Little League Isn't Quite The Same as in 1970

In 1970 we'd talk about baseball, baseball cards and more baseball.  We knew everyone's stats and we knew what cards were in our friends' collections.  Things sure have changed as I watched Little League recently.

Of all of my friends only one of them had an Kellogg's All-Time Greats cards.  Danish Go Rounds must not have been big sellers around my neighborhood.  I'd never even heard of them.

We had leagues with great names - Babe Ruth League, Connie Mack League, etc.  Does anyone still call it that now?  Now it is as boring as can be - U-12, U-13, etc.  

Our end-of-season parties included trophies only if your team finished in the top three in the league.  We usually had 6-10 teams in any given league.  There are numerous commentaries on the fact that everyone gets a trophy now.  

I remember that in our league the sponsor's name was on the back of every shirt.  Imperial Gardens was the Pee Wee League sponsor forever it seemed.  We didn't wear team logo hats, instead the hat had one letter (D for Dodgers) and it was generally a similar color to what the real Dodgers wore.  I just saw a picture today from the 1970s of me wearing a Durkin Park Brewers hat.  That hat disappeared before the season ended.

We also had a parade before the start of the season.  I think it was on Opening Day of our season, but I can't remember.  I do remember parading around the neighborhood in cars dressed for our first games.  My brother will have to fill in details on this one.

What I like better about Little League today

To show that I just don't always think that everything was better years ago, here are some things I like better about Little League than when I played.

I like the continuous batting order.  Everyone will probably bat at least twice in a game.

The batting order change goes well with the rule that allows players to leave and re-enter the game.  A kid can play the field in the first, sit out the second inning and return to the field in the third inning.  This allows kids to play more positions as coaches try to figure this out.  Some league mandate a minimum number of innings in the field for each player.

I think coaches pitching in the lowest levels is great.  Kids see baseball as an action-packed game as opposed to what sometimes occurred years ago.  I remember my friend telling me that the pitcher on his team threw a no-hitter but he walked in 25 runs.  I don't want to watch that ever.