Best seat in the house

Bryce Alderton

Little League is about the players - at least that’s the way it

should be.

In the last few weeks, I’ve been hopping back and forth from fields as

far away as Mission Viejo and Los Alamitos, to diamonds as nearby as

Costa Mesa High and Lincoln Elementary.

I’ve witnessed young men make throws from the outfield to get a

sliding runner, seen a player hit two home runs in an inning and watched

pitchers strike out the side with the tying and winning runs on base.

I’ve seen exhilarating, heart-stopping baseball that makes anxious

parents give up their bleacher seats to pace back and forth because their

son is on the mound.

This is what Little League is about: kids giving it their all on the

field for the pure enjoyment of sport.

But, inevitably, there are closely contested games in which umpires’

calls take on a magnified tone.

However, whatever magnified tone players, managers and parents might

give to a call, the outcome of any game, not just Little League, should

be decided by the players.

Criticizing the officiating happens in every sport. The umpires do the

best they can and they shouldn’t be blamed for the fate of any game. That

role should be left to the players on the field.

Little League players, managers and coaches at the games I’ve attended

in my brief two-month stint as a sports reporter, are to be commended.

These individuals have conducted themselves with class, allowing the kids

to be the center of attention on the field.

In the heat of the game, managers have walked out to voice their

displeasure with a call. But, in most circumstances, by the time the game

ended, they had put the disputed play in perspective.

“That’s baseball and those things happen,” was a typical postgame

comment.

Managers have repeatedly stated their appreciation for the job the

umpires do and how much they respect the men we call “Blue.”

In my experience, Newport-Mesa Little League players, managers and

fans have relished competition at this level, savoring their opportunity

to enjoy an outdoor activity, relax, eat a hot dog, soak up some sun and

watch kids do what they love.

I remember the feeling of playing in the Tournament of Champions when

I was 12 back in 1991. I was on the Viejo Little League Majors Division

champion Giants and we played our first and only District 55 TOC game in

Lake Forest.

I was so nervous standing in for my only at-bat. I thought to myself,

“I’m playing in the TOC on a well-groomed field with all these people

watching. This might be the closest feeling I get to playing in the World

Series.”

Turns out, it was, as our team lost that game and I never played

baseball again, trading in my bat and glove for a glove of a different

sort and golf clubs.

But what an adrenaline rush these postseason tournaments inject into a

players’ system.

The more I watch these players compete, the more I’m amazed at their

poise, confidence and ability to perform under a heightened wall of

pressure. It has made for some exciting baseball that I’ve been

privileged to cover.

I can’t wait to get back out there, find my seat in the bleachers,

lather on the sunscreen and soak up the innocence of Little League

baseball.

No doubt, many of these players will continue on in high school,

college, maybe even the minors and majors some day.

I’ve enjoyed every minute of it, smelling the hot dogs and hamburgers

cooking on the grill and watching young men sweat, exalt and cry because,

to them, these games mean so much.