little league baseball

[Old QB]

Could some of you share your experiences with little league - either as a player or parent. Were your experiences mostly bad or do you or your son really have have good memories?

[Ranger Mom]

Originally posted by Old QB
Could some of you share your experiences with little league - either as a player or parent. Were your experiences mostly bad or do you or your son really have have good memories?

I met my husband on the little league field...I was coaching his son in T-Ball and he was coaching mine in baseball!!

So.......11 years later, I have good memories of it!!:D :D

[AP Panther Fan]

Originally posted by Ranger Mom
I met my husband on the little league field...I was coaching his son in T-Ball and he was coaching mine in baseball!!

So.......11 years later, I have good memories of it!!:D :D


great story....I just learned something new. :)

My son played in little league all the way from t-ball through senior league. We had some great times and celebration parties along the way. The only thing I don't miss is 1) working in the concession stand and 2) the umpires/coaches/parents turning into crazy monsters from time to time.
:D

[pirate4state]

My little brother played and it was always fun running around (traveling) to watch him play. Good times. Nothing beats LLBB when you are youngster! :thumbsup:

[CenTexSports]

I played LL starting when I was 7 and played all the way until high school. Of all the memories from childhood, these were the best (probably why I love baseball so much).

Some of my memories:

My elderly grandfather only came to a few games but after every one he came to he gave me a quarter to buy a snowcone and candy.

My dad was the President of the LL when I was 11 and I remember him working every day after work on the field in White Settlement. He also helped coach my team and he could be a pain in butt but I would not change it for anything.

Playing baseball. There were no video games, no cable TV, no internet, it was all about baseball. I loved being at the park parcticing, watching and esp. playing.


It is not the same for kids today. I knew as much about the rules of baseball at 7 as most high school seniors do today. We used to live and die for baseball and it all revolved around little league.


One opinion though, I think they start the kids way too early these days.

[44INAROW]

Originally posted by AP Panther Fan
great story....I just learned something new. :)

My son played in little league all the way from t-ball through senior league. We had some great times and celebration parties along the way. The only thing I don't miss is 1) working in the concession stand and 2) the umpires/coaches/parents turning into crazy monsters from time to time.
:D

I hear you APPF - sometimes it was stressful and those concession stands were the pits... , but I wouldn't trade the memories for anything! I was thinking about All Stars this morning - the 11-12 year old tourney starts today in Goliad..... I can remember when Johnny was in Senior League and they had the All Star Tourney in Victoria at Riverside Park and it was flooding and they changed the game from 6:00pm to 10:00AM cause the river was rising and they would be closing the park that afternoon lol - moved the rest of the tourney to Cuero I think. Seems like it rains every year for All Stars :eek:

[Adidas410s]

Originally posted by CenTexSports
Playing baseball. There were no video games, no cable TV, no internet, it was all about baseball. I loved being at the park parcticing, watching and esp. playing.


It is not the same for kids today. I knew as much about the rules of baseball at 7 as most high school seniors do today. We used to live and die for baseball and it all revolved around little league.


:clap: :clap: :clap:

Yes I grew up in the 80's with cable TV...but every kid in our neighborhood would rather get together outside every day to play baseball for hours on end (and street football in the fall/winter) than sit inside and play video games.

I was at the Byron Nelson this year and I remember seeing a little 4 yr old boy sitting in a tent playing Tiger Woods on PS3. However, when his dad came back he started begging his dad to take him to watch the rest of the tourney and then to play catch when they got home...and I got really excited. I started to wonder if kids ever did anything outside anymore...

[rangerjim]

I played many moons ago and like others - some of my best memories ever - my first homerun - I was running like crazy and couldn't figure out why the opposing team was just watching me - throwing sidearm as a pitcher and scaring the crude out of some of the kids - the others lit me up bigtime!!

Practicing at home by myself - drawing a chalk stikezone on the brick of the house and throwing against the house for hours - pretending I was Ferguson Jenkins (not the cocaine addiction part though).

Have all daughters so have coached many years of softball from 8 - 13 years old. Coaching's great too expect for the parents who go nuts at games - they're usually the ones never at practices and show up in the 2nd innings of most games. The kids make it all worth it though. Some playing at high school level with big programs. Makes me feel like maybe I had something to do with it.

