Top 5 Reasons Why I Like Little League Baseball

There are so many reasons to love watching little kids play baseball.  But I will do my best to narrow it down to five.

1. Watching the catcher try to fit into his uniform.

Most of these kids way about 50 pounds and are less than 5 feet tall.  The catchers uniform is meant to keep them safe just in case the get hit by a fastball.  First the pitcher doesn't throw that fast.  Second, the pitcher is lucky if he gets it to the catcher.  But to watch the kids fight to get the uniform on and then to watch them hobble out to the plate like a bow-legged cowboy is very entertaining.

2. Kids who sit down in the field.

What the heck man. This is boring.  The ball is never gonna be hit clear out here.  I think I'll just sit down and pick some grass.
This line of reasoning works well until the ball is actually hit in the outfield.  You can actually see the look of surprise on the kids faces when suddenly, they are forced to jump up and chase after the ball that they could have stopped if they were standing up.

3. Dad's getting in their kids faces.

First the dad has to show up.  It is surprising to me how many families just drop off their kid and then leave.  Wow that really speaks volumes to how much they love their children.  But for those dads that do stay, it's always fascinating to me how many of them live out their major league fantasies through their children.  They get upset of their son is not Nolan Ryan or Derek Jeter at the mound or the plate.  It's one thing to give them some advice, it's another to ridicule them for not throwing that perfect changup.

4. Dads getting kicked out of the park because they argue with the Umpire.

When you mix an ump who has a short fuse and a dad who can't keep his mouth shut, it makes for a volatile situation.  "Hey ump, that ball hit the runner".
"No, it didn't."
"Yes it did."
"No it didn't, I was watching it the entire way."
"Well I don't know what Sesame Street special you were watching, but that ball hit the runner."
"No it didn't."
"Yes it did"
"No it didn't"
"You're gone!  Go to your car!"
"No!"
"Yes or the game is over and your team loses!"
"Fine, but it still hit the runner."

5. Being beat by giant margins

My son's team has an overabundance of kids who are not that great.  It seems as if our coach just took the kids that no one else wanted.  I am pretty thankful for our coach.  He does as good of a job as he can do.  But it is a little disappointing to me when our team gets beat by 20 points.  The funny part is, it doesn't seem to be that big of a deal to the kids.  So why do I care so much?