2014 Little League World Series Thread

canderson · Aug 6, 2014

My nephew's team-well the oldest in their league, my nephew is 7 and they just were in their own World Series- Pearland just clinched a spot in Williamsport. We live an hour away, pretty excited.

HomeRunBaker · Aug 10, 2014

As a proud alumni of the former Cumberland/Lincoln (RI) Little League we've had b2b trips to Williamsport last year with Lincoln representing Rhode Island and New England and this year Cumberland making the trip.

This program has taken off in recent years. One could say I'm the AJ Pierzynski of Little League.

Ed Hillel · Aug 14, 2014

Pierce Jones, the leadoff hitter for Illinois, is now 4-4 with 3HR and a triple off the wall. Absolutely incredible.

Ed Hillel · Aug 14, 2014

Hopefully Syd isn't watching this one...

Puerto Rico scores 12 runs before Australia records a single out. Ouch.

Orel Miraculous · Aug 14, 2014

Everyone's obviously on the Mo'Ne bandwagon (and for good reason), but I'm fully behind Jackie Robinson West, bring it, Chitown!

Fred not Lynn · Aug 14, 2014

Mo'Ne is getting attention because she has a vagina. The reality is, the actual difference between males and female doesn't kick in until a little later...

Jackie Robinson West is riding the "baseball needs support in the inner city" wave big time...

Truth is, from a pure sport perspective, the LLWS is far less pure and honest than they'd have you think...

DeJesus Built My Hotrod · Aug 15, 2014

Fred not Lynn said:
Mo'Ne is getting attention because she has a vagina. The reality is, the actual difference between males and female doesn't kick in until a little later...

Jackie Robinson West is riding the "baseball needs support in the inner city" wave big time...

Truth is, from a pure sport perspective, the LLWS is far less pure and honest than they'd have you think...

This may be true from a media perspective but I am not sure it applies to the players and games. And I get that the vast majority of LLWS teams are essentially super teams that were formed, in some cases, years before they were eligible to play in the tourney and certainly before the LL all-star season. Furthermore, many of the kids are travel baseball monkeys who play year round and some of whom have personal instructors.

That said, the rules are pretty uniform and the best teams typically get to the tourney so the play is pretty pure. As a side note, the only thing I would change is to move the fences out a bit further. A big 13 year old with a high end bat (essentially half the kids on the remaining teams) can clear that fairly easily.

Fred not Lynn · Aug 15, 2014

Well, the other thing is that a lot of the "travel baseball monkeys" don't even bother with Little League brand baseball. The leagues that are successful in getting to Williamsport are the ones that have engineered and gerrymanderd their boundaries, while creating a development system that encourages the serious "travel ball" types to still be part of their local little league enough to be eligible.

DeJesus Built My Hotrod · Aug 15, 2014

Fred not Lynn said:
Well, the other thing is that a lot of the "travel baseball monkeys" don't even bother with Little League brand baseball. The leagues that are successful in getting to Williamsport are the ones that have engineered and gerrymanderd their boundaries, while creating a development system that encourages the serious "travel ball" types to still be part of their local little league enough to be eligible.

I agree that these teams are super-teams that were formed by local little leagues with the objective of getting to Williamsport. We purposely don't do this in our Little League because we have a stated goal of creating parity) but we suffer for it in all stars where our teams might get out of our district but never go beyond that. What you are describing is the way a lot of Little Leagues operate - they create a super-team, perhaps as early as when kids are nine or ten and then use the other local league teams as doormats while playing travel ball tourneys on the side.

However as far as youth baseball goes, Little League is about as pure as it gets. Travel baseball from ages 10-14 is all about supercharged bats and how deep teams/parents want to go into the competitive abyss. That both circuits have many of the same players makes perfect sense.

Fred not Lynn · Aug 15, 2014

My main beef with Little League brand baseball (and I was a league President, so I know my way around a bit), is that the schedule is linked to the LLWS...why should kids all over the world have to end their regular little league season in JUNE to make time to do eliminations for a 16 team tournament thousands of miles away in August?

luckysox · Aug 15, 2014

Fred not Lynn said:
Mo'Ne is getting attention because she has a vagina. The reality is, the actual difference between males and female doesn't kick in until a little later...

Jackie Robinson West is riding the "baseball needs support in the inner city" wave big time...

Truth is, from a pure sport perspective, the LLWS is far less pure and honest than they'd have you think...

Bold: Wow. She's also getting attention because she's good (like a super freaking good pitcher), not just because she has a vagina. And there is something terribly sad that "because she has a vagina" came up in any way, shape or form in a thread about little league baseball.