[CHS_CG]

I played softball all the way from the time you could play tball to the end of my 8th grade year. when I got to high school I didnt really agree with the coachs and a lot of Caldwell is you have money/the last name you get to start weather you suck or not, and I didnt have either so it wasnt enjoyable any more. But I miss playin alot!

[Gp83]

This will be my last year as a Little League MGR. I'm sick and tired of bad baseball and will be only doing Select and Pony league. LL has watered their rules to the point were it is now terrible baseball. I have done LL for the past 11 years and I've hit my boiling point. It's just flat out BAD BASEBALL!:mad:

[CHS_CG]

Originally posted by Gp83
This will be my last year as a Little League MGR. I'm sick and tired of bad baseball and will be only doing Select and Pony league. LL has watered their rules to the point were it is now terrible baseball. I have done LL for the past 11 years and I've hit my boiling point. It's just flat out BAD BASEBALL!:mad:


geez tell us how you really feel.

[Gp83]

Originally posted by CHS_CG
geez tell us how you really feel.
Just the past two seasons have been a nightmare:hand:

[Maroon87]

I had a blast playing Little League. Great memories...:cool:

[Bull's-eye]

I broke up my best friend's no-hitter by hitting a hard grounder through the pitcher's mound and out to center field. He ended up pitching a 1-hitter, but I can still remind him some 30 years later. :D

[pooch]

Originally posted by Old QB
Could some of you share your experiences with little league - either as a player or parent. Were your experiences mostly bad or do you or your son really have have good memories?
memories were good. gsquared and i were on the same team a few times so we got to enjoy nachos after our games. i

[Adidas410s]

Originally posted by Gp83
This will be my last year as a Little League MGR. I'm sick and tired of bad baseball and will be only doing Select and Pony league. LL has watered their rules to the point were it is now terrible baseball. I have done LL for the past 11 years and I've hit my boiling point. It's just flat out BAD BASEBALL!:mad:

What rules do you not like that have been changed???

[District303aPastPlayer]

2 of them involve Adrian...
He was a pitcher and dropped my with a fastball inside to my ribs...
I was playing first for the other one... My dad called a time out... switched me to center field, put our CF at 1st... Alaniz came up... jacked one high and deep... i lost it int he lights... :(

as a fan, i remember seeing an Odem kid, Israel Mejias, jack a homer, as it rose, it hit the lights at a field in Victoria... probably one of the best pure swings i had seen by a LL kid...

[SintonFan_inAustin]

i remember striking out 15 and walking 12 in the same game.

[AP Panther Fan]

Originally posted by SintonFan_inAustin
i remember striking out 15 and walking 12 in the same game.

:eek: same game? Safe to say "you had your good moments and bad moments"...:D

[Highschoolfan78]

Unfortunately, I have some bad memories. Yeah i know im such a downer.. haha... Coach's kids started over some people while they weren't as talented as some other players on the team. The whole politics made me hate playing baseball at a young age.

[D_bird]

I almost had my wrist broken by a pitching machine once when I was 10 years old.

It was at 70 mph, hit a line drive right back at the pitching machine, broke it. No one knew it until the next pitch hit me right above the bone on my left wrist.

[Gp83]

Originally posted by Adidas410s
What rules do you not like that have been changed???
Pitch count for starters

[Adidas410s]

Originally posted by Gp83
Pitch count for starters

what??? Have they started putting pitch counts on pitchers?? I haven't been active in umpiring LL the past two years so there may be some changes that I'm not aware of. This certainly sounds like one of them...

[Ranger Mom]

Originally posted by Gp83
Pitch count for starters

It has been a while since I have been to a little league game.....could you explain??

[44INAROW]

Originally posted by Gp83
Pitch count for starters

I think it's 75 but I might be wrong.. just "heard" some grumbling last week about it when we went to watch the 9 and 10 year olds

[pirate4state]

I think they were talking about pitch counts at last year's LLWS.

Some, not all coaches, really have the "just win" mentality and that's fine when your PAID job depends on it, but when we are talking about 10-14 year old kids and you are volunteering your time, then there is NO NEED to wear a kids arm out or cause damage b/c you want to win so badly that you lose sight of a kids health.

