Little league regionals: NCa.Vs S. Ca

I watched some of the game and it was a joke. Opposite field pop ups go over the fence. Towering shots that cleared the fences by 40-80 feet? I wouldn't want my kid pitching 46' away from a 6'-2" 210 kid with an aluminum bat rocket launcher. Its just not safe. When the kids circle the bases they simply look to big for the infield diamond.

73 mph seems at first pretty impressive until you realize a person 6'-2" and 210 pounds should be throwing at least 83 mph. We had a kid go through our little league about 15 years ago that was just the same, he was phenominal, but never got any bigger and never threw any harder. Got passed by in high school. Never even played varsity ball.

Totally agree- my husband and I were saying the same thing while watching the game. They should have at least moved the fences back. Between the metals bats and being 13 yrs. old it has really changed the game.

In high school my son played on a team with several players that won the Western zone and went to Williamsport. One of the players was 6' at the time and seemed like a beast but he was 12 years old. 3 from that team are still playing baseball. 2 playing in college and 1 in the Milb.

There always has been the big 12 year old every year. Ive watched the LL world series every year.But the age change has just made it so much more pronounced.Most of the kids were 13.People keep preaching safety, geez, I agree DG I wouldnt ant my kid pitching on that mound against those big boys.
Too many HR, like you said.

I do want to comment on the ss for S.Cal.That kid is a legit little player.Vocal on the field, asking the ump for check swing calls, directing his teammates, and incredible range and arm .he was a very solid young man.I think we will see him in the future.And aggressive at the plate.I enjoyed watching him play.I think So. cal will at least be the US champs.I would wager on it LOL.

Does anyone remeber why they pushed the age back?

quote:

Originally posted by fanofgame:
Does anyone remeber why they pushed the age back?

To synchronize it with USA baseball.

Thanks, I remember that now.

One thing Little League is doing is changing the bat specs to make them have less pop - which should probably be happening at all levels of the game where metal rocket launchers are used.

I'd like to see the mound moved back a little - as well as the fences - but I am sure that there are lots of fields where that wouldn't be possible due to land constraints.

I do think that Little League offers the best brand of baseball for the young players and seems to have the best safety rules (at least they are trying with pitch count).

CaBB,
At the HS baseball banquet one of the dads showed a clip of the introductions of our 10u LL all-star team. 6 or 7 of the kids were on the varsity squad. It was a pretty good team but couldn't get out of district each year due to being in the same district as the best LL team in the nation in their age group.

One of the kids from that LLWS US champs team topped out at 73 or 74 as a 12yo and although he's still a pretty good pitcher topping out at about 86 mph he's been passed re: velocity by 3 kids off our LL all-star team. I understand a scout got one of them at 91 over the summer. Another kid from the district was one of the top prospects at the recent area code games. It was quite a talented district tournament back then.

My son played with a number of the USLLWS Champions this summer. They still talk about how much fun that tournament was. Also, as you know, a couple from your league. All great ball players still.

SoCal is such a buzz saw for many LL teams, getting out of the district is so difficult for many teams. Then if you did this you ran into our (&yours) region that was even more stacked. They said it got easier once they got out of our region to the state!

What fun those days were!

Per the comments above there were always kids who had "perfect LL ages" which made them bigger and stronger, but moving it back now you are seeing more kids in puberty vs those who are not so we see some very large size swings in kids.

BOF,
The area code one was Jesus Valdez. He played for Hueneme that year. We think Valdez and my son may have pitched against each other in district that year.

The other thing to remember is that even more talent may have been over at Simi Youth playing PONY league at the same time, although I think the best of that group were a year older.

I knew who you were referring to.

Another friend of mine son was on the Pony team that won the Pony All Star World Series. I belive you are right he was a year older.

Lots of great baseball players

We honked and waved to the winners on our way back to So Cal from Santa Rosa.

Frankly I see these kids putting some **** good swings on the ball. These Chula Vista boys even some of the smaller ones have some nice whip on the barrel and I have feeling that some of them are not done and topping out in LL. That we'll see them in HS ball.

If they just would go to 50/70, the field size would not be a problem.

I feel that a young kid is going to be seriously injured, probably a pitcher. There is simply too big of a size difference.

I know this is unfair to some kids, but I think they need to put a size limitation in little league. They do it in youth football.

My son was always one of the smallest on his teams with a bad birthday to boot. But his competitive nature often neutralized the size and age advantage. Stop whining about the size difference and play ball.

You can call it whining if you want, but if a kid gets killed by a comebacker hit by a 6', 200+ pound 12-year old on national television, things will change.

And you will look at your last post and regret you made it.

My son was always small as well, in fact now at 6', 170 as a recruited HS senior, he is still smaller that some of the little leaguers. Competitive nature doesn't change the fact that one kid is 77 pounds and his oppponent is 200+ pounds. Its a recipe for disaster.

quote:

You can call it whining if you want, but if a kid gets killed by a comebacker hit by a 6', 200+ pound 12-year old on national television, things will change.

It is ridiculous that a 6/2 220 pound man is on that field with 5'2 and 70 pounds pitching at him. He hits a HR and acts like he did something special.

Give me a break. The youngest kids are 90 days older just like the oldest kids are 90 days older. My son used to be the smallest kid with one of the worst birthdays. He weighed 105 pounds as a freshman in high school playing against 250 pound kids in baseball and even heavier in tackle football. Stop crying.

Just looked at his health cert from 4 years ago. He was 5'2" 103 pounds as a freshman.

Nobody's crying, just giving something some rational thought.

It is not rational. Kids have disadvantages thoughout life. The sooner they learn not to quit the better.

Look, I get what you're point is, but it is not really that relevent that you or I have a kid that was small at that age.

More important here is that you have players the size of a full grown man, playing on a little league field. The little players belong on that field, not these big guys.

Would you throw batting practice to a high school team from 46 feet with no L-screen? I know I wouldn't, and my reactions are better than those of a 12 year old.

quote:

Originally posted by Spartan81:
If they just would go to 50/70, the field size would not be a problem.

You have done your research. The best youth baseball is played on 50/70 using real baseball rules. While the teams @ the LL World Series are very strong most would not finish in the top 5 @ Cooperstown Dreams Park. Another thing to remember is that the age rule will probably change again in the next few years to the international rule.

quote:

Originally posted by Blprkfrnks:
Look, I get what you're point is, but it is not really that relevent that you or I have a kid that was small at that age.

More important here is that you have players the size of a full grown man, playing on a little league field. The little players belong on that field, not these big guys.

Would you throw batting practice to a high school team from 46 feet with no L-screen? I know I wouldn't, and my reactions are better than those of a 12 year old.

We are not talking high school are we? The kids are 3 months older not 1 year older. I've seen some monster 10 year olds too. Some of the big kids are not coordinated enough to play up an age group according to size. One of my friends had twin brothers on his 10U team. They were both 5'11" 190 pounds. They were not allstars as 10U's.

3 months isn't much, but it did make a "bad" situation (too small of a field) a bit worse. It is also a key 3 months as it is during a period where more kids are making significant gains in physical maturity. I thought, if anything they should have gone the other direction so that only kids who were still 12yo at the time of the LLWS would be eligible. For some reason, they didn't ask me.