Just in case there wasn't enough pressure....

The latest from Williamsport - Little League World Series video scouting reports. Ugh.

A new study confirms an old one on kids and curves

Back in 2009, I wrote an article for the New York Times citing a study that concluded there isn't much evidence to link curveballs and arm problems among kid pitchers. According to the study, the far more serious problem was overuse - too many pitches thrown over seasons dragging on too many months. It turned conventional thinking about kid pitchers and throbbing elbows on its head. Yet the study's primary author, Glenn Fleisig, was quite sure about which way his data pointed.

From the article:

Why for so many decades have most doctors and youth coaches believed otherwise? Fleisig said the evidence had been based largely on anecdotes, and that over the years those stories simply began to sound like fact.

“Why did people believe the world was flat? Because one guy told another it was flat and it looked flat. Until someone discovered that it wasn’t,” he said.

Fleisig took a lot of heat for the study and for refusing to back away from its conclusions. This week, vindication of sorts. A five-year study conducted at the University of North Carolina and commissioned by Little League Baseball reached the same conclusion.

As Glenn said in the Times article, no one is urging ten-year-olds to snap off a curve every other pitch. But data are data, and the curveball apparently isn't as harmful as many of us thought. And I have both hands raised on this one. In 2005, I wrote a piece for the Times lamenting the all-curve all-the-time approach of many youth pitchers at the Little League World Series. I should have been writing about pitch counts.

Little League Series voice ought to know better

Anabolic steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs are among the most destructive forces in sports today from the professionals ranks all the way down to youth leagues. So the comments this week of Brent Musburger were quite puzzling.

Speaking to a journalism class at the University of Montana, Musburger offered the following observations:

-Steroids shouldn't necessarily be banned for professional athletes. "I think under the proper care and doctor's advice, they could be used at the professional level."

-Journalists covering the steroid issue are largely uninformed. "I honestly have thought that the journalism youngsters out there covering sports got too deeply involved in something they didn't know too much about."

-It's premature to judge whether steroids pose a health risk to athletes. "I've had somebody say that, you know, steroids should be banned because they're not healthy for you. Let's go find out. What do the doctors actually think about anabolic steroids and the use by athletes? Don't have a preconceived notion that this is right or this is wrong."

Musburger was given an opportunity to back away from these statements the next day. Instead, through a publicist at ESPN, Musburger told the Associated Press that he stood by his comments and that the issue of steroids "belongs in the hands of doctors and not in the hands of a journalist."

The journalist seemingly most out of touch on this issue is Musburger. As Gary Wadler, who leads the committee that determines the banned-substances list for the World Anti-Doping Agency, told ESPN (Musburger's employer, by the way.)

"He's categorically wrong, and if he'd like to spend a day in my office, I can show him voluminous literature going back decades about the adverse effects of steroids. They have a legitimate role in medicine that's clearly defined. But if it's abused, it can have serious consequences."

Among Musburger's roles at ESPN (and ABC) is serving as lead broadcaster at the Little League World Series. He has been a fixture in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, site of the tournament, for many years.

There's no attempt here to say that Musburger was preaching steroid use among youth athletes. Of course he wasn't. Still a person whose name and voice are so closely associated with the most-watched youth sports event in the world ought to use better judgment. Stick to what you know, Brent. It isn't medicine and, judging from this week, it isn't responsible journalism either.

TV ratings dive for Little League World Series final

Bulletin from last month's LLWS: Apparently, a few people weren't watching.

Sunday's Japan/Hawaii championship game drew a 2.0 overnight rating on ABC, down 29 per cent from last year's game between California and Taiwan (2.8) and down 43 per cent from Georgia/Japan in 2007 (3.5).

Could it be that coverage - about 50 televised games in August - has reached a saturation point?

Why being a national sports hero at 12 isn't great

From Until It Hurts:

"Sport psychologist Richard Ginsburg is one of many who is deeply troubled by the morphing of youth sports games into top-rated TV shows. The attention and pressure focused on Little Leaguers during the World Series, in particular, he says is “preposterous.” “Adolescent sports aren’t meant to be entertainment for adults,” says Ginsburg who treats youth athletes and their families at Boston’s Massachusetts General Hospital.

The stage is too big for kids so young, he says. And the experience can be especially cruel when in front of millions a child ballplayer lets a ball dribble through his legs, thus disappointing not only teammates but the hordes of adult fans hoping to return home as world champions.

