Little league world series! (not hoops but it's been slow here)

Well Marcus and I made the trip to Williamsport for our 5th year in a row, caught the Friday thru Saturday games and we were 2 of the over 41,000 that viewed the game Friday night. The Mid Atlantic regional winner is from a town less than 30 miles from Williamsport and all thise folks and a lot more wore blue. Looked like an ocean.

too many stories to tell here but we had a great time and anyone with a kid or if you just love baseball you need to get there at least once.
here are some photos.
still several hours before the first pitch....



hey at least there was one other Celtic fan there!



a sea of blue



Marcus taking a photo from his cell phone of the masses.



And Marcus found a new buddy there too!



couple action shots and one of me taken by Marcus making my way back to the chairs ( with cut off rear legs) on the side hill in the outfield.







Me in my Celtics hat. ( with sustinance for the kid and I )



beat






beat

I'm sure you have a team or two you're following and rooting for, but keep an eye on our hometown team from Huntington Beach, the West representative. (I see one of the pictures is from a game of theirs.) I guess it's hard not to, considering they've won their first two games by a combined score of 21-0, but they're just kids and things can turn in a hurry. I don't know any of the managers or players personally, but I do have friends who coach and have kids in that league. Due to boundaries, my boys played in a neighboring league, and they all gravitated to other sports eventually anyway.

Just making it to the LLWS is great, but I guess our Huntington Beach team has a legitimate chance to win it, at least the U.S. side of it. The Japanese team is a powerhouse, and I think they're the odds-on favorite. In any case, have fun, and good luck with the weather.

Outside

Outside

During the game we saw the West team play, the pitcher for them took a liner back to his face and went down like a ton of bricks.

Of course at the field you don't have access to replays but after being attended to by staff the kid continued to pitch. Later in the hotel we saw the replay on the TV. The ball hit absolutely square on the front brim (visor) of his cap/hat and crumbled it like an accordian and it actually never hit his face or forehead.... he was one lucky kid. Marcus happened to see him last evening and he was still wearing his hat.... he should have gotten a photo of it.


There are teams that never should be there ( no way Europe or MEA (Saudi) will ever win. Most of the time these teams consist of US military kids or as in the case of Saudi ( oil kids) And this year Saudi did not even win but were awarded the opportunity to come. Uganda beat them but was denied visa's as their paperwork was not done right and was poor. But these kids grew up in an orphange and just did not have the proper documentation. They never would have contended for the championship but what a thrill it would have been for those kids.

Another result of the Danny Almonte BS of a few years ago.

Another thing I find totally wrong. In years past you get your seats in the main stadium ( first come first serve) and could sit there all day.... now because of the local team from PA winning the Mid Atlantic region they cleared out the stadium and made people stand in line to get a seat there. And of course virtually all of them are Pennsylvania fans.

A big part of me hopes they loose tonight. Not due to the kids of course but to shut up the loud mouth "fans' of theirs.

As for the teams internationally probably saw the best 2 teams last evening. Japan and Mexico. Although Mexico won I expect Japan to advance through the losers bracket and get a rematch in the international league final. They would only have to beat them once as the double elimination ends prior to that game.

As for the US half of the draw. These teams have such a hard road even to get there compared to many of the international ones. Depends on just how the pitching goes. West is good but that darn team from Georgia (Warner Robbins ) South East region, 3rd time in 4 years they have been there, would be my pick.

One last observation is the poor umpiring I have seen live and on TV. I understand the true strike zone is enlarged a bit but to me it is a bit too big. I realize too the umps pay their way there and are not paid for their services but gosh do they all have to be AARP eligeible. Some could barely jog out on the field. Thank goodness replays get most of the errors corrected. But one time the third base ump called a liner over his head foul before the ball hit and the left field line ump called it fair ( it should have been his call ) replays showed it was fair by at least a foot............. but after a lengthy debate because the first ump called foul first the call stood. And the kid lost his double. And the team eventually lost the game.

I've umped and it just isn't that hard.

And lastly get the adult basecoaches in the dugout and let the kids coach the bases. Use as many signals as you wish but let the kids get out there. It's there game. Thats how we do it in our local LL. Plus it makes the kids learn the game a whole lot more.

Overall though it is a great place to go to watch a game.....
and anyone one with a chance needs to go there if only for a day or part of a day.

beat

Beat,

Interesting take on the Pennsylvania fans. I'd sorta been rooting for them since they were the home team, but if a lot of the fans are going to be jerks about it, then I'm all for them losing their next game, too. Nothing like getting the inside scoop from our own reporter.

I'd definitely noticed the wide strike zone. In one game I saw, it was really wide. I know that's how it works in Little League, but man, any pitcher who can consistently hit a spot six inches off the plate would be tough to beat. Most of them can't, which is of course the reason behind the wide strike zone, but once you reach this level of play, you'd think the zone would tighten up a little bit.

I hadn't realized that Mexico beat Japan. Those two do seem to be the class of the international teams.

Thanks for the reports, and enjoy the games.

Outside

Hey Beat, are you still at the LLWS? Our Huntington Beach team plays the local favorites today in an elimination game. Had a heartbreaker last night against the team from Montana.

Outside

Only went to games last Friday and Saturday. Been watching though and their have been some great games and yesterday had 2. West lost a toughy for sure absolutely loved the Montana pitcher who struggled but found a way and their relief pitcher who could nto throw a strike but the coach left um in. 2 very hard hit outs that either one a few feet either way and it's over.

As far as today goes still think Japan is the international favorite but they have to win this eve then beat Mexico Saturday.


Montana has a huge advantage not having to play till Saturday but I really have to question who they will be able to pitch. Appears West and Mid Atlantic are much deeper at pitching.

Marcus was thinking the other day that what might be fun as most of the teams are still around is to have a LL Home Run Derby on the off day Friday. Each team has 1 kid selected by his TEAMATES and he picks a teamate to pitch to him. As there would be 16 kids it would have to be cut down to 5 outs per kid but hey I would watch it.

beat

Hey, our team from Huntington Beach won the whole darn thing! The kid who pitched today against Japan did a great job. He had a couple of rocky outings in relief his last two games, giving up a home run in each appearance, but he was rock solid today and didn't give up an earned run. It's really neat to see them do so well.

Outside

But for an error by Japans shortstop they might still be playing.

Good game and the better team probably won!

So enjoyable watching those kidsplay

but Musburger is a bit tough to listen too.

beat