Little League has changed

Runners in LL aren't allowed to lead off and they aren't allowed to leave the base until the pitch has reached the batter. That is very significant.

Not trying to take the martyr role, but in our local leagues kids start pitching at 8, leadoffs are allowed, and the runner may break for the next base at any time during or after the pitching delivery (very significant since even if the pitcher is "ignoring" the runner, during his delivery the first base coach screams "GOGOGOGOGOGOGOGOGO" to the runners - pitchers just starting off tend to be distracted by that!). Stealing of home is not allowed and batters are not allowed to attempt for first on dropped third strikes. At 9, stealing of home is allowed and batters can attempt to reach first on dropped third strikes.

The solution I've found is simple (though it may not be simple for all the young players to execute): THROW STRIKES!!! Your examples had a fairly common theme and it was the same in my experiences: WALKS. Throw strikes (and get the ball back to the pitcher w/o error) and the runners can't score unless the other team hits the ball.

Btw, forget about winning (though I would argue w/ you who the "winners" were in the last examples you mentioned) at that age. Who cares? TEACH the kids to play baseball. Yes you will lose plenty of games to teams that have their kids take pitches in hopes of drawing walks. So what?!? Teach your kids to be aggressive, to swing the bat, and to HIT! Praise missed swings, even if they are bad pitches: "Good aggressive swing. Now lets hit a good pitch HARD. Way to be aggressive up there!". The kids will keep their heads up (as opposed to if you say "WHAT ARE YOU DOING??? THE PITCH WAS WAY UP HERE (coach frantically waving hand over his head)" - guess what the kid is focused on after that type of coaching gem?).

I like to hear the coaches at that level talk about "teaching" the kids to take pitches. Wow. That must've taken 2 minutes of their time to get their kids to excel in that area (coach rolling eyes: "No, no, no, Johnny, your stance is all wrong when you didn't swing at that one"). I guess someone will teach them to hit next year.

By the way, when you forget about winning the game and take an approach of teaching the game, guess what happens?

Excuse the rant, it is not meant to be directed at you or anyone in particular. Just got on a roll. I appreciate any thoughts regarding these opinions...

Jim J.