Hey LLWS: Move The Fences Back!!

First off, let me get this out of the way: I love the Little League World Series.

Now that we’ve covered that, let me tell you my beef with the LLWS…It’s way too easy to hit a home run.

So far I’ve watched both of Staten Island’s games and I’m noticing that ANY TIME a kid makes solid contact, the ball is flying over the fence.

There are no one-hoppers. There are no wall bangers. It’s either a 20-hopper to the fence OR a long ball that clears the wall by 15 feet.

According to the folks at Williamsport, their fences are a consistent 225 feet from pole to pole. I say move it back. Push ‘em to 250.

See, what everyone loves about the LLWS is that it’s the game at it’s purest. Just kids having fun. No big money contracts, no steroids, no pampered stars.

It’s in those ways that the LLWS does a fantastic job in differentiating itself from everything that’s WRONG with Major League Baseball.

But it could go one step further by eliminating the bogus home run.

Yankee Stadium. Coors Field. Fenway (during this Yankees/Sox series, at least). They’re all laughing stocks when it comes to balls flying out of the yard. An embarrassment to the game.

Watching the LLWS today, I got that same feeling…and that’s a shame, because their game gives you no other reason to feel that way.

Plus, I guess what’s really bothering me, is that their home runs look like cheapies. They aren’t majestic flies that take their time flying out of the park. They leave in about three seconds.

I know, I know. They’re just kids. But still, their home runs are real lame looking.

Move the fences back and those hard liners become doubles.

The rare towering fly that actually looks like a well-earned home run…those will be the ones making the hilite shows and restoring credibility to the Little League long ball.

Matt Estreich for The Huddle