Italics: Wow. Having a vagina, even at age 12 or 13, is an actual difference. She's a girl. Period. It matters that she is dominating boys on a world stage - because people notice the difference between the genders/sexes. That's the world we live in, and girls who like baseball and play baseball, and maybe even some who don't, will see her and will say, "This is awesome. I could do that, too." It'd be nice if we could get to a point where they don't follow that thought up with "Even though I have a vagina."

I don't know if you meant to be belittling in your comment, but you were, in my opinion.

Fred not Lynn · Aug 15, 2014

If you want to have a serious discussion about women in baseball, I am all for it. The saddest piece here is that Mo'Ne has no future in this game. None. Zero...by no fault of her own. Back in a darker time, baseball wasn't appropriate for women, so they made up a watered down version, and called it, rather offensively, SOFTball. That's not a knock on softball as the game it evolved into, which is anything BUT soft (seriously, if 3rd base, pitcher and 1st base need to wear face masks, your field is too small). Still, baseball is a beautiful game, and it sucks that women are more or less excluded from playing it past the age of 12 or 13.

I was told by a crusty old baseball guy once that it was because you can't pitch overhand if you have breasts...not sure how they pull off the throw from short to first, or get the ball in from the outfield in women's softball.

I wasn't meaning to be belittling at all, the above bothers me, and I meant to lead into it in my post but got distracted by shiny things or something like that.

A real point, is that at 12, kids of both genders have developed at wildly different rates. An advanced 13 year old female may well have a huge natural physical advantage against a run of the mill pre-pubescent boy. That's kind of why advanced competition like this isn't really a great thing for kids this age...the playing field is anything BUT level, either within one gender or between them all.

luckysox · Aug 15, 2014

Ok, thanks for the explanation. And as a woman who used to be a girl who started out playing baseball but was forced to transition to softball, I am on board with your sentiments regarding girls/women and the game of baseball. I guess I was mostly taken aback by the phrasing - that's what made me feel as if you were belittling Mo'Ne. All of the things you write regarding girls and women in the game of baseball are true, but it is also true that Mo'Ne' is one hell of a pitcher, vagina or no. And as a woman who used to play the game she is dominating right now, well, I think it's really cool to see her out there kicking the crap out of other teams, even if it's the last time she'll have a real opportunity to do so.

Fred not Lynn · Aug 15, 2014

My personal plan to ethically dominate the LLWS without damaging any baseball futures is to find a crop of 8 year old girls, and spend the next four years teaching them all the nasty pitches that get 12 year olds outs. Curves, sliders, cutters, screwballs...all the stuff that leads straight to Dr. Andrews' waiting room...

Because for a female, the LLWS is the pinnacle. 15 Minutes...

I guess the other thing about Mo' Ne is how she, and the rest of then, are really just a piece to be exploited, to sell a few more boxes of frosted flakes.

DeJesus Built My Hotrod · Aug 15, 2014

Fred not Lynn said:
My main beef with Little League brand baseball (and I was a league President, so I know my way around a bit), is that the schedule is linked to the LLWS...why should kids all over the world have to end their regular little league season in JUNE to make time to do eliminations for a 16 team tournament thousands of miles away in August?

Its funny that this is your issue. I was a player agent for years in Little League and even a scheduler one year. Our board was adamant that we have the bulk of the playoffs over by the first week of June because the players families had their summer vacations planned and would write angry emails if we kept their kids too long after the school year ended.

That said, I live in California and our kids could start practicing in February (our travel team plays ten months out of the year) whereas folks that live in places that have winter have a tougher time getting in many games so I could see the frustration with a June ending. But rest assured - even if you had a tough winter in the Northeast and used that as a reason to extend the season into late June (which still doesn't conflict with All Stars), you would almost certainly get complaints from parents about the season being too long and it impacting their vacations.

Speaking of which, its pretty remarkable that all these teams at the LLWS have been playing baseball virtually straight through since April. That means their families have had little to no chance to vacation together this year. I would make that trade any day but many people don't realize what sort of a commitment this tourney, including All Stars, really entails.

Fred not Lynn · Aug 15, 2014

I think that's one of the reasons the more serious players are choosing not to bother with Little League brand baseball...they'd rather play with those who want to play baseball, not hurry up and get it over with so they can go on vacation.

Of course, I come from the perspective of trying to play in Canada...where April is pretty much unplayable, and May/June aren't much better.

BigMike · Aug 15, 2014

Fred not Lynn said:
I think that's one of the reasons the more serious players are choosing not to bother with Little League brand baseball...they'd rather play with those who want to play baseball, not hurry up and get it over with so they can go on vacation.

