Am I the only one that throws up just a little bit...

Wow, amazed he got 21 AB's.  I'd have pinch hit for him out after his 20th k.  

My concern is that one of those 300+ foot home run swings is going to produce a line drive right back at the pitcher and that will not end well. I'm all for going to wood/composite wood bats. The trouble there is $$$$$$. But unfortunately as with most things it will take a tragedy to instigate any meaningful change.

I'm thinking you should call the TV repair man and get him to fix the TV (seems to be stuck on one channel, cant turn it off, and continues to play only high five highlights after home runs).

Cooperstown plays 50/70 on 200 ft fields and the ONLY rule about bats is that they CAN NOT be wooden.  It's almost a contest on who can bring the most well rigged bats.  During my son's week this year the top popped off one bat and several racquetballs came popping out!  Sad thing was that team still made it to the finals, but thankfully didn't win.

 

To the original OP, I would think there are better ways to display sportsmanship.  For example, in Cooperstown my son got nailed by a 75+mph pitch, it was drizzling it was 1am and frankly it was understandable that a 12 year old would loose his grip.  That pitcher sought out my son the next day and gave him 4 Las Vegas (his team) pins and some other things just to say he was sorry.  That sounds classier than faking excitement for the cameras when they couldn't possibly all be glad that kid just homered.

Caco that is certainly a better way to display sportsmanship.  But I haven't been really hammered on here for a while and every now and then I need a good thumping...   so with that in mind I will just say I am not a big fan of any of these things.  Handle yourself with class absolutely.  Congratulate, apologize (for something that is a normal part of the game) etc.  Not overly fond of that.  I think sports can prepare us well for life.  In real life competition is fierce and a workmate will slit your throat and throw you under the bus.to save their.own skin.  Any congrats you get from someone you just beat out for a promotion are largely insincere.  I love competition.   I love having class (but don't mind a bit of trash talking either) but the 'sportsmanship'?  I really couldn't care less.

Sorry, hi 5-ing a 5'10" 180 lb kid from the other team who just hit a lazy 275 ft fly ball, with a garbage swing, just doesn't sit well.  AND...do we have to empty the dugout when the kid goes yard for the 29th time in the first inning of a game?

 

So to sum up the list of annoyances:

The fences are too short

The bats too hot

The mound too close

The umpires grand canyonesque strike zones are ridiculous

Leagues stack teams

LLWS all about the money

The coaches faux hoorah when mike'd makes kids soft

TOO MUCH SPORTSMANSHIP

What did I miss?

 

And yet, I'm sitting here watching this crap right now.  Guess it's better than watching my 401K...

 

 

Going against the grain here (again)...

 

I love it.

 

Pretty darn good youth baseball

Real sports emotion and drama with both kids and parents

Community involvement in a big way

35,000 showing up for kids baseball games

Cultures meshing

Beautiful fields and setting

Major leaguers reaching out to aspiring kids

The best wholesome reality TV I can think of

Run by an organization that at least tries to stand for the right things

An event deep in tradition that sheds a positive light on the game

Remarkable memories made for hundreds of kids, parents, family and friends

 

Imperfect?  Of course.  Awkward at times?  Yup.  What's not awkward about 12-13 year old kids?  That stuff just makes it all the better.

 

If the LL Series didn't exist as it does today, many of us would probably think "wouldn't it be cool if ESPN covered one of the bigger youth organizations at an age where the game is still mostly pure and innocent with the kids.. if they treated them like rock stars ad had ex-MLB guest appearances and there were hundreds of volunteers and a cool place where the kids congregated for the final stages and, better yet, include kids from other countries and tell some of the human interest stories so we can all sort of attach ourselves to some of the kids and make it so that tens of thousands of kids across the country could feel like they have a real chance of being part of that some day soon..."

I agree!

At age twelve a friend of my son was pitching in a summer LL invitational tournament. These are tournaments teams who have been eliminated play to get in more ball. This kid should not have been on the mound. But dad had a dream. The dream ended when the kids face exploded from the force of a line drive. I heard all the kids on both sides were traumatized by the grotesque sight. Fortunately the plastic surgeon and dental surgeon did a very good job of reconstructing his face. You can't tell it was once blown apart. The kid ended up playing baseball after missing two seasons. He didn't pitch again.

       
       

He learned from Domingo.  He played three positions and therefore got to bat more often. ;0)
Seriously though, my son felt like pitching at 46 ft was like standing on home plate after pitching at 50 ft.  He also had a 206 ft lazy fly ball homerun.  ;0)