A first for a New York Little League - Sandlot Day

I was searching for a league planning to hold a Sandlot Day (when kids organize their own games, with little oversight by adults) when I stumbled on a league that already had. The Philipstown, N.Y. Little League staged its Sandlot Day on May 2.

I spoke with the league president, Eddie Berry. He told me the kids had a blast. About 60 showed up out of 310 in the league.

A few nice touches. Kids were encouraged to use wood bats, provided by the league. A coach brought a snow-cone machine. Most of the players wore shorts and sneakers. Uniforms were not allowed.

Berry said attendance lagged because the Sandlot idea was hard for some of the kids to figure out. "A lot didn’t have any idea what Sandlot Day was all about," Berry said.

I asked the league president about things that had gone better than expected and things that hadn't gotten as well he hoped.

On the plus side, Berry said no one had gotten hurt. That had been a concern for some of the coaches.

On the minus, there were a few complaints from the kids. Not all could be attributed to Sandlot Day, though. It was a very hot day and some players said it was too hot for baseball. Others said the games were boring because they didn't know what the score was.

Berry gently explained, that's Sandlot Baseball.

Will youth leagues sign up for Sandlot Day?

A few weeks ago, I wrote an article for the New York Times about a concept called Sandlot Day.

It's a new idea - sort of. Developed by the SUNY Youth Sports Institute at Cortland, the grand plan is for youth leagues to designate one day during their seasons when adults cede control to the kid players. They make decisions about the important stuff - who plays on which team, lineups, batting orders, whether stealing is allowed, if three strikes really means you're out. (Or get back in there and keep swinging).

As the article states, institute director Tim Donovan hopes to cajole about two dozen baseball leagues around New York State to test out Sandlot Day this season. It'll be interesting to see whether he reaches the goal. For the moment, the effort is limited to baseball, though it certainly could work for other sports.

I just noticed that the Pittsford Little League near Rochester, also cited in the article, has penciled in a Sandlot Day on June 20. I'll be looking for others.