***Official 2015 Little League World Series Thread*** (1 Viewer)

[E-Z Glider]

I dont think its an issue. The only time its unfair is if you have played the same teams and its your first loss. Its very conceivable that the one loss team played better teams.

I dont have any issues with it because everyone knows the rules going in, but it's definitely not a "fair" way to end a "double elimination" tournament. I've never heard of any other tournaments that were run this way.

 

[bigbottom]

For those who watched the game, any opinion on whether the kid who kicked the first baseman in the ankle did so intentionally? Watching it during the game, it was unclear whether the bag movement caused the incident. Lots of people are saying it was a dirty play (the first baseman was the player who hit the grand slam in the first inning).

The elbow at first was clearly a dirty play. The kick at first was questionable. Also, the California catcher got pulled aside and warned by the ump for inappropriate conduct. And apparently, after the Pearland pitcher hit a batter, he went over to apologize and the batter's response had to be bleeped out on the broadcast.

 

[TLEF316]

For those who watched the game, any opinion on whether the kid who kicked the first baseman in the ankle did so intentionally? Watching it during the game, it was unclear whether the bag movement caused the incident. Lots of people are saying it was a dirty play (the first baseman was the player who hit the grand slam in the first inning).

The elbow at first was clearly a dirty play. The kick at first was questionable. Also, the California catcher got pulled aside and warned by the ump for inappropriate conduct. And apparently, after the Pearland pitcher hit a batter, he went over to apologize and the batter's response had to be bleeped out on the broadcast.

I thought the kick was just the result of the bag moving underneath the feet of an awkward 12 year old kid. Didn't look intentional to me.

The elbow at first base was blatant, as was the kid getting plunked (although, to be fair, he was ALL OVER the plate). He wanted no part of the pitcher's "apology".

Very entertaining game, although the bat technology has clearly gotten out of hand. There are so few flyouts to the outfield because any decently struck (and even those not so decently struck) ball is going 30 feet over the wall.

 

[Judge Smails]

Man, feel bad for that pitcher from CA yesterday. He was throwing the worst hanging curves I've seen. Literally chest high and didn't move an inch. Might as well have put them on a tee. They had to be out of pitchers due to pitch counts or something..

 

[bigbottom]

Man, feel bad for that pitcher from CA yesterday. He was throwing the worst hanging curves I've seen. Literally chest high and didn't move an inch. Might as well have put them on a tee. They had to be out of pitchers due to pitch counts or something..

That was the kid who threw the elbow at first base earlier in the game. Karma perhaps?

 

[Chemical X]

this cant Go away fast enough, i blame espn.

nickname: x money

 

[ClownCausedChaos2]

Come on Red Land!

 

[humpback]

Yikes- are they playing this game in Colorado?

 

[ClownCausedChaos2]

Lewisberry is 5 miles south of me. Media coverage has been beyond anything you could imagine. A lot of people I know have made the trek to Williamsport this weekend. It's become infectious.

 

[TLEF316]

The Japanesed cheat. Total nonsense

 

[ClownCausedChaos2]

The Japanesed cheat. Total nonsense

Clearly. What a run by Red Land, though. From a town of 386 to the best Little League team in the United States. And to clear up any doubt, they beat the second best team from the US not once, but twice.

Congratulations, Red Land.

 

[TLEF316]

The Japanesed cheat. Total nonsense

Clearly. What a run by Red Land, though. From a town of 386 to the best Little League team in the United States. And to clear up any doubt, they beat the second best team from the US not once, but twice.

Congratulations, Red Land.

So I was sort of when they put the bolded up on the screen. Maybe the official town of Redland only has 386 people, but I'm sure the actual league pulls from a much larger geographical footprint. That just seemed silly to me. A town of 386 people probably would even have enough 11-13 year old boys to field 2 teams of 9 yet alone an entire league.

Its pretty lame that the Japanese (and I'm guessing a couple of the other international teams) are playing by totally different rules than the US. During the broadcast today, the announcers said that the Toyko little league basically pulls 24 six years olds out of a group of thousands every year and has them play together as a team for the next 6-7 years. They practice 8 hours every weekend and the year before the tournament, they pick their best 13. That's just stupid and completely unfair when you compare it to the rules the US teams have to follow.

I'm not sure if its still this way, but when I was a in little league (call it 20 years ago), my local little league wasn't even allowed to field one all-star team. Because our league had like 18-20 teams in it,(since it was a big town) we were forced to split our all-star teams into American and National league. So instead of picking the best 12-13 kids from the age group, we had 2 teams that wasn't quite as good. My group wasn't quite that good, but the group before me and the group after me both fell 1 game short of Williamsport. If we were able to put our full "A Team" on the field, there's a good chance they would have gone.

