What a time and place to grow and live! The memories I have from little league baseball are amazing! You can't replace the sense of accomplishment in seeing your family so proud of you. You can't beat the experience, that hopefully every kid enjoys at some point, of a "suicide" after the game. Now, I'm talking about a drink that is every fountain drink, that isn't diet, all mixed together in one cup. The thing is in today's game doesn't it tend to get a little over the top. I mean, how many times do you remember in little league throwing 85 pitches? What 10 to 12 year old kid needs to throw 85 pitches in one game? And then of those 85 pitches why are 40 of those pitches curve balls? This may just be my beef with little league and all the exposure of a young kid playing competitive baseball. The problem is now that most of these top level baseball players at age 12 who are playing in about 100 games of baseball per summer are either doing nothing else all year long or they are burned out by the time they are 16.
Now I understand there are people who are prodigy kids and they are all well and good, but you aren't going to get your kid drafted into the major leagues at age 14. The thing about baseball is that knowing how to do everything right is far more important than playing 100 games a year. My father always told me it was good for me to be active in almost every athletic competition. It is good for a young kid to have a chance to play football, basketball, soccer(football), and baseball (and any other sport not named here). It is good for them to be well rounded. Most of the major division 1 athletes and professionals in almost every sport played other sports and many still actively train and play, at least in recreation. So, instead of deciding at age 9 what professional sport your child is going to play let them pick it out and let them enjoy little league. It will be the time of their young lives, I know it was for me.
