Happy 75th

If you are a fan of baseball, you may be watching the coverage of the Little League World Series on ESPN.

You might have also been following the success of the Pennsylvania Taney Dragons and their star pitcher Mo’ne Davis.

What you might have missed amidst all this coverage is the fact that 2014 is the 75th Anniversary of Little League Baseball.  I’d like to take this opportunity to do a tip of the cap and say “Happy 75th” to that venerable organization.

Little League undoubtedly has the national branding for youth baseball. Folks often equate the two terms little league = youth baseball. It’s the Xerox, the Kleenex, the Coke of youth sports.

During my years of coaching, I was mostly affiliated with USSSA and, honestly, if you’re not participating in one of its sports, most folks couldn’t tell you what that acronym means.

I’ve never known why this is the case, but there aren’t many official Little Leagues around town. Most leagues are affiliated with USSSA or one of the other sanctioning bodies. In Knox County, the league in Karns is the only one affiliated with Little League. There is a Little League association in Union County and there is another one in Maryville. If there are others, I don’t know about them.

Paul played his very first year in the Karns league but when we moved from the Ball Camp area to Farragut, we affiliated with Farragut Baseball, Inc. where Paul spent a lot of time manning the position at first base.

So, I really never had much of a chance to learn about the history and traditions of Little League.

Many years later, when my friend Jim Gold moved to town, he began helping us on the coaching staff of the Choppers. He had coached, for years, in the Little League organization up north. He was very praiseworthy of that league and the tenants of the parent organization.

I have to say, I was pleased with our league, our sanctioning body and all the guidance we received from our partners with Knox County. So, I was never wistful. In fact, I never gave it any thought. We taught the game. We taught it the right way. And we had results.

But the folks with Little League teach the game the right way, too, and they have a great organization. Obviously, it’s great. There’s a reason you stick around for 75 years.

JG

Originally posted 8/21/2014