A Little League Goes a Long Way With Them

I am in full agreement with everything mentioned in “A Little Out of Their League,” by Bill Plaschke [Aug. 27]. I once looked forward with great anticipation each year to the Little League World Series games. But not anymore. I stopped paying attention to it in 1997, when I saw too many young boys crying and too many of them being yelled at by adults during ballgames. Now, you can’t pay me to watch those spectacles.

The biggest problem is us, the fans. We need to boycott watching the games on TV. Let the youngsters play their World Series games in peace. Let’s not make it worse by expecting or demanding to view them. And, when ratings drop, so will the television broadcasts of this event.

And, once that happens, a lot of the pressure on the children, I hope, will go away as well. Thanks, Mr. Plaschke, for pointing out this terrible situation.

HERSHEL REMER

Los Angeles

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Bill Plaschke’s column decries the public broadcasting of the trials and tribulations of Little Leaguers’ pain and discouragement. Mr. Plaschke states examples of “a 12-year-old screaming in despair” at his perceived failure, a father scolding his son for not being good enough, and repeated instant replays of a seventh-grader making a mistake.

So, what’s your point, Bill? Take a glance up and to the right of the page at Mike DiGiovanna’s story of the Angels’ Scott Schoeneweis becoming “almost suicidal” over his booting of a ground ball. Think way back to Don Baylor’s scolding of Sammy Sosa for not being “a complete player”. Finally, which do we see more of every October, reruns of “The Wizard of Oz” or replays of a baseball rolling through Bill Buckner’s legs?

Mr. Plaschke, the game is the game, no matter the age of the player. It’s not the same as when you and I used to play it. It’s much more public because of technical advances in sports journalism. These kids don’t have Roberto Clemente, or Wes Parker, or Ernie Banks as role models. They have John Rocker, Darryl Strawberry and Chad Kreuter. Should we continue to televise major league baseball in spite of those ‘unsettling images” also?

JEFF BRINGLE

Santa Clarita