Again, not sure if the rules are still the same today, but Japan has a huge advantage basically cherry picking the best kids from an entire metropolis and having them play together for years.

 

[Cjw_55106]

Of course the Red Land team was an all star team. They lost to a better team, quit with the excuses.

 

[bigbottom]

The Japanesed cheat. Total nonsense

Clearly. What a run by Red Land, though. From a town of 386 to the best Little League team in the United States. And to clear up any doubt, they beat the second best team from the US not once, but twice.Congratulations, Red Land.

So I was sort of when they put the bolded up on the screen. Maybe the official town of Redland only has 386 people, but I'm sure the actual league pulls from a much larger geographical footprint. That just seemed silly to me. A town of 386 people probably would even have enough 11-13 year old boys to field 2 teams of 9 yet alone an entire league.

Its pretty lame that the Japanese (and I'm guessing a couple of the other international teams) are playing by totally different rules than the US. During the broadcast today, the announcers said that the Toyko little league basically pulls 24 six years olds out of a group of thousands every year and has them play together as a team for the next 6-7 years. They practice 8 hours every weekend and the year before the tournament, they pick their best 13. That's just stupid and completely unfair when you compare it to the rules the US teams have to follow.

I'm not sure if its still this way, but when I was a in little league (call it 20 years ago), my local little league wasn't even allowed to field one all-star team. Because our league had like 18-20 teams in it,(since it was a big town) we were forced to split our all-star teams into American and National league. So instead of picking the best 12-13 kids from the age group, we had 2 teams that wasn't quite as good. My group wasn't quite that good, but the group before me and the group after me both fell 1 game short of Williamsport. If we were able to put our full "A Team" on the field, there's a good chance they would have gone.

Again, not sure if the rules are still the same today, but Japan has a huge advantage basically cherry picking the best kids from an entire metropolis and having them play together for years.

Rules are still the same. Pearland has two all-star teams. Pearland East and Pearland West. I think the team in last year's U.S. final from Pearland was a different team than this year's squad.

Great run Lewisberry! Missed the international championship game, but they were fantastic in the U.S. final.

 

[Chemical X]

best time of year today....as far away from this as possible.

 

[TLEF316]

Of course the Red Land team was an all star team. They lost to a better team, quit with the excuses.

Not saying they're not an all-star team. Just saying that I know that US all-star teams have rules put on them that Overseas teams don't.

The combination of the pitch limit and the advantages Japan has (having their entire team together for 6 freaking years) makes it very very tough to beat them.

 

[E-Z Glider]

Congratulations, Red Land.

What a great ride. There were people lining the streets with signs of support and flags all the way from Williamsport to Lewisberry last night on the drive home. The kids finished off the night with a ride down Bridge street in the back of a firetruck all the way to Red Land High School at 11:00pm where they were absolutely mobbed by fans. They will forever be legends in this town.

 

[Charlie Steiner]

Was disappointed by the apparent glut of hits that looked like pop-ups coming off the bat but then carried over the fence. Some of those kids had some nice swings, but it seemed like almost anything that even nicked off the top of the bat was going out.

 

[E-Z Glider]

Was disappointed by the apparent glut of hits that looked like pop-ups coming off the bat but then carried over the fence. Some of those kids had some nice swings, but it seemed like almost anything that even nicked off the top of the bat was going out.

The HR totals for this year's tournament really weren't that far off from previous years. You know the fences are only 225', right?

 

[eoMMan]

Was disappointed by the apparent glut of hits that looked like pop-ups coming off the bat but then carried over the fence. Some of those kids had some nice swings, but it seemed like almost anything that even nicked off the top of the bat was going out.

The HR totals for this year's tournament really weren't that far off from previous years. You know the fences are only 225', right?

It was 200' when I was a kid....did they push them back?

 

[ClownCausedChaos2]

Was disappointed by the apparent glut of hits that looked like pop-ups coming off the bat but then carried over the fence. Some of those kids had some nice swings, but it seemed like almost anything that even nicked off the top of the bat was going out.

The HR totals for this year's tournament really weren't that far off from previous years. You know the fences are only 225', right?

It was 200' when I was a kid....did they push them back?

No, they got a irregular measuring tape.

 

[Nigel]

The bats kids use these days are ridiculous.

 

[Charlie Steiner]

Was disappointed by the apparent glut of hits that looked like pop-ups coming off the bat but then carried over the fence. Some of those kids had some nice swings, but it seemed like almost anything that even nicked off the top of the bat was going out.

