Thrown a Curve : Little League: An instructional video uses the Earthquake Kids’ notoriety--but only five team members. Parents of the others say they were kept in the dark.

Nine members of the national champion Northridge Little League team are playing a new position: left out.

Only five of the team’s 14 players are included in an instructional video that trades on the notoriety earned by the Earthquake Kids’ unlikely climb from the sandlots of Northridge to the green hills of Williamsport, Pa.

And many of those excluded say they learned of the video only through recent print advertisements.

“How can it be ‘The Earthquake Kids’ if only a few were involved?,” said Eric Gordon, father of the team’s right fielder, Spencer. “It’s been really weird. The people who did this have gone out of their way to be hush-hush. They’ve made it very secretive.”

The 42-minute video--officially released Thursday during a news conference at the Northridge Little League fields--was financed by five families and the assistant coach. Each invested from $5,000 to $10,000 to produce the video, which is being marketed nationwide through cable television and print ads.

And they admit they wanted to keep the project--and any profits--to themselves even though the entire team made history together. The Northridge boys earned the U.S. title before losing to Maracaibo, Venezuela, in the World Series final last August.

“This has nothing to do with Northridge Little League or Little League baseball,” said team manager Larry Baca, an investor who is featured on the video packaging.

Those excluded are more saddened than outraged. For many, there is nothing left of the innocence and unity that made the team America’s darlings of summer.

“It leaves me with a little emptiness,” said Lynn Wallis, mother of third baseman Gregg Wallis. “The people who did the video I adore and love. But we won as a team and I would have hoped the activities would have included the whole team.”

Jon Gentile, father of pitcher Justin Gentile, co-produced the video after the idea was pitched to him by an independent film director. Gentile said the director, William Sachs, insisted that only a few players be included.

“We would have loved to use all 14, but cost-wise it would not have been effective,” Gentile said. “The director wanted to stick to a theme of coaches teaching their sons.”

Gentile and his son, Justin, explain the effective off-speed pitch they called “the agony.” Tim Cunningham teaches hitting, Jack Fisher teaches infield play, and Scott Randall, Nathaniel Dunlap’s father, teaches pitching technique. Coach George Saul teaches catching fundamentals and Baca narrates.

“Most of what we know as coaches has been passed on to us from people in Northridge Little League. It is a great program,” said Cunningham, who promised to donate profits from future video ventures to the league if this one is successful.

Still, the venture hits a sour note with Rick Tuber, father of pitcher Peter Tuber and a film editor at Warner Bros.

“I am, quite frankly, surprised and hurt,” he said. “We learned of this by seeing a newspaper ad. I would have edited the video for free. We’re certainly not going to buy it.”

Although the video is made for Little Leaguers, the term “Little League” is not mentioned in the video, investors said, because the organization would have demanded a licensing fee and monitored the content.

“Little League insists on reviewing and approving all teaching methods espoused in a video,” said Dennis Sullivan, a spokesman for Little League Baseball Inc. in Williamsport. “It has to conform to Little League philosophies.”

Gentile said the parents involved in the project deserve some reward because they are taking a financial risk.

“We’ve stuck our necks out a little,” said Baca.

Before launching the video project, Baca said, he made special efforts to include the entire team in a variety of activities. Atlantic Richfield Co. asked that only seven players ride on its float during the Rose Parade, but Baca insisted that all the players take part.

Baca also secured roles for all the players on the feature film “Three Wishes,” starring Patrick Swayze. Baca is technical adviser for several baseball scenes to be shot in January.

The entire Northridge team will convene Sunday to appear in the Granada Hills Holiday Parade. The video is not expected to cause much of a stir among the players.

“My son is pretty much oblivious to it,” Tuber said. “He doesn’t care about that kind of stuff. As parents, we are more into it.”