Don’t Tell Me Little Leaguers Are On Steroids, Too

Why else would the two stadiums in Williamsport, Pa., where the Little League Baseball World Series is played, be moving back their fences 20 feet? Well, it turns out that Little Leaguers at this level are hitting more home runs than doubles, which isn’t the way it works in the Bigs. It’s funny: MLB’s idea of a thrilling game is one with lots of home runs; LL’s idea is to have more doubles and triples. Of course, none of this precludes the possibility that Little Leaguers are cheating, whether by chemicals or some other fashion. When I played Little League, a friend of mine used to bash his aluminum bat against a brick wall to flatten it out, which he swore gave him a bigger and better batting surface. Truthfully, it was hard to tell: he struck out so often, I never saw much of a difference.