“A child that age can’t differentiate their performance from who they are as a person. If I had a son playing at that level I’d have a real concern about protecting his childhood,” he says

I was reflecting on that conversation with Dr. Ginsburg as I previewed ESPN's latest 30 for 30 documentary, Little Big Men. It's the story of the Kirkland, Washington Little Leaguers, the upset kids who toppled mighty Taiwan to win the 1982 LLWS. The focus is Cody Webster, the team's star pitcher and slugger, who has spent the past 28 years coming to terms with the experience and, judging from the film, mostly succeeding.

This is well worth watching - tonight at 8 p.m. Eastern.

The piece includes interviews with eight of the Kirkland stars, including Webster. who now coaches a travel team and, according to the ID at the end of the movie, is starting some sort of youth baseball school. This is the quote, from Webster, that sticks with me.

"I tell parents, 'Give 'em a chance. Let 'em succeed. I can guarantee if you push 'em too hard, they'll be done in a year or two. I've seen it. It's just not worth it. It's a game ... always will be."

Kids baseball on TV? Check your local listings

Sure, I took off the entire month of July. Didn't everyone?

MLB Network just announced that August is Youth Baseball Month, by which it means that it has beefed up coverage of youth games over the next 30 days. MLB Network has coverage of the RBI World Series, National Youth Baseball Championship and the Ripken World Series. Twelve games in all including two from Cal Ripken's kids' baseball campus just up the road from me in Aberdeen, Maryland.

Over on ABC/ESPN, it's Extreme Youth Baseball Month, a game a night and sometimes two or three. As always, the sister networks have all 30-something games live from the Little League World Series. And, as in recent years, they'll also present games from U.S. regionals so we can watch teams as they punch their tickets to Williamsport.

All told, that's roughly 75 youth baseball games on national TV this month.

So I'm wondering. Why baseball? What about this sport as played by boys still waiting for their Bar Mitzvahs (well, a few may be) draws us to our televisions, La-Z-Boys, microwave popcorn? The thought of any network - ESPN, Versus, the Food Network, Home Shopping Club - making time for 75 youth football games is preposterous. It wouldn't happen. Same for basketball, soccer, every single other kids sport you can name. Yet among cable sports nets there seems to be an insatiable appetite for crackerjack 11 and 12-year-olds playing baseball.

It's not only the sport. There's also something magical about the age. ESPN aired the finals of the Big League World Series this week, Little League's 16-to-18 division. Did you watch it? Read about it? Know about it?

What's different about 12 years olds? About baseball?

Little League movie is whiffing at the box office

Take the story of a heroic Little League team. Add a sappy love story. Mix in flat dialogue, one-dimensional characters, an ending that's predictable. What have you got? A lousy movie about a heroic Little League team, apparently.

Which brings us to The Perfect Game, which debuted in theaters last week. Horrible reviews. Interesting (to me) is that the real story of the 1957 Little League World Series champs from Monterrey, Mexico seems infinitely more entertaining than the dramatized version. Check out (below) a mini documentary about the team - the first from outside the U.S. to win a Little League World Series.

Little League Baseball is rallying support for the film. In a blast email today, though, it acknowledges, "Without [better attendance], the movie may not last in theaters much longer."

Little League World Series moves to prime time

Just announced: ABC is moving this year's Little League World Series (US title game) to prime time. Good for the network, which undoubtedly will pull in a sizable audience. But good for the kid players?

I like what sports psychologist Richard Ginsburg has written:

"I have a hard time watching 11 and 12 year-old boys playing baseball on national television. In fact, I just change the channel. Don't get me wrong. I love the kids, but are they ready for that kind of exposure? Aren't we exploiting the trials and tribulations of children for adult entertainment?"

Little League fields will grow, except in Williamsport

Thumbs-up to Little League Baseball for recognizing that it was time to shake things up.

There have been two major changes out of Williamsport in three months, which just about matches the total over the first 70 years. Monday, LLB announced it is creating what amounts to a new league for kids eligible for the traditional Little League 12-year-old program (and 13-year-olds, too), but mature enough to play on a larger diamond. In the spring, local leagues will have the option of moving games to fields that are, essentially, one size bigger. (Cal Ripken Baseball and numerous "travel leagues" across the country already are doing this).

Another Little League change was announced in November: an increase in mandatory rest days for pitchers in the regular season and the Little League World Series.

This is what Little League is saying about the bigger-diamond division:

"[I]n an effort to further ease the transition from the standard Little League field size (46-foot pitching distance and 60-foot base paths), Little League is offering a pilot program for league age 12- and 13-year-olds. The pilot program will be conducted on fields that feature a 50-foot pitching distance and 70-foot base paths. The pilot program will be available to all Little League programs worldwide for the 2010 season.

"Additionally, base runners will be permitted to lead off in the 50-70 Pilot Program (requiring pitchers to hold runners on base), runners may attempt stealing at any time, and head-first sliding is permitted. In the Little League division, runners cannot leave the base until the ball reaches the batter, and sliding must be feet-first unless the runner is retreating to a base.

