The Bad News Pyromaniacs? : Fiery Anaheim Hills Little League Manager Is, Rightly, Fired

Wild enthusiasm for baseball is one thing. But what could an Anaheim Hills Little League team manager have been thinking when he staged a jersey-burning incident on the pitcher’s mound as a warm-up for a game with the league’s best team?

Randy L. Pangborn, the manager of the Yankees, a team of 10- to 12-year-olds, was described by his supporters as a workhorse who had done much good for the league. But he obviously got carried away Monday night.

Facing a game with the A’s, who had won every game so far, Pangborn encouraged the Yankees’ coach--also an adult--to set fire to a baseball jersey with a cigarette lighter. Then Pangborn taunted the A’s star pitcher, Todd Sterman. Pangborn reportedly said, “We are going to burn the A’s down because the Yankees are all fired up.”

The manager got what he wanted; the A’s went down 3-1, a loss attributed in part to Todd’s nervousness in the first few innings. But something more was lost as well.

Instead of inspiring his young team members to do their best--win or lose--Pangborn left them with the impression that intimidation could substitute for playing well. Pangborn described the incident as a “gesture of fun,” then apologized for it. League board members were right, however, to fire him and the coach and dismiss him from the board for the rest of the season.

The Little League’s district administrator compared the jersey incident to burning the American flag. That’s hyperbole, but it was an appalling example for the players on both teams.

That it was generated by a league team manager is especially unfortunate. Many parents understandably were afraid that the incident had left a lasting impression on their children.

Little League can teach children important lessons about life: commitment, enthusiasm, teamwork, sportsmanship. But all that went up in smoke when a manager encouraged a coach to set fire to a jersey.