Sunday, August 20, 2017

Dreams





For most baseball fans, baseball is the game of our youth. Many of us dream of playing Major League Baseball. The reality though is that only the few and very fortunate are blessed with the opportunity to walk across the white lines of major league diamonds and engage in careers as major league baseball players.  My sons' Peter, Scott and I all put our formal association with Little League Baseball in the rearview mirror quite a few years ago.  However, every August we renew our passion for the game, closely following the Little League World Series.  Each year we are delighted for two weeks by the amazing stories surrounding the players and their teams, as well as the action on the field.

Over the years we have become familier with just how special a place Williamsport is, watching players from all teams interact off the field, enjoying amusement, fare and experiences designed to make them feel like royalty.  This year, things have been taken up a notch with the development of the Little League Classic.  On Sunday of week one, players from the St. Louis Cardinals and Pittsburgh Pirates arrived on site to watch Little League teams from around the world engage in this years tournament. In addition to taking in the games major league players and litttle league players had the oppurtunity to engage in conversation, as well as play ping pong, or just spend quality time with each other. Not only was it special for this years particiants, but also for many of the major league players as well, having previously played there as Litttle Leaguers.  You could'nt construct a dream any better.

The dream does'nt conclude though with the end of the days action at Williamsport.  After the final game ends, all of the players from all the little leagues represented, board busses and head to Bowman Field, the second oldest minor league ball park in the nation. (capacity 2,500)  Once they arrive the players will be treated to a major league baseball game featuring the St. Louis Cardinals and the Pittsburgh Pirates.  The entire stadium witll be sold out with essentially an audience of Little League baseball players. Keep in mind that many of these players will be seeing their first major league game. Hopefully the game will be as much of a classic as the rest of the day.

Espn, MLB and Little League baseball executives all deserve congratuations for organizing a day that brought together little league baseball players and their major league heroes.  In doing so they ultimately created an experience that most adolescent baseball fans could only dream about.

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