LLWS antics so what's wrong with hav'n fun

When I was 11, my mom took us to Chicago to visit our relatives. My cousins invited to play ball with the kids in the local neighborhood. It didn't take very long to find out that I had no Idea how to function in that environment.

Almost everything they did was different than I was used to and the language they spoke may as well have been Martian. They made fun of my clothes, the way I talked and even though they had no idea where Hubbard, Ohio was, they ragged on that too.

The only thing that kept me from getting my butt whipped was that I could play baseball. It was the great equalizer. While we played ball, I was just another one of the kids, but when the game was over, there was no way I could deal with them. Other than the hours we played ball, it was one of the most humiliating experiences I've ever had, and I never forgot it.

The only way to show respect for the game is to play it as hard as possible as well as you're able for as long as you can. there's no "right" way to wear your pants, and if kids want to put on "rally caps", so what? I can remember when players who put their index finger out side of the glove were pansies, and now there's finger holes built in. Go tell Ken Griffey Jr. he has no respect for the game because he turns his hat around and he'll laugh in your face!

THINGS CHANGE! I surely don't like many of the things that go on in baseball now, but time has passed me by. I don't like going to a grade school and hearing more foul language than I ever heard in strip bars in the Philippines, but it happens.

Isn't it enough to give it everything you have when you're between the lines? Well, that's a dumb question because Pete Rose will never get in the Hall of Fame. On the other hand, OJ's plaque is shiny as all get out.