Dr. Katherine Ellison April 16, 2015

Major Problems in Little League: A Look at the Little League World Series

Every summer since 1947 Williamsport, Pennsylvania has hosted the Little League World Series, also known as the LLWS. The tournament combines the glory of sport and innocence of youth in order to create a highly publicized competition. 2014 proved to be yet another exciting LLWS in which the international champion, Seoul, South Korea defeated the United States champion from Chicago to give South Korea its third career championship. With the conclusion of the tournament all teams went back to their respective places and the fans figures they would have to wait until next August to get their fix of the Little League World Series. However, this did not turn out to be the case.

In February of 2015 it was announced that Jackie Robinson West, the Chicago based LLWS runner ups were to be stripped of their United States title for using ineligible players. The recent discovery that the team used players outside their boundary stained an otherwise remarkable journey taken by these young boys.

Although there seems to be no place for corruption in something as innocent as youth sports, it is hardly uncommon. As a matter of fact, during its existence the Little League World Series has been subject to quite a few controversies. Through the years plenty of teams have attempted to manipulate the rules in an attempt to gain the upper hand, most infamously, the 1992 Philippian team, the 2001 New York team, and the previously mentioned 2014 team from Chicago. The Series has even been accused of being a medium for the United States to assert extreme nationalism. While the Little League World Series is a beloved event that provides a great opportunity for those involved, there are plenty of examples that suggest it could tarnish the reputation of its participants and the sport.

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Good feelings were quickly followed by skepticism regarding the players of Zamboanga. Jeff Burroughs, the coach of the second place Long Beach team, admitted “I’m not saying the US has the best of everything but when our teams get annihilated it makes you wonder” (Hoffer). Doubts even reached the champions’ homeland, where one Manila newspaper featured a column titled: Mothers How Old Are Your Children? the same day the parade was held to celebrate the championship. One Philippian reporter, Al Mendoza, doubted the purity of this team. Inspired by the American investigation reporters, Mendoza performed his own investigation and produced articles calling the team into question. Any questions regarding the legitimacy of this team turned out to be appropriate as it was discovered ineligible players composed the Philippian team.

The boundaries that the Philippian team crossed to gain an edge were both remarkable and literal. It turned out that eight of the players on the team lived outside of the allowed area. What is even more shocking is that some players were pulled from cities “as distant as 700 miles from Zamboanga” (Hoffer). A few of the coaches did not even speak the same language as the players but none of this seemed to matter. As more investigation went into the team more was uncovered. Even the players that lived within the legal boundaries were actually ineligible, all kids who were well above the age limit.

It would be incorrect to say that cheating is a foreign concept in the poor city. Armand Nocum, of The Daily Inquirer, griped “`we have 11 Commandments instead of 10. The 11th is Thou Shall Not Get Caught” (Hoffer). As a matter of fact, one former coach from Zamboanga noted that a coach’s number one tool was a tweezer, used to yank pubic hair from players to mask their true age (Hoffer).

While it cannot be said for certain what factors were in play to convince the team to cheat, one possible motivator could have been money. It is reported that the champions of Zamboanga earned a roughly $40,000 gift from President of the Philippines, Fidel Ramos. There is without a doubt that amount of money, especially in a poor city like Zamboanga, would be coveted. Another possible factor could be the sense of pride that the title brought the whole country. At the time Zamboanga was a city that had “become notorious for the bombing of churches, the killing of priests” (Hoffer). A LLWS title could have possibly been the start of a turnaround for an otherwise corrupt place.

Al Mendoza’s concerns about the eligibility of his country’s championship team turned out to be correct. However, he was not celebrated among his peers for being a whistleblower. His articles, the only ones in the country that questioned the Little League champions, made him an outsider. Even though the team was composed of kids who were too old, lived too far away, or used fake birth certificates, fellow Filipinos believed Mendoza turned his back on their country. Labeled as a traitor, a rat, and even as Judas Iscariot (Hoffer), Mendoza became hated for what he thought was intriguing journalism. These attitudes towards Mendoza testify to the win at all costs attitude that pollutes Little League even now.

