The Little League World Series

Yes, it is that time again, the Little League World Series is back and I freakn love it. I don't know exactly what it is, but there is something particularly special about 12 year olds from all around the world playing baseball that draws my attention year in and year out. And you know, I am not exactly a big baseball fan. Matter of fact, I don't really like baseball at all. But still, watching those kids play on TV gets a rise out of me and I am going to try to explain why.

I think it all begins with me once being an eight year old who once dreamed and thought plausible that I could be in the big leagues of any of the major sports: baseball, basketball or football. And from that point of view, seeing kids not to much older than I was playing baseball in a "World Series" was quite appealing to me as a youngster and I guess I thought I wanted to be on that stage too. The beautiful field, the crowds, the competition hailing from around the world, the fancy uniforms, the money, the sex, the power...wait, not those last few things. But anyway seeing those kids on the screen as a little kid gave me some hope that one day maybe I could play sports on TV.

Fast forward to the present day and I think that little kid inside me still dreams and wonders and has ambitions about playing in the majors. Obviously, being twenty three years old and in college, those dreams are now highly unlikely, but watching those little kids on TV reminds me of a younger age. No to start getting dramatic but the innocence and general joy they get out of playing the game. Or seeing their parents in the crowd reminds me of when I was out there on the field or on the court looking around and becoming nervous because my dad was at the game. I guess when you see kids playing sports you kind of realize they are meant to be fun.

But there are other reasons why I still watch it, and one of them is because I LOVE WATCHING THE JAPANESE KIDS PLAY! If you've never seen them play before you wouldn't understand, but trust they are fun to watch. Their cultural things that they do at the plate, the token Hideo Nomo like wind-ups, the style of play, their execution, their philosophy towards the game, all this intrigues me very much so. By the way the level of play in the Little League World Series is ridiculous. Yesterday I saw some kid from the Caribbean playing shortstop make a diving stop to his right, then, staying on his knees, threw a perfect strike to the first baseman who stretched for it like a big leaguer to make the play. Unfortunately, they didn't get the kid out, but even the fans gave a somewhat ovation to the play because it was quite spectacular.






With these great plays going on, I do have some morbid chuckles when the kids screw up, especially if they start crying. I think thats a good note to end on.

-The Diesel