A Game That the Kids Finally Got to Play

Common sense finally prevailed.

It took a while, though, days of haggling and ugly publicity in the media. It took two attorneys, a Los Angeles Superior Court Commissioner and a restraining order.

But finally, the adults stopped playing games and let the kids play theirs.

The Woodland Hills American Legion baseball team made it to Yountville on Saturday to fill the state playoff berth it won on the diamond and then had to win again in a courtroom.

That’s not to say the team’s position is right, according to American Legion rules. That may still have to be decided in court. It just seems that everybody else is wrong.

At issue is an American Legion rule that specifies that a team can draw players from any number of high schools as long as the combined enrollment of sophomores, juniors and seniors at the schools represented does not exceed 3,600 students. Woodland Hills is unarguably over that limit.

But, according to team manager Lee Hersh, local legion authorities approved the Woodland Hills roster at the start of the season.

Nevertheless, after Woodland Hills qualified for the state tournament last Sunday by defeating Camarillo for the Sixth Area championship, El Segundo, Fifth Area champion, protested, charging Woodland Hills with eligibility violations.

Although the Aug. 1 deadline for filing protests had passed, state American Legion Commissioner Julio Yniguez upheld the protest and awarded the playoff berth to Camarillo on Tuesday.

Two attorneys, however, fathers of two Woodland Hills players, went to court Thursday and obtained a restraining order from Van Nuys Superior Court Commissioner David R. Nisall, blocking the ruling by Yniguez.

For a while, it looked as though the biggest battle of the American Legion season might be fought at Los Angeles International Airport on Saturday morning. Both teams vowed to show up and claim the airline tickets that would send one team to Oakland, and then on to Yountville.

But late Friday, legion officials decided to honor the court order and told Camarillo to stay home.

How wonderful. Some eleventh-hour wisdom after all.

I may be way off base, but I was under the impression the American Legion got involved in youth programs to present a positive image of its organization and to provide young players with a good, clean outlet for their energies.

The sight of grown men struggling over a stack of boarding passes in an airport would have been some boost to the American Legion image.

And the whole idea of taking away a title won on the field because of an ambiguous player eligibility rule really goes a long way toward teaching the kids something about fair play.

Certainly, there is nothing wrong with devising eligibility guidelines. But if you’re going to do that, then have somebody look over the final roster of every team before the first pitch of the season is thrown, and if there’s a problem, settle it then.

Don’t wait until these guys have gone through a whole season, won an area championship and then tell them they have to give it back because they violated a rule that had been overlooked until the last minute.

If there are ambiguities in the rules, iron them out before the season begins.

It wasn’t so many years ago that kids would find a weed-filled lot near their homes, mark out a crude diamond and play ball until one of their mothers announced it was time for dinner. They made up their own rules and settled their own disputes.

Then came the adults.

Now kids play on carefully manicured diamonds in immaculate uniforms with scoreboards and umpires and even advertising on the outfield walls.

Just like the big guys. Complete with name-calling feuds in the papers.

Maybe we ought to go back to the old days. When you’re a kid, it’s a lot more fun spending your time in a empty lot rather than a crowded courtroom.