[GarthB]

Originally Posted by Dave Hensley

I don't take the "real baseball" bait. There's pro baseball, there's college, there's HS, there's Connie Mack, there's amateur adult baseball, and yes, there's Litte League (both trademarked and generic) baseball. And on and on.

In 1994 when my two sons were pretty much at the peak of their fanaticism over what some here are calling "real" baseball, the "real" baseball players went on strike. My boys were devastated, until I packed them in the van and took them on a little vacation. We saw MiLB games, we saw independent pro games, and we saw high school summer leagues playing baseball that was real enough for us.

That strike wasn't, and wasn't close to, the end of baseball. Pardon my James Earl Jones imitation, but as long as there are youth fields and high school fields and beer league fields dotting the landscape, people will be playing, watching, and umpiring baseball, whether the bonus babies are out there performing or not.

F**k "real" baseball. The baseball I participate in is real enough for me.

Dave,

I didn't use it as bait. I responded to the ridiculous argument various youth organizations have with one another over who has "real" baseball. I took that argument to the extreme to point out that none of them can lay claim to "real" baseball.