[Adidas410s]

Originally posted by pirate4state
I think they were talking about pitch counts at last year's LLWS.

Some, not all coaches, really have the "just win" mentality and that's fine when your PAID job depends on it, but when we are talking about 10-14 year old kids and you are volunteering your time, then there is NO NEED to wear a kids arm out or cause damage b/c you want to win so badly that you lose sight of a kids health.

K I read up on it some more. Last year it was a "pilot, voluntary" program and this year it became mandatory.

This is one of many safety rules that LL has in place. One that many people arent aware of is the "ejection" of a player because of safety. I've "ejected" two kids in the time that I umpired...both for safety issues. One was a catcher who kept scooting up into the batters box and getting hit with the bat...either in the head of on the back of his glove. I warned him and his coach that he would need to scoot back or I would have to remove him from the game for safety reasons. He kept scooting up and getting hit...so to the bench he went. The other was a kid that would repeatedly throw the bat in a violent manner after hitting the ball...even if the ball went foul. He too sat out the rest of the game. The difference with this type of ejection is that the player doesn't have to sit out the next game as he would with a normal ejection.

It's a fine line to walk between competition and safety. Personally, I would never have my son play on a select, travelling team...or in another league such as Pony, Texas Teenage, etc. Those leagues put a high premium on competition and little to no premium on safety. They disregard the fundamentals of the game for the sake of creating a game that is more like the HS and college game...to get these kids ready for the future.

[DU_stud04]

i miss little league, made all stars a few times. played catcher till i got to high school then got moved to outfield and first base.

think my best memory was hitting my first homerun. i also caught a perfect game, that was pretty cool.

[crzyjournalist03]

my favorite little league memory:

We were playing a double header on a weeknight, and my parents went to get me dinner between games. I ate four bean burritoes from Taco Bell with a large soft drink. My parents had stayed for the first game, and decided that they were tired and had me catch a ride home after the second game.

About two innings into the game, those burritoes and soda start giving me stomach cramps. I really didn't know if I could make it through the game.

In the bottom half of the last inning, we were down by three runs, and I came up with two runners on. I don't remember how many outs there were, but it was either one or two. The coach had made a deal that if any player could hit a home run, he'd give them ten bucks. I was always a speedster in LL, but didn't have much power at all. I usually beat out infield hits. As a left handed batter, you usually get walked because pitchers get all thrown off when you come to the plate.

I came up against a left handed pitcher, only about the second one I had ever faced. At 13 or 14 years old, I was well aware of the disadvantage of a lefty-lefty matchup.

I came up just trying not to let my team down. I ended up lining a pitch over the second baseman's head with so much force that it rolled to the wall on two hops. I ran through a red light at third scoring easily at home for my first ever home run, tying the game and sending it into extra innings.

I ended up upset after the game, because we won in extra innings, but the coach gave the game ball to the kid who drove in the winning run, and he never gave me my ten bucks.

[VWG]

If you want your kid to play at the best level then get them on a good select or travel team. With that being said there are good coaches and bad coaches in LL and select/tournament ball.
LL put a limit on pitch counts, and in USSSA there is a limit on how many innings a kid can pitch in one tournament. Any good travel team will have a good roster of pitchers. One rule of thumb I know one team used to use was that during pool play no pitcher could pitch over 35 pitches that day, period.
During bracket play, the pitch count went to 75 to 80 for the bracket games. So, in one tournament the max a kid could throw would be 115 pitches over two days. This was also a 13 yr old team and it worked well. At a younger age, it would be wise to scale that down. Also, not all kids would throw 115 pitches for the tournament.
With that being said, the best baseball is being played on the tournament level. Open bases, more qualities of real baseball.
Most kids who are on LL all star teams are playing select baseball somewhere. Take a look at Western LL in Lubbock, WF LL, Weatherford LL, and others that have good LL programs. They play LL during the week and travel to tournaments during the weekends.

[DaHop72]

Originally posted by pirate4state
I think they were talking about pitch counts at last year's LLWS.