The HR totals for this year's tournament really weren't that far off from previous years. You know the fences are only 225', right?

I believe you about the numbers and I know the distance of the fences, it just seemed like there were more 'cheap' home runs this year. If I watch next year, I'll turn the sound down so I don't hear Nomar say how great the kid's swing was when the ball grazes the top of the bat and comes off at an almost 90 degree angle yet goes 300 feet.

 

[russinfortworth]

I'd like for those Little Leagues that have 2 all-star teams be a little more transparent in how kids get on each team. We've got a couple of league's in Texas who have 2 teams and it is amazing that one team is CLEARLY superior to the other, so much so that the inferior team usually loses early in their district tournament.

The last true great "team" that came from a normal sized LL was a team from Lubbock Texas (led by Garrett Williams........80mph at 12), however most of those boys played together for 4-5 years before their 12 year old season.

Also, could you imagine if they had not changed the bat rules several years back? My youngest (11 now) takes his older brother's old bats out for batting practice, just to see how far he can hit. I'd estimate that he gets and extra 30-40 feet compared to the bats now.

 

[russinfortworth]

The bats kids use these days are ridiculous.

Yes, but they are much less "hot" than the bats from 7-8 years ago. The first year that Combat came out with LL bats, those bats were dangerous. Walls of the bat got so thin, that they would eventually crack, but right before that the trampoline effect gave you amazing distance.

 

[Cjw_55106]

I'd like for those Little Leagues that have 2 all-star teams be a little more transparent in how kids get on each team. We've got a couple of league's in Texas who have 2 teams and it is amazing that one team is CLEARLY superior to the other, so much so that the inferior team usually loses early in their district tournament.

The last true great "team" that came from a normal sized LL was a team from Lubbock Texas (led by Garrett Williams........80mph at 12), however most of those boys played together for 4-5 years before their 12 year old season.

Also, could you imagine if they had not changed the bat rules several years back? My youngest (11 now) takes his older brother's old bats out for batting practice, just to see how far he can hit. I'd estimate that he gets and extra 30-40 feet compared to the bats now.

Transparent to whom? Im sure people involved in the league know exactly how the teams were formed.

 

[bigbottom]

I'd like for those Little Leagues that have 2 all-star teams be a little more transparent in how kids get on each team. We've got a couple of league's in Texas who have 2 teams and it is amazing that one team is CLEARLY superior to the other, so much so that the inferior team usually loses early in their district tournament.

The last true great "team" that came from a normal sized LL was a team from Lubbock Texas (led by Garrett Williams........80mph at 12), however most of those boys played together for 4-5 years before their 12 year old season.

Pearland, TX has a West Division and an East Division, which are established by residential boundaries. As far as I am aware, the All-Star teams are selected from the respective divisions. (I live on the West side of Pearland, and the kids we know on the team all live on the West side). Pearland West All-Stars and Pearland East All-Stars both played in the TX District 15 tournament (14 all-star teams), and ended up facing off in the District tournament championship game.

No doubt there may be some shenanigans in certain areas of the state or the country, but that doesn't seem to be the case in Pearland. And Pearland is about a third the size of Lubbock for what it's worth.

p.s. Boy did that come off defensive!

 

[E-Z Glider]

I'd like for those Little Leagues that have 2 all-star teams be a little more transparent in how kids get on each team. We've got a couple of league's in Texas who have 2 teams and it is amazing that one team is CLEARLY superior to the other, so much so that the inferior team usually loses early in their district tournament.

The last true great "team" that came from a normal sized LL was a team from Lubbock Texas (led by Garrett Williams........80mph at 12), however most of those boys played together for 4-5 years before their 12 year old season.

Pearland, TX has a West Division and an East Division, which are established by residential boundaries. As far as I am aware, the All-Star teams are selected from the respective divisions. (I live on the West side of Pearland, and the kids we know on the team all live on the West side). Pearland West All-Stars and Pearland East All-Stars both played in the TX District 15 tournament (14 all-star teams), and ended up facing off in the District tournament championship game.

No doubt there may be some shenanigans in certain areas of the state or the country, but that doesn't seem to be the case in Pearland. And Pearland is about a third the size of Lubbock for what it's worth.

p.s. Boy did that come off defensive!

Yeah, I dont think these things are as wishy-washy as they used to be (or as everyone seems to think they are). The team that won last year (Chicago) was stripped of their title because of boundary shenanigans. Had to be absolutely humiliating to everyone involved. I'm sure no one wants to be associated with that.