1. In Little League, anything can happen
A Little League game is not decided until the very last out of the last inning. Until then, the winner is anyone’s guess, which is among the reasons why no one bets on games played by children.
I watched one Little League team, named the Lions, come back from a 9- run deficit in the bottom of the sixth (Little League’s 9th inning) with two outs on the score board. The tipping point came after an overthrow to third base and a fast 12-year-old sprinting home. In Little League, all it takes is one error in the infield or outfield, and the game can turn on its head.
Moments like this happen in the Major League, but not often. In 2001, in a game known as “The Impossible Comeback,” the Indians came back from a 12-run deficit against the Mariners to win the game. But they didn’t do it in one inning, and not at the last moment. To get that kind of end-ofgame MLB story, you have to go all the way back to 1901. That’s when the Cleveland Indians (then known as the Blues) had a Lion-esque comeback: bottom of the ninth, two outs, and Cleveland scored 9 runs to win the game.
Moments like this in MLB are so rare, they get nicknames. In fact, according to a Wall Street Journal article by Carl Bialik, “fewer than 0.1% of the time do teams trailing by at least seven runs in the bottom of the ninth go on to win.” Yet, every day in the spring, one Little League team is unexpectedly crushing another one.
2. Little Leaguers make mistakes
Many major league games end with scores in the single digits. It’s not unusual to go several innings before anyone even gets on base. The catches look effortless. The hits are always to the outfield. Few hitters get walked. The whole thing is like a well-oiled machine, oftentimes with the players themselves looking bored in the process (see Number 3).
In Little League, errors are what drive the game. Homeruns are the exception. And games sometimes end with scores in the teens. Part of the fun is that when a right fielder throws the ball in, you just don’t know if it will make it there—or if the second baseman will catch it. You’ve got the kids who can’t run fast, and the guy who just went through puberty pitching to a kid who might still wet his bed.
One time, at a Red Sox game, I was getting hotdogs when an outfielder didn’t catch the ball. Nothing else unusual happened again the rest of the time I was in my seat.
3. Little Leaguers aren’t getting paid
Major Leaguers swagger onto the field and look like they might yawn while they are on the field. Could we pay these guys extra to smile once in a while? They strike out and look like, “Yeah, I meant to do that.” Even when they get a home run, they jog the bases like it’s no big deal.
There is nothing nonchalant about Little League. This year, I watched a kid on the Minor (Little) League celebrate like he’d won the World Series after he struck out three hitters in a row. If music had been playing, his jump and fist in the air would have looked like a Nike commercial. I’ve also seen my own sons smile uncontrollably when they make a good play or get a hit into the outfield. My middle son used to do a victory dance every time he got on first base. And if you think big boys don’t cry, you’ve never seen a 12-yearold after the last inning of his last game of Little League.
That raw emotion is what makes Little League so special. And sometimes, I think MLB has lost it. Sure, the networks show us tear-jerker behind-the-scenes stories about players in between innings, but what I want to see is a guy genuinely think he’s not going to get the ball and then smile like it’s his birthday when he does.
4. Little League hotdogs cost one dollar
When was the last time you went to an MLB game and paid one-dollar for a hotdog and five-cents for gum? Major League games have almost become inaccessible for many people. You nearly have to forfeit a family vacation just to catch a Red Sox game. But your local Little League plays most nights, they charge you nothing for the seats, and I promise, it just might be the best game you’ve ever seen.
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