Sunday, August 25, 2002
Little Leaguers perplexed by strike talk
By DAN LEWERENZ
Associated Press Writer
SOUTH WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. — When Toronto Blue Jays general manager J.P. Ricciardi sent T-shirts and caps to his hometown team of Worcester, Mass., at the Little League World Series, it was more reward than some players ever expected to get from playing the game.
So many of the 12-year-old players don't have much sympathy for major leaguers as they face a strike deadline of next Friday.
“They already make enough money as it is; why do they need more?” said Louisville pitcher and shortstop Aaron Alvey, whose team played Worcester on Saturday night for a shot at the world championship game.
From Cape Cod to the Caribbean, there is little support at the Little League World Series for a work stoppage in the majors.
“They just have to realize that they don't need $150 million to play a baseball game,” said Worcester's Gordie Lockbaum.
Vergilly Winklar, an assistant coach and translator for the team from Netherlands Antilles — which played Japan for the international championship — said his players didn't understand why players in the Major Leagues would want to stop playing.
“If I could play in the majors for free, I'd do it,” said Netherlands Antilles pitcher and shortstop Dennis Neuman.
“I think it's really kind of dumb,” said Worcester's Ryan Griffin, who added that Little Leaguers and major leaguers seem to play baseball for different reasons. “We're doing it because we want to do it and we want to win. They're doing it because they want more money and stuff. They don't care too much about baseball.”
Of course, the complex nature of labor negotiations are beyond the grasp of most 12-year-olds, who scarcely remember the last big-league strike, in 1994.
Unlike Major League Baseball, Little League has no blockbuster television contract, although more of the youngsters' games are being shown: ABC and ESPN paid about $7 million for the rights to broadcast 28 games per year for six years.
Little League also doesn't sell the naming rights for its stadiums. When a second ballpark was built at the South Williamsport complex last year, it was named Volunteer Stadium to honor the unpaid workers who make the tournament possible.
Admission and parking also are free at the Little League World Series.
Even with the eligibility scandals that drew headlines at the past two Little League World Series tournaments, the game remains free of many big-league problems like contract squabbles and questions over drug testing.
If things seem simpler to Little League ballplayers, it's because at this level things really are simpler.
Netherlands Antilles manager Mark Van Zanten expressed some sympathy for the major leaguers but said he hoped both sides could come to an agreement.
“There must be a reason for the strike,” Van Zanten said. “But if they could think about children around the world who have these guys as role models ...
“Baseball is big entertainment. If they could settle their differences without stopping the games, that would be a great thing.”
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Little Leaguers perplexed by strike talk
