Little League Baseball

[Jim Porter]

Originally posted by STEVED21
I think they should change the tournament rules. When you get to this level, you ARE playing to win. ABC/ESPN wouldn't pay the fees they do if the championship didn't mean anything.

The MPR is important in the regular season. That is where all the kids have to play. In fact, it probably doesn't go far enough. The kids shoul be required to play more than one position in the game. To many coaches install kids at a position and play every inning of every game there. Some are good enough to do this, but even the best can benfit from a different position. By the way, my son was one of those kids. His coach had him catch about 70-75 consecutive innings. I wasn't real happy. There will never be a perfect system, but I wish more coaches put more emphasis on teaching the kids instead of winning every game.

In 1996, we were lucky enough to see our Cranston Western RI team win the US Championship. It was a thrill for the kids, and they were treated like heroes when they arrived home.

That team had a roster of 14, and the manager played every one of those kids in every game from Districts to States to Regionals and finally the US Championship and World Series final.

If they could do it, why can't everyone else?