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Nine years later a team from the Bronx made a run in the Little League World Series with the spotlight shining on the team’s brightest star. Danny Almonte, nicknamed “the Little Unit” in homage to the great Randy Johnson, exceeded any expectations that a spectator would hold a young baseball player to. With a fastball that reached 76 MPH, the equivalent of a 103 MPH fastball in the Major Leagues (Friend), Almonte took the tournament by storm. ESPN announcer for the Little Leauge World Series, Tom Candiotti, remarked in awe during one of Almonte’s games “This is my fourth year here at the Little Leauge World Series, and I cannot recall anything close in terms of the anticipation to see any one individual player” (Gowdy Jr.). It is easy to see why Candiotti felt that way. In the Mid-Atlantic Championship Almonte threw a perfect game to lead his team to the tournament. Four days later Almonte threw a perfect game against Florida in the first round of the LLWS, the first one since 1979 (baseballreference). The team from the Bronx ended up winning third place, and it is without question that Almonte is the player who brought them that far.

With the increasing publicity Almonte received came doubts about his age. Private investigators hired by Staten Island, NY and Pequannock Township, NJ, for a price of $10,000 investigated Almonte without any success of discovering potential wrong doing. Five days after the completion of the LLWS Sports Illustrated did their own investigation which discovered that Almonte was actually fourteen years old, two years older than the limit. The kid who united various ethnicities and received a key to the city by playing baseball turned out to be a fraud.

Mixed emotions surrounded the discovery that Almonte was actually ineligible. As more investigation took place it was also uncovered that Almonte had not attended school at all during the eighteen months he had been in the United States. Those who still tried to portray him as a hero claimed he was just a “young boy exploited by greedy parents” (King-White 12). However, many found great offense to this most recent attempt of Little League corruption and believed Almonte to be a cheater and a villain. Despite his accomplishments or his wrong doings, Almonte was just trying to play a game that he loved. However, the immediate and long term effects for his actions negatively harmed him. His actions caused some to believe that perhaps all Dominicans are cheaters and that immigrants negatively affect this country.

Even after all of the ruckus ceased Almonte’s past seemed to follow him wherever he went. In 2004 he got kicked off an elite baseball team in Florida. When asked, the coach who kicked him off made sure to mention his past stating “he’s obviously gotten away with murder” (King-White 15). Although his past transgression had nothing to do with being booted from his new team, the coach clearly felt it was necessary to bring it up.

In 2007 Almonte still showed that he could adequately play the game of baseball, regardless of the age of his competition, as he played in southern Illinois for an Independent League team. Although he had good statistics and could hit 90 MPH while pitching, he did not receive any looks from Major League Baseball teams. When asked why, Almonte said with confidence it had to do with his past. Even though it had been over six years since the days he illegally dominated the Little League fields teams still looked at him as a bad egg. There is no question that Almonte’s participation in the Little League World Series years ago damaged his reputation. The child who pitched his way to glory now carries infamous notoriety wherever he goes.

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During the championship game, the lone Korean parent who was able to make the trip to Williamsport remarked how happy he was to be there. He mentioned the glory of sport and the innocence of youth as the two things that made Little League baseball so remarkable. As it turned out, the United States representative was far from innocent.

The team that took the nation by storm with their charisma and efficient style of play broke the rules. As a result of having a player who lived outside the boundaries JRW lost its title, much like the previous teams that have broken this rule. While many thought that it was unjust to deprive these poorer black children of their title because of the actions of adults, the move seems to be justified. Former major league baseball player from the state of Illinois, Mark Mulder, claimed that this is far from the first time that Jackie Robinson cheated. After Jackie Robinson West got its title stripped he tweeted “JRW little league has been cheating and doing things the wrong way since I played them as a kid. Sad that those kids are taught that's ok.” In regards to the issue, head of Little League International, Stephen D. Keener, stated “for more than 75 years, Little League has been an organization where fair play is valued over the importance of wins and losses” (Nordlinger). Pleas from Chicago mayor, Rahm Emmanuel, proved to be ineffective as Jackie Robinson West eventually lost its title.

An overwhelming amount of fans of the Jackie Robinson West squad swiftly accounted this decision to racism. With Jesse Jackson at the lead calling for the US runner up Nevada to reject the transferred title, there certainly was a good portion of folks who believed that the main reason JRW received punishment was because they were an all-black team (Nordlinger). One mother of a Jackie Robinson West player questioned if the Little League Organization would rather “the boys be killed in the Chicago streets than actively engaged in the sport they love” (Haq). This lowbrow and tacky appeal at emotion does not/cannot cover up the fact that JRW broke the rules. The inability for Jackie Robinson West supporters to see that what they did as wrong is quite alarming. Their decision to play by their own set of rules not only deprived their competition at a fair shot of greatness but also acts as “a greater slander against the actual Jackie Robinson, who… demanded a level playing field” (Bevan).