"Also for the 50-70 Pilot Program – unlike the Little League division – the batter becomes a runner on a dropped third strike, the bat can have a diameter of 2 5/8 inches, and the on-deck batter is permitted."

Again, I applaud this move, mostly because it will encourage 13-year-olds who otherwise would quit baseball (fearing the big jump to a regulation diamond) to stay in the game.

Now I'm wondering how all this affects the Little League World Series.

Apparently, not at all. Little League isn't giving up the small diamond for that annual spectacle, which generates dozens of corporate sponsors, big crowds, an ESPN deal worth $1.5 million each year and untold exposure for the Little League brand.

Never mind that those kids entertaining us in Williamsport, more than any, are ready for the bigger diamond. You don't mess with a sure thing, which, at the box office, the Little League World Series surely is.

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."

The winner at Little League World Series? ESPN

This just in--

The Sports Business Daily reports a healthy ratings increase for the Little League World Series, proving again that youth baseball is not only fun, but highly profitable.

The SBD notes that ESPN’s coverage through Monday averaged a 0.8 cable rating and 1.031 million viewers over 10 telecasts, "up 60.0 percent and 73.3 percent, respectively, from the '08 opening weekend, which averaged a 0.5 rating and 595,000 viewers for eight telecasts up against the Beijing Games."

ESPN2's Little League ratings are climbing even more rapidly, averaging a 0.8 cable rating and 1.091 million viewers for seven telecasts, ahead 100 percent and 120 percent, according to SBD.

The most important thing, though, is that the kids have fun.

Get to know your Little League World Series teams

We know the kids playing this week at the Little League World Series are beyond excited. One gauge of how stoked the adults in these communities are getting is the leagues' web sites. The emotional temperature that comes through on these sites varies greatly. Some maintain an impassive "Oh yeah, the 12-year-olds are going to Williamsport" tone. Others, well, secure earplugs before opening.


Here are six worth a look.

Hastings Community Little League, Vancouver, British Columbia.

Excellent coverage of earlier tournament games. Handy link to WS schedule. Parents seeking help so they can travel to the series. Send checks to "Help Send Us to the Championships" fund.


McAllister Park American Little League, San Antonio

No boasting, just the facts. "No San Antonio team in the history of the Little League has ever made it to the little league World Series in Williamsport PA. Well that has all changed. McAllister Park Little League Texas West Champions beat Bridge City Little League Texas East Champions 6-4 August 13 and now are the SOUTHWEST REGION CHAMPIONS...ON TO WILLIAMSPORT!"

Parents here also are seeking financial support for the trip "While the team’s costs are covered by the Little League organization, the families’ expenses are not. It is estimated that a family of four will need roughly $6000 to make the trip."


Park View Little League, Chula Vista

Rappin' to Williamsport.





Urbandale Little League, Iowa

Understated, restrained. My new favorite team.


Warner Robins Little League, Georgia

They've won so many championships - notably, the 2007 Little League title - this year's squad seems to have been overlooked.


Mercer Island Little League, Washington

Multiple opportunities here:

Purchase official Mercer Island Little League fan gear. (Adult striped pullover hoodie, $32).

Listen to one proud parent emote as the team wins the Washington state championship.



Good luck to the parents. Kids, too.

More on Little League Baseball and pitch counts

Few people (as in none that I know of) follow the politics of Little League Baseball pitching rules as closely as Steve Kallas.

Over the years, Steve has been a persistent critic of LLB for failing to protect kids from too many pitches, curve balls and alike. He has kept an especially close eye on policies, in effect starting in 2007, regarding pitch counts.

The rules have been modified since, including changes in 2009. But Steve still sees room for improvement. In this recent blog post, he makes many good points but the best one is this: Why not let orthopedic surgeons and researchers decide the issue? In other words, the people who understand the physical limits of 12-year-old elbows and shoulders? To be fair, Little League has looked to such experts and has adjusted its rules based on their advice. But why not err on the side of safety?

The reporting for Until It Hurts underscored this for me. Surgeons are seeing overpitched kids in their offices every day. They understand the problem far better than the most well-intentioned coach, parent, private tutor and Little League administrator.

Kid athletes and the art of the sell

I've made a career - I'm trying, at least - of calling attention to and then lamenting the commercialization of youth sports. The Little League World Series contributes $16 million to the Pennsylvania economy each year and attracts TV ratings higher than many pro sports. One of ESPN2’s highest rated programs on record - second only to coverage of Dale Earnhardt's death - was the net's first telecast of Lebron James as a high school basketball player. On and on.

