Time for my annual rant. Who are these guys? They don't look like any 12 year olds in my neck of the woods. 6' + and 180 pounds and up. I saw one kid hit one 370' and then a kid from PA hit one much further. Announcers gushing about pitch repertoires. Some of these kids throw four pitches. There is not a doctor on earth who would tell you that's a good idea. One kid had either a curve or a slider that broke a foot and a half. Another kid was throwing a splitter. If they are going to perpetuate this charade then at least move the mound back to 55-60' and the fences from 200'-300'.
My wife and I enjoy watching the LLWS every year, but I have to agree with you, George, especially about the pitchers. Most of these kids throwing sliders and splitters will have no arm by the time they're 16. This experience will end up being the peak of their athletic lives. The coaches don't care what happens to them after this week, and their parents obviously are clueless. As far as the size and exceptional ability of some of these kids, it's not unusual to see a 6 ft. tall 12-13 yr. old. Rare but not unusual. I saw the HR you're describing. There was another one like it last night.
:roll: I no longer watch the LLWS: not even out of curiosity. The cheaters always win, because the parents always cheat. I could give example after example, but what's the use? All-star teams and playoffs should be abolished. International play should be abolished immediately and the TV coverage should be ended.
Local columnist, who's son was a baseball player and he coached LL for 8 years made these suggestions to go along with the new rule requiring LL players to be no older than 12 for the entire season. So no more 13 y/o players who started the year at 12 but finished at 13. Also. 1. Move the mound back to 50' 2. Make the baselines 70' 3. Move the fences out, he doesn't give a distance but say's that currently they are around 200-225' and that he's seen the bigger kids hit check-swing homers. 4. Eliminate parents from coaching the all-star teams, said he's seen way too many parents volunteer to coach so that they can pick their kid for the team. He wants the league to pay former college players to manage (not sure why former college players are some sort of gold standard).
I agree with his suggestion to take the parents out of coaching all-star teams, but it never will happen. On the positive side, the parents are the backbone of LL coaching. IMO it's wrong to judge by the misguided actions of a few the overall good due to parental volunteers. As for changing the field dimensions, I believe it's highly impractical and very expensive and in 97% of the cases simply can't be done. The OF fence is another story. I agree that it should be moved back at the regional level and beyond, not necessarily for regular season play. There are many LLs that simply don't have the room on their properties to do that. At the regional level, however, the fields usually have plenty of space behind the OF fence. As far as the age change. I always thought it was August 1, which is fine for every LL team in the country except those who advance to the regional level. However, I think it's been moved up to and earlier date, which IMO is wrong and should be changed.