Furthermore, Chris Janes, a coach from a Chicago suburb that lost to JRW and eventual whistleblower, became vilified by those who surrounded him. Labeled as a sore loser and a racist, Janes became hated for doing what he thought was the right thing. The recent JRW scandal only sheds more light onto how the possibility of glory precedes doing things the right way.

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As ABC aired the 2003 LLWS they did what they could to attract viewers. One popular way the broadcast tried to attract viewers was through interesting storylines for each team. To prepare these storylines ABC workers “asked the same set of 20–25 questions to each player, while probing for unique and engaging stories”(Andrews et. al 7). This led to ABC potentially attempting to create exotic stories about the foreign teams that a majority of American viewers would have little knowledge about. On the other hand, the US bracket seemed to prioritize the innocence of youth and having fun (7). By depicting the United States as a “special place where other cultures can visit, learn, be free, succeed” (10), ABC is indirectly implying that in the majority of these other countries are not.

Attempts to Americanize the LLWS were rampant. Even the LLWS logo was red, white, and blue. The most blatant attempt of this Americanization of the LLWS came through the introductions. Before each game there is a quick segment where each player on the participating team introduces himself and says their favorite baseball player. While this may not seem like a big deal, “ABC required that all participants introduce themselves in American-English”(13), regardless of nationality. Whether the player was from New York City or Tokyo, it was mandatory for him to speak in English. Even people who speak English fluently as a second language sometimes struggle with the language barrier. There is no doubt that these children, most of whom knew hardly any English, would sound foolish and possibly even incompetent while trying to introduce themselves in English. Andrews et al. remarks that the broadcast “offered a less than flattering, in fact stumbling, stuttered, or slow depiction of anyone who could not speak American-English”(13).

Additional attempts to assert American dominance continued during the 2003 LLWS when during the final game a fighter jet roared by during the singing of the Star Spangled Banner. This thrilling ceremony could easily be interpreted as a way of the United States establishing their power. While a jet may have flown by during the American national anthem, there was no plane that flew by during the reciting of the Japanese national anthem. Quite the contrary, the Japanese national anthem was actually abbreviated (Andrews et al. 11). When separated, all these incidents do not seem like much. However, considering that all of this took place in the same LLWS, it would be hard to argue that the US is not attempting to assert its national dominance through a friendly competition.

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Despite being a friendly competition for preteens, the Little League World Series has been subject to quite some controversy. This is not to say that it is all bad, however. One could look at the Mone Davis, a female pitcher from Pennsylvania that absolutely dominated batters this year, and argue that the LLWS launched her into stardom. What happened to Mone is an excellent example of the great opportunities playing in the LLWS can give a young player. However, the amount of corruption that takes place in order to take advantage of this is simply unacceptable. This paper has reflected on three teams that have bent the rules and received harsh consequences for doing such. But these are simply the teams that got caught. There is no reason to believe that a good amount of other teams are cheating and just have not reached the same level of success.

Whether it is greedy parents/coaches, the opportunity of glory, or a sense of national pride that motivates cheaters in the LLWS, something has to be done. There is no excuse for any adult to taint what is supposed to be an extraordinary journey for children who love the sport of baseball. It is a shame that poor children from places like the Bronx, Philippines, and Chicago all had their accomplishments snatched from their hands. It is an even bigger shame that these children will live believing that their accomplishments were tainted and no longer accepted. However, the biggest shame in it all is that these impressionable youngsters are being led by negative role models who pride winning over anything else.

While I do not foresee the LLWS ever being disbanded, I do hope for some changes to be made. Stricter regulations need to be put intact in order to prevent cheating in the future. The beauty of the LLWS does not come from winning the championship. It is about the ideal of children from all around uniting to play a simple game.

Works Cited Page

Andrews, David, Michael Silk, and Ryan White. "Revisiting the Networked Production of the 2003 Little League World Series: Narrative of American Innocence." International Journal of Media and Cultural Politics 4.2 (2008): 183-202. Academic Search Complete. Web. 11 Apr. 2015.

Bevan, Tom. "Cries of Racism Against Little League Go Foul." Realclearpolitics.com. 13 Feb. 2015. Web. 16 Apr. 2015.

"Danny Almonte." Baseball Reference Bullpen. Baseball Reference, 18 Feb. 2013. Web. 16 Apr. 2015. .

Friend, Tom. "OTL: Revenge of the Baseball Gods." ESPN.com. ESPN. Web. 17 Apr. 2015. .

Haq, Husna. "Why Was Jackie Robinson West Stripped of US Title?" Christian Science Monitor 11 Feb. 2015. Print.

Hoffer, Richard. "Field of Schemes." Sports Illustrated 18 Jan. 1993. Print.