Pitch counts at the Little League World Series

From Tuesday's editions of the Columbian (Vancouver, Washington).

The coach referred to is from the team representing Warner Robins, Georgia.

"In a LLWS game this year, a pitcher was intentionally walking a batter. With a 3-0 count, the batter took a swing and missed, making the count 3-1. The batter allegedly took his swing, even though the pitch clearly would have been ball four, because of Little League's rule regarding pitch counts. The pitcher would have to throw at least one more pitch during the at-bat, getting closer to the pitch count.

"Oh, those witty Little League coaches. So smart.

"Of course, there is a way to counter this move. Next time, have your pitcher bean the batter. One pitch, and one pitch only, and it's the same as an intentional walk, plus the batter might get hurt.

"Can we please, please, get TV, and most adults, away from youth sports? Yes, our youth need supervision and coaching, but any coach who would tell an athlete to take a swing in order to add to an opponent's pitch count needs a major overhaul of his priorities.

"And he does not need to be coaching anybody."

Victory lap for Waipahu Little Leaguers?

The Little League World Series ended yesterday, with Waipahu, Hawaii drubbing Mexico for the title. Now for the less appreciated part of the experience for these kids: their new-found celebrity.

For the next year, they'll be taking a victory lap, if they choose to. That was the case with the 2007 champs from Warner Robins, Georgia. About six months ago, I checked in with the parents from Warner Robins for an article in the Sports Business Journal. (Of course, I had to go through their sports marketing agents first.)

Nice people though. In the first week after the World Series, all 12 players were guests on “Good Morning America.” Dalton Carriker, the seventh-grader who hit a walk-off home run to win the championship game, appeared on the “Late Show with David Letterman” where he bantered about his clutch hit. (“With the count 2-1, I wasn’t thinking he would throw me a curveball …”)

Things heated up after that, with the Warner Robins kids attending a shuttle launch at the Kennedy Space Center, flying in an Air Force plane, taking batting practice with the Atlanta Braves, and being introduced before Atlanta Falcons and University of Georgia football games. Oh, in November they dropped in at the White House for a visit with George Bush.

Two invitations got thumbs-down: An offer for the boys to be introduced at a pro wrestling event and an overture from a Hawaiian surf shop for the players to fly with their families to Hawaii for an unofficial rematch with the Tokyo team they beat in the final.

The league president told me, “That was pretty strange.”