Some, not all coaches, really have the "just win" mentality and that's fine when your PAID job depends on it, but when we are talking about 10-14 year old kids and you are volunteering your time, then there is NO NEED to wear a kids arm out or cause damage b/c you want to win so badly that you lose sight of a kids health. You are correct. It is a mandatory rule put in this year to protect young arms. 85 pitches max for 11-12, then 3 days rest, 46 2 days rest, 20 or less pitch the next day. Max for 9-10 is 75 with the same rest involved. Unfortunately, too many coaches were throwing kids 150 plus pitches on Sat., then with a new calendar week on Mon. would throw them 150 again on Thursday. It is unbelieveable how many kids 12 and under that are having Tommy John surgery.

Pros: Saves kids arms. Forces a manager to find more kids to pitch.

Cons:Depending on scheduling it can be a complete nightmare. Under this rule it is highly possible for a kid to have a no hitter or perfect game going and be pulled.

I think it has been hard being the first year, but we will get used to it just like every other rule change.

[bhtrainer]

omg...i loved little league when i was twelve my mom coached me to the southwest regional tournament and we made it to the final game of the tournament and lost....if we would have won we would have went to the little league world series

[Fal44]

I remember, I hit home-run against one of the best pitchers in the league.. :)... I miss LL baseball, it was so fun back then...

[g$$]

Little League was a fun & innocent time. No regrets here...great memories of games, friends, all stars, sno cones, competition, mastering the fundamentals, & spending time with my Dad. I played thru college ball, but nothing beats the fun & innocence of Little League (esp. ages 10-12).

No doubt, LL has changed quite a bit (stricter rules, prevalence of select ball, etc.), but it is still a great organization for kids & communities. They have the kids' best intentions at heart even when it seems extreme at times.

**Pet peeves to this day are "Little League dads" (overbearing types) & umpires who think people came to watch them! Just play the game man!

[Gp83]

Originally posted by Adidas410s
what??? Have they started putting pitch counts on pitchers?? I haven't been active in umpiring LL the past two years so there may be some changes that I'm not aware of. This certainly sounds like one of them...

0-20 pitche's=no days rest
21-40 =1 days rest
41-60=2 days rest
61-75=3days rest

This is for minors and majors. No more inning count. A ptcher must almost be perfect to pitch a whole game. You're lucky if he can go 4 innings. It's terrible.:mad:

[hookandladder]

Originally posted by Adidas410s
K I read up on it some more. Last year it was a "pilot, voluntary" program and this year it became mandatory.

This is one of many safety rules that LL has in place. One that many people arent aware of is the "ejection" of a player because of safety. I've "ejected" two kids in the time that I umpired...both for safety issues. One was a catcher who kept scooting up into the batters box and getting hit with the bat...either in the head of on the back of his glove. I warned him and his coach that he would need to scoot back or I would have to remove him from the game for safety reasons. He kept scooting up and getting hit...so to the bench he went. The other was a kid that would repeatedly throw the bat in a violent manner after hitting the ball...even if the ball went foul. He too sat out the rest of the game. The difference with this type of ejection is that the player doesn't have to sit out the next game as he would with a normal ejection.

It's a fine line to walk between competition and safety. Personally, I would never have my son play on a select, travelling team...or in another league such as Pony, Texas Teenage, etc. Those leagues put a high premium on competition and little to no premium on safety. They disregard the fundamentals of the game for the sake of creating a game that is more like the HS and college game...to get these kids ready for the future.

You must belong to a much better LL program than we have in our area, the main reason we played select baseball is for better coaching, fundamentals and obliviously better competition. Little League playing rules are just plain stupid, take for instance only allowing you to play 9 players. If LL were really their for the kids they would allow teams to have an EH and also a defensive player, also they should allow a Pinch runner for both the catcher and pitcher. Look at how many kids would than be involved in 1 game, the way it is now you may have at least 3 kidws sitting, and getting in for 1 inning. That's what causes all the problems with LL and then there is All-Stars which is another whole can of worms.Can you fill us in on why you thing select ball does not care about safety or what does LL do that select does not.

