I don’t like having to be this guy. I don’t want to be this guy. Generally, I really don’t like when others are this guy.
But I am concerned about the prioritization of compassion on display in yesterday’s Little League game between the Oklahoma state champions and the Texas East half-state champions. Perhaps you’ve also seen the video:
There’s some important context available here, and it’s on the scoreboard at the bottom of the clip. When this happened, the Texas East pitcher was in the midst of a full-blown baseball meltdown. Granted a 3-0 first inning lead, he’d allowed two runs to score and thrown thirty pitches before drilling Oklahoma’s eight-hitter in the helmet. It was a disastrous start to likely the biggest sporting event in this kid’s life, and the moment clearly got to him. He started to cry.
The impression many have gathered here is that the pitcher started crying because he’d just domed his opponent. It’s possible that’s what happened. It’s possible he felt guilty. More likely, though, the kid was crying because he’d failed to get out of the inning with an 0-2 count against the bottom of the Oklahoma order and now his team was facing elimination in a game that could send them to the coolest sporting event on Planet Earth. These are 12-year-olds, and they’re among the best baseball players their age in the entire nation. They’re not toddlers. They’ve been chasing this moment for half their lives.
This isn’t to say the Oklahoma kid did anything wrong. He was kind and he was compassionate and those are things that should always be encouraged (and should have been done by the kid’s teammates and coach, who instead left their pitcher crying on the mound, a terrible idea even in the most Machiavellian wins-and-losses sense). But when we only focus on this when it comes to the Little League World Series, ignoring the competitive aspects to do so, that’s a disservice to the kids. It’s infantilizing. It’s disrespectful. These kids work hard, and they know the game. Their performance has earned them their moment.
Youth baseball has massive problems in the United States. More and more every year, it’s becoming a grift-laden, money-driven sport. Parents are pressured to shell out thousands of dollars a year from the time their kids turn nine, hauling them to travel tournaments across suburbia under the circular logic that they need to play against the best if they’re going to be the best. Little League membership is dwindling. In-house leagues are shrinking. The best players (or more accurately, the richest ones who then become the best because they’re the ones who can afford better coaches) are leaving Little League to compete at what they see as higher levels, to try to develop, to chase their dreams of being Major Leaguers in the way the industry is telling them they have to chase those dreams. Baseball is becoming less and less accessible to lower-income families and the middle class. This is a bigger problem for the sport than steroids ever were.
The Little League World Series should be an antidote to this. Chasing the dream of playing in Williamsport against the best eleven and twelve-year-olds from all around the world is one of the few carrots Little League has left (aside from arguments about letting kids be kids, about letting kids have fun, about investing in our communities…you know, all those things we stop caring about when we face social pressure and the fear of accidentally crushing a child’s dream). Kids demonstrating kindness and kids connecting across cultures and kids having the time of their lives are and should definitely be part of the story, but Williamsport isn’t Disneyland. Williamsport is, to a lot of these kids, the biggest competitive stage in the world. Williamsport is a place to not only have fun, but to have fun while also celebrating the greatness of youth sports, and the precociousness of these immensely talented young athletes, and the courage needed to perform well under the brightest of lights. In theory, the path is open for any baseball-loving kid in the country to make it this far. All they need is a bat, a glove, and a bike to ride to practice. Play well enough in their in-house league, they’ll make the all-star team. Play well enough as an all-star team, and they can advance through their District tournament, through their State tournament, through their Regional tournament, all the way to those pristine miniature fields in central Pennsylvania, where they’ll get to participate in America’s Pastime in view of the high-definition cameras of ESPN.
Again, the compassionate moments are sweet, and they’re an essential part of what makes Little League so special. But the competitive aspects are important too. What happened after the hug on the mound? Did the Texan get out of the inning? Who won the game and is now living out their dream on the way to Pennsylvania?
We always could use more kindness in the world, and that goes for sports as much as anything, and that goes for youth sports in particular, where certain over-the-top parents for generations have absolutely ruined the experiences of their own kids and others. But only showing the hug and not looking at anything from the game itself frames this as an exhibition, and to most of the kids involved, it’s not. It’s a competition, and it matters, and for both the sake of those kids and for the sake of baseball in this country, we’d be better off if we treated it that way. Show the kid picking up his opponent, yes. Celebrate the kid picking up his opponent. But also celebrate the second baseman turning a dazzling double play to get his pitcher out of a jam, and the cleanup hitter mashing fastballs out onto the hill behind left field, and the scrappy lefty spinning curveballs onto the outside corner. Celebrate the goodness of kids. But don’t take away their chance at greatness.
Joe Kelly Continues to Rock
Joe Kelly got into the first half of yesterday’s White Sox doubleheader, and he made the Royals pay, mowing through three hitters on just ten pitches and notching yet another K. His ERA’s one scoreless inning away from being back under 5.00 and his walks are dropping closer to his average from the reliever portion of his career. And, as has long been the case, his FIP and xERA—which say more about how good a pitcher is than ERA does—are great. The haters are on the road to doom, and from a vibe perspective, the White Sox are on the road to the playoffs, even with Tim Anderson out (fun fact: Joe Kelly has never missed the playoffs in a season in which he made at least one relief appearance).
Burnley Bits
I can’t believe I’m writing this unironically, but Vincent Kompany confirmed today that Scott Twine and Kevin Long are out for Friday’s big match against Watford. Jay Rodriguez is described as day-by-day.
Fargo Bits
Fargo continues to be an angel, although I do think she ate some bark she’d stripped from a stick yesterday. She and I have reached an agreement on the proper quantity of treats to associate with brushing. She’s also gotten way more comfortable going into the office, though I think the new rug in there is firing her up. She loves the way it feels (always lying down on it) but she comes out ready for rock and roll.
**
Viewing schedule:
2:20 PM EDT: Nationals @ Cubs (MLB TV)
One nice thing here is that MLB’s scheduling gives you chances to hope on a series win, even when your team stinks. Another nice thing is that Justin Steele’s pitching and it’s getting more and more believable that he could be a contributing member of a playoff rotation. Hope abounds.
8:10 PM EDT: White Sox @ Royals (MLB TV)
Kansas Citians better send their kids to bed before the sixth inning. Don’t want any nightmares after watching this evening’s carnage.
Good perspective on the Little League World series moment. 👍