Little League Baseball Has An Excitement

Meyer, D. (1961, June 6). Along The Way. Centre Daily Times, p7. 

Along the Way:

Little League Baseball Has An Excitement

By DOROTHY C. MEYER

Attendance at major league baseball games may hit the thousands but not a single one of those occupying a seat is more enthusiastic than the rooters at Little League games. Major League players themselves may get paid thousands of dollars but they can't love the game any more than their small counterparts in uniform.

We watched part of a game the other evening and were caught up in the excitement ourselves and we didn't really know any of the boys on either team. A group of very vocal rooters, small girls (and there are no more better cheerers than girls) kept up a constant background of noise for their team and parents in cars which lined the field added to the support of their team by sounding their horns.

This must have had a real effect on the small boys because the din added to the excitement of the game. If the boys were in the field and made an out, the horns were blown. If they were at bats and made a hit, the horns were sounded again. How could they lose!

Nothing brings out the gleam in a parents eye like watching their own small boy step up to bat. No one pays closer attention to the players on the field than a group of parents who have a son out there.

Nothing is cuter than a small first baseman who is wearing baseball trousers that reach his ankles!

Nothing is neater than the trimness of a uniform that looks as though it was made for the boy who is wearing it.

In this particular game, the team who won it ran first to their own benches but remembered quickly the business of shaking hands with the team who lost. The losing team had the same thought in mind and so the two teams, one in grey uniforms and the other in striped ones, met about halfway across the field. I could hear one little boy after another say "nice game" as the uneven lines passed each other.

This wasn't the end of it. We stood watching the visiting team leave town and got a thrill as we saw one station wagon filled with boys whose heads just came above the windows. Not a single unhappy boy in the carload!

There may be dull moments in life, but none of them happen when a bunch of small boys play each other. There may be quiet small girls around, but not in the bleachers watching their favorite team winning a game.

Put a midget ball game on your list of things to do this summer. You'll love it!