Of course, I come from the perspective of trying to play in Canada...where April is pretty much unplayable, and May/June aren't much better.

i think that is unfair knock on LL in general.

Intercity/intertown baseball is a Spring sport. Whether it is LL, or Ripken or unaffiliated. It is a Spring sport, and as such the season much end by the end of the school year. Then you have summer travel baseball whether LL, Ripken, or various other tournaments. Those are a place for the more dedicated, more talented (in some cases) player to live. And I think that is a good thing.

Yes there are alternative, but man, I just don't know if I believe spending 10K for some AAU program where you play 100+ games a year is worth it. If that is what you want, then so be it, but I tend to think it is a ridiculous waste of time/money at the 8-12 year old level. 14-17 well then maybe.

And yes i know that any of the better AAU programs would beat the living shit out of one of these Williamsport teams.

Fred not Lynn · Aug 15, 2014

Of course the flip side is that the northern kids who get their season cut short don't ruin their arms throwing the max every 4 days for 6 months...

DeJesus Built My Hotrod · Aug 17, 2014

Rhode Island is my dark horse in this tourney. Their manager is fantastic and if you want anyone to start a rally, its that kid Trey Thibeault. He is a beast.

Seabass · Aug 17, 2014

How does that third base coach throw up a hold sign with two outs in Little League?

smastroyin · Aug 20, 2014

Edit: forget it, carry on

DeJesus Built My Hotrod · Aug 20, 2014

In case you haven't seen this - from Rhode Island's loss on Monday evening.

http://www.sbnation.com/lookit/2014/8/18/6043817/rhode-island-little-league-coach-gives-team-post-loss-pep-talk-gives#ooid=Jic3Nwbzp27Mk5BMKH2yEqqcJV3VaN9J

twothousandone · Aug 20, 2014

My son (12) plays travel ball, and played in a Cooperstown tournament this year. Two different places in Cooperstown bring in roughly 100 teams a week, each structuring pool play and a tournament to crown a winner.

One team said they play 200 games/year. The tournament winner has bunch of initials, the first"G" stands for Garciaparra. My sons team was basically cannon fodder, and he LOVED it.

One result is that we are playing close attention this year. (And rooting for the hometown team from Chicago.) It is fun to see it through the eyes of a competitor (and his Mom) as plays, good and bad, and comments from Larkin are getting tons of comments.("I'm not sure he's right." "Kid, he's a hall of fame SS." "Yeah, but I'm 12. He's not." When my sons learns what I think of Joe Morgan's skills at analyzing baseball, he;ll have me. But not before then.) His Mom of course feels bad for any kid who doesn't make a play.

As with many sports, it is fun to watch, more so because (from seeing my sons play) I have an understanding of what's possible, and how it differs from MLB. But it does feel just a bit wrong because they are kids, and there's a whole lot of money being spent by advertisers -- some would call that exploitation.

And Lucky Sox, my son believes he could hit Mo'ne, but he's not sure about Marquis Jackson. I noted that Mo'ne throws 70, and Jackson was there, too. He countered that Jackson was 71, 72 on occasion, and as closer, he didn't have to save up. I noted that 70 is 70, no matter the inning.

He never mentioned Mo'ne is a girl. He may (in fact, he probably) think it. But he hasn't said it. I share your viewpoint, and I will note that my house says "we" have made "this much" progress.

TSC · Aug 20, 2014

DeJesus Built My Hotrod said:
In case you haven't seen this - from Rhode Island's loss on Monday evening.

http://www.sbnation.com/lookit/2014/8/18/6043817/rhode-island-little-league-coach-gives-team-post-loss-pep-talk-gives#ooid=Jic3Nwbzp27Mk5BMKH2yEqqcJV3VaN9J

This whole thing is shocking to me, because Dave Belisle was one of the most belittling, and awful coaches I've ever dealt with (mind you he was a hockey coach for me). He once threw a puck at my head for not executing a drill properly.

That he's being recognized for making a speech like this is mind-blowing.

luckysox · Aug 20, 2014

TheShynessClinic said:
This whole thing is shocking to me, because Dave Belisle was one of the most belittling, and awful coaches I've ever dealt with (mind you he was a hockey coach for me). He once threw a puck at my head for not executing a drill properly.

That he's being recognized for making a speech like this is mind-blowing.

I assume he wasn't on television when he threw a puck at your head. The bright lights can change everything good and bad.