[VWG]

Originally posted by hookandladder
You must belong to a much better LL program than we have in our area, the main reason we played select baseball is for better coaching, fundamentals and obliviously better competition. Little League playing rules are just plain stupid, take for instance only allowing you to play 9 players. If LL were really their for the kids they would allow teams to have an EH and also a defensive player, also they should allow a Pinch runner for both the catcher and pitcher. Look at how many kids would than be involved in 1 game, the way it is now you may have at least 3 kidws sitting, and getting in for 1 inning. That's what causes all the problems with LL and then there is All-Stars which is another whole can of worms.Can you fill us in on why you thing select ball does not care about safety or what does LL do that select does not.

I think he was referring to some organizations like Super Series Baseball for travel teams which doesn't have any pitching requirements. When you come across some guy who throws a kid way too much in a tournament just to get the win. I personally saw a kid from Paris, TX throw a complete game one night in pool play and then come back the next day and see the kid on the mound the next day during bracket play. Kid must have thrown 180 + pitches in two games. That's ridiculous.
I agree that LL should do more to open up their game. Stop the closed bases, make the pitcher aware of the runners on base, expand the offensive game with an EH, etc...

[rangerjim]

I love this post - had me thinking all day yesterday and reliving my baseball dreams - thank God he invented softball for all of us who loved the game but couldn't make the cut.

I made one all-star game and got to bat in the bottom half of the 7th inning. Bases loaded - two outs - and they had their flamethrower on the mound. I came up to pinch hit and was scared to death - I'm sure I looked like John Kruk facing Randy Johnson in the MLB All-Star game a number of years ago. I'm sure I was bailing out on every pitch. I ended up walking on 5 pitches and got credit for the game winning run. Wasn't very satifying though cuz I knew I had wimped out at the plate. Still a great memory though........

Go Cubs!!!!!!!!!

[DaHop72]

Originally posted by VWG
When you come across some guy who throws a kid way too much in a tournament just to get the win. I personally saw a kid from Paris, TX throw a complete game one night in pool play and then come back the next day and see the kid on the mound the next day during bracket play. Kid must have thrown 180 + pitches in two games. That's ridiculous.
:clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: Well put.

[tigerpride_08]

i loved little league...it was great having my dad coach us...we won 1st one year and i hit my only homerun so far that same year..:D...but my best moment is when my dad got tossed and one of my teammates asked where he was going because he didn't understand what happened...

[pirate4state]

Originally posted by crzyjournalist03
my favorite little league memory:

We were playing a double header on a weeknight, and my parents went to get me dinner between games. I ate four bean burritoes from Taco Bell with a large soft drink. My parents had stayed for the first game, and decided that they were tired and had me catch a ride home after the second game.

About two innings into the game, those burritoes and soda start giving me stomach cramps. I really didn't know if I could make it through the game.

In the bottom half of the last inning, we were down by three runs, and I came up with two runners on. I don't remember how many outs there were, but it was either one or two. The coach had made a deal that if any player could hit a home run, he'd give them ten bucks. I was always a speedster in LL, but didn't have much power at all. I usually beat out infield hits. As a left handed batter, you usually get walked because pitchers get all thrown off when you come to the plate.

I came up against a left handed pitcher, only about the second one I had ever faced. At 13 or 14 years old, I was well aware of the disadvantage of a lefty-lefty matchup.

I came up just trying not to let my team down. I ended up lining a pitch over the second baseman's head with so much force that it rolled to the wall on two hops. I ran through a red light at third scoring easily at home for my first ever home run, tying the game and sending it into extra innings.

I ended up upset after the game, because we won in extra innings, but the coach gave the game ball to the kid who drove in the winning run, and he never gave me my ten bucks.

Man, here I thought we were gonna get a "when your sliding in to first and you feel somthing burst --- DIARRHEA!!!" story. :p

[rangerjim]

............when your sliding into third and you cut a big fat turd - diarrhea

when your sliding into home and your pants are full of foam - diarrhea........................

another great baseball memory - the songs..........

[olddawggreen]

Originally posted by Old QB
Could some of you share your experiences with little league - either as a player or parent. Were your experiences mostly bad or do you or your son really have have good memories?

All three of my sons played from Tball through Senior League. Over all it was a great experience and great fun.

The main thing I don't miss are some of the Daddy Ball coaches that were willing to sacrefice the team in order to keep their own kids in a position that they hadn't earned and couldn't play. :mad: :mad: