Little League Baseball - Win At All Cost

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Little League Baseball Displays Big-Time Flaws

Aug. 24 (Bloomberg) -- Just when you thought youth sports couldn't deteriorate further comes news of a Little League Baseball game -- debacle is more like it -- where both teams were doing their darnedest to lose.

Yes, really.

First, let's recreate the events of the game played Aug. 11 in Bristol, Connecticut, between teams stocked with -- remember this -- 11- and 12-year-olds.

Before getting into specifics, it might be helpful to point out what was at stake: the chance to play on ESPN, which, for a kid, is about as big as big gets.

Here we go:

A team from Vermont held a 9-7 lead in the top of the sixth, and final, inning when it dawned on manager Denis Place that he had violated the rule mandating every player be in the field for three consecutive outs AND take a turn at bat. The player in question had been used as a pinch runner, but hadn't hit.

Had his team recorded the final three outs, it would have had to forfeit the game. Rather than accept defeat, and use his mistake to impart a lesson on personal responsibility, Place told his kids to intentionally surrender the tying runs.

That way, either his kids could win the game in their last at-bat or, just maybe, play extra innings. ``There's nothing in the coach's guide on how to handle thesituation,'' Place told me over the telephone the other day.

Common Sense

There is, however, common sense. The New Hampshire kids scored a run, not realizing they were getting help from the opponent. Then, with the score 9-8, two outs and a runner at third base, the situation deteriorated from ridiculous to nonsensical to ludicrous.

That's when Place told his pitcher to uncork a wild pitch, without, of course, making it look obvious. Only it was obvious. Really, really obvious.

``Jason Varitek wouldn't have been able to get to it,'' Place said, referring to the Boston Red Sox's catcher. Only the runner at third didn't move. Maybe, Place thought, the kid was daydreaming. Place then told his catcher, who just happens to be his son, Josh, to throw the ball into center field after the next pitch.

Surely then the runner would score.

So Josh let it fly, into center field, where the ball eventually stopped dead in the grass. Again, though, the runner was a statue.

``I knew we were hosed,'' Place said. ``The other manager
wasn't going to win it by score, but by forfeit.''

The other manager is Mark McCauley, whose team indeed won
the game, not on the scoreboard, but by forfeit.

Play to Win

Here's what Vermont should have done: played to win and accepted the consequences. McCauley then should have let his kids decide whether to protest or accept defeat.

Then, regardless of the outcome, the coaches should have treated their kids to ice cream and pizza. Losing coach buys.

As it happens, McCauley's team won the next game -- the one on television -- which secured a spot in the final round of the Little League World Series.

On their bus ride to Williamsport, Pennsylvania, the mecca of youth baseball, McCauley's boys watched a tape of their 3-0 victory in the previous game.

``When you get off the bus at Williamsport, see the stadiums, it's a feeling you just can't describe,'' McCauley told me by telephone the other day.

But did his team deserve it?

Rules are Rules

After all, they did advance via a technicality. Yes, yes, rules are rules. But, deep down, the kids from New Hampshire had to know they didn't really earn their spot.

A funny thing happened, though: They won. And then they won
again, reaching tonight's U.S. semifinal.

``We feel that by putting up wins and reaching the semis there's no longer a question that we belong,'' McCauley said.

Still, I wonder about those kids in Vermont who, three outs from mugging for ESPN's cameras, had to pay for their coach's goof.

So I asked Place what he would do if faced with the same situation today. Here, sadly, is what he said:

``I'd make a pickoff attempt at third base and throw the ball into the stands,'' he explained. ``That way, the runner at third has to go because the ball is out of play.''

Sheesh.

I then asked McCauley what, if anything, he would do differently. He deflected responsibility.

``Unfortunately, that game could not be completed on the field. The other coach forced our hand,'' he said. ``It had nothing to do with the kids.''

It rarely does anymore.