RIFan · Aug 20, 2014

TheShynessClinic said:
This whole thing is shocking to me, because Dave Belisle was one of the most belittling, and awful coaches I've ever dealt with (mind you he was a hockey coach for me). He once threw a puck at my head for not executing a drill properly.

That he's being recognized for making a speech like this is mind-blowing.

I've heard some similar things about how he treats the high school players. Apparently, at the youth level he is a completely different guy. Parents like him and kids want to play for him. I don't know if he feels that HS kids need to be motivated that way or if he feels the need to emulate his Dad. It will be interesting to see if he continues to coach HS the same as time goes on. Kids don't respond the same way, and parents certainly won't stand for it. My limited interaction with him has been positive. He worked with my kid when he 1st started playing hockey and couldn't have been more kind and patient.

I doubt he'd get miked up for a HS hockey game because the level of profanity would be make someone wonder if it was the same guy in the LLWS.

jon abbey · Aug 20, 2014

This Japanese pitcher Takahashi is unbelievable, 20 Ks in 8 shutout innings in two games so far, one hit allowed and no runs. He has struck out all six kids he's seen so far today, on ESPN now.

luckysox · Aug 20, 2014

Watching this Nevada team hit is like watching a major league team. They take some serious, serious cuts at the ball. Also, this blond kid Austin something-or-other, is HUGE.

shawnrbu · Aug 20, 2014

It is very confusing that Nevada and PA have basically the same color unis.

Kliq · Aug 20, 2014

Is the microphone for the conversation on the mound really necessary? (Note: I disdain the LLWS)

DeJesus Built My Hotrod · Aug 20, 2014

Kryszczuk and his ilk are the flaw with this level of Little League. They are so much bigger and stronger than the rest of the kids they are playing that they can just blow guys away and half swings can produce 225 foot HRs. The funny thing is, when they move up to a larger field for intermediates or juniors in the following season, these kids often become mere mortals again.

The story about Belisle is disappointing though. That speech was pretty great and maybe even heartfelt. While I am fine with coaches being demanding on kids in youth sports, it sounds like he gets personal and that is over the line.

BigMike · Aug 20, 2014

luckysox said:
Watching this Nevada team hit is like watching a major league team. They take some serious, serious cuts at the ball. Also, this blond kid Austin something-or-other, is HUGE.

In what feels like a really weak field this year, Nevada is very legit. They absolutely pound the ball and the lefty throws smoke. Could be a great game with them against Japan. Just hope they can get through the US title game saving most of their pitching

jon abbey · Aug 20, 2014

BigMike said:
Could be a great game with them against Japan.

Japan lost that game to Korea today, so they have to beat Mexico again and then Korea to make the final game.

BigMike · Aug 20, 2014

jon abbey said:
Japan lost that game to Korea today, so they have to beat Mexico again and then Korea to make the final game.

Ah, didn't see that, can't pay much attention to the daytime games. Japan doesn't have much offense this year

Vegas Sox Fan · Aug 21, 2014

BigMike said:
In what feels like a really weak field this year, Nevada is very legit. They absolutely pound the ball and the lefty throws smoke. Could be a great game with them against Japan. Just hope they can get through the US title game saving most of their pitching

They threw their number 3 starter out for this one so they will have their number 2 who throws 76 for the US championship game then have Kryzczuk available for the final.

jon abbey · Aug 21, 2014

BigMike said:
Japan doesn't have much offense this year

They broke out today against Mexico, 12-1 in 5 innings, so they get a rematch against South Korea in the international final.

Some very sloppy play here in the Philly/Chicago game, 4-2 Chicago already, Chicago still batting in the 1st.

DanoooME · Aug 21, 2014

It's amazing the coverage the Philly team has gotten. I just moved to South Jersey and we get the Philly stations. The #1 (by far) news station in the city spent the first 10 minutes of the 11:00 news on the LL team. Granted Philly has never had a LLWS team so it's a novelty right now, but to devote that much time to it was just strange to me.

And it's probably a good call given the LLWS game outdrew the Phillies game at CBP by a few thousand.

shawnrbu · Aug 23, 2014

Vegas vs. Chicago is off to an excellent start. Vegas with a 3 run double with 2 outs in the first after Chicago's pitcher nearly escaped a bases loaded no outs jam in the Top of the 1st. JRW have answered with 3 in the bottom of the 1st.

Infield Infidel · Aug 23, 2014

What a double play to end it!

jon abbey · Feb 11, 2015

The Chicago team has been stripped of its title:

http://espn.go.com/espn/story/_/id/12308988/little-league-strips-chicago-team-us-championship-suspends-coach

2014 Little League World Series Thread

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