Loudspeaker Feedback

Few sounds are as melodious to young athletes as hearing their names announced over the loudspeaker as they stand at bat, poised to knock one over the fence. But for some homeowners living next to an Encino Little League baseball diamond, few sounds are as grating as amateur sports announcers shattering the suburban quiet.

This being litigious Southern California, the neighbors got the Encino league’s loudspeaker permit yanked--and just in time for the all-star game. The Army Corps of Engineers, which has jurisdiction over the Sepulveda Dam Basin field where the games are played, suspended the permit for 30 days because the loudspeakers violated noise limits.

League officials say the loudspeakers are used only on special occasions like the all-star game or the playoffs and that they’ve tried to be good neighbors. Some neighbors, obviously, don’t agree, claiming they have no gripe with the crack of the bat or the cheers of the fans but that the loudspeakers are just too loud.

Surely, the league and the neighbors can set a better example for the kids. Is the occasional broadcast of a young batter’s achievements--no matter how artlessly recited--really so intolerable? And can’t the league turn down the speakers a few notches? Sport teaches youngsters to think beyond themselves, to work together for a common goal. Maybe the grown-ups could use a lesson or two.