psychotherapy and VH1 reality shows awaiting any poor child making an internationally televised blunder.
But it’s a mostly winning cutefest. Who doesn’t love six-inning games, chin-strapped helmets, those I WON’T CHEAT! arm patches and Little League Hill, the grassy, seatless fan field beyond the outfield wall?
Why is it that, after a generation of stadium redesign, no major league baseball team has stolen this gimmick? How great it would have been in the new Mets ballpark, where each night it could be filled by Mets players recuperating on the disabled list.
Sunday’s game pitted the kids of Taoyuan, Taiwan, versus Chula Vista, Calif. We say “pitted” loosely here, because the LLWS is a collegial affair, and each
Little League
contest must be concluded by dusty handshakes. But this was a gritty game, with a see-sawing lead, surprising home run punch by Taiwan (Mr. Musburger said a dinger by Wen Hua Sung was “hit as hard as any ball I’ve ever seen”) and a spectacular game-saving double-play by Chula Vista shortstop Andy Rios, whom we do not foresee having any awkward, early-adolescence dating problems. In the end, Chula Vista prevailed, 6-3, presumably heading off to completely destroy a Dairy Queen.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125168031594371289.html