I'm not expecting to hold back the flood gates of commercialism. But from time to time I will be pointing out examples of youth sports transformed (and reduced) to selling and marketing a product. This ad promotes a noble purpose - Britain's Child Trust Fund. And it's pretty hilarious - six views and I'm still smiling. Still, it's an instance of an ad campaign built around a kid in a sports uniform breaking into the pro ranks.

Little League sponsorship continued

More on Little League Baseball and corporate sponsors.

I spoke today with Chris Downs, a Little League Baseball spokesman. Here's what I learned.

Little League sponsors DO have the right to picture real Little Leaguers playing in real Little League World Series games in their advertising.

These caveats apply:

Only "official sponsors" have this right.

Only images that portray kids playing by the rules - e.g., catchers wearing mandatory throat guards - are allowed.

Only still photography of kid players is permitted. No video.

I asked Chris Downs for his assessment of the Wilson/DeMarini video posted here yesterday. "Based on the established parameters I am aware of, it certainly doesn't violate any rules," he told me.

I asked whether the parents/guardians of Little League World Series players are asked to sign a release, granting permission for these images to be used by corporate sponsors. Yes, Downs said.

Apologies to Wilson for inferring in yesterday's post that the video in question used players in an unauthorized way.

Bottom line: Sponsors have the legal right.

Question: Is it right?

Little League Baseball and the sponsorship game

Little League has been striking deals with corporate sponsors for a long time - more than 50 years. Some of the earliest were the most crassly commercial. At the 1948 Little League World Series (then called the LL National Tournament), half the kids wore "US Keds" across their chests. The other half, "US Royals." The image of young players as Madison Avenue billboards did not go over well. The next year, the sneaker names came off the jerseys.

These days, Little League Baseball has a deep bench of corporate sponsors, from Ace Hardware to Kellogg's Frosted Flakes to Wilson Sporting Goods. However, it does not allow real kids playing in real Little League games to be pictured in advertising.

Or so I thought.

This posted to Youtube last month. So far, 272 views (and one comment, presumably from an 11-year-old: "Cool.")

Small Ball, the movie

Movie critic is a role we usually leave to others. But a brief post today in praise of "Small Ball: A Little League Story."

This is a documentary, which first aired on PBS in 2004. (It's available on DVD. I picked it up at my public library). The filmmakers followed a talented Little League team from Aptos, California on an emotional eight-week journey that leads to the Little League World Series.

I found myself developing attachments to several of the kid players who take the games seriously, but for the most part not too seriously, especially slugger Tyler Raymond and catcher Drew McCauley. More interesting were the parents. They are a good group, wanting the best of the high-stakes experience for their kids. But they are emotionally invested to the max. One mom speaks of feeling ill from anxiety on the day of games. Others speak about the experience being more (and in some ways, less) than they had expected.

The adult hero of the film is former big-leaguer Mark Eichhorn, who is the team pitching coach and whose son Kevin is a star hitter and pitcher. Eichhorn seems to take it a lot less seriously than the other adults and, probably for that reason, the kids light up when he's around.

One snippet from the film stays with me. A comment by Tyler Raymond, who so earnestly says of the parents: Yes, they're great and yes, they want what's best for us. But sometimes they think they're part of the game. And they're not.

Four stars.

A last look at the Little League World Series

Ok, one more post on the Little League World Series.

It's become a huge business. Estimated dollars spent by fans visiting Williamsport for last week's series? Would you believe $20 million?.

The limping economy apparently didn't keep the adults away. Little League announced it had "smashed" an attendance record this year when more than 30,000 fans turned out for a slate of preliminary games early during series week.

It's worth noting that Little League Baseball does not charge for world series tickets. Grandstand seats are distributed free to league officials, family members and those with the presence of mind to request them months in advance. Viewing spots on the massive grassy hill beyond the outfield fence also are free, first-come, first-served.

Hotel accommodations are not free. Rooms at the Wiliamsport Hampton Inn for next year's series start at $179 per night, if you already have your reservation. The Hampton Inn Web site is showing the hotel already sold out.

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.”

Instant Replay in Williamsport

Every year, it's more difficult to tell the difference between the Little League World Series and the REAL World Series. The latest example:

SOUTH WILLIAMSPORT - Little League Baseball will use instant replay at this year's World Series to review questionable home runs and other close plays at the outfield fence, beating the major leagues in instituting a system to review some disputed calls.

A Little League "game operations replay official" would need "clear and convincing" evidence to overturn an umpire's ruling on the field, according to the rule.

Replays would likely be rarely used, Keener said, and if used would likely cause a delay of 30 to 45 seconds. *