Mets

This Sunday, over 500 kids, parents and volunteers in the NMBOLL will see the World Champion Marlins take on Randy Johnson and the Arizona Diamondbacks on Sunday, May 23, 2004. Game start is 3:00 P.M. As in prior years, this is a Youth Baseball Day game, which means a) kids can parade around the field before the game, and b) a Miguel Cabrera Youth Baseball Jersey will be given to the first 5,000 kids (12 and under) in attendance. More details will be available from your manager, who has your tickets. Hope to see you there!!

The majors division interleague schedule has been posted by our Mistress of Scheduling, Stephanie Kienzle. The Juniors Schedule is now completely posted as is the Seniors Schedule (yes, Virginia, we DO have a seniors team after all!) Those divisions will compete against other Little Leagues in the North Dade area, including North Miami American, North Miami National, and Ives Estates. Another group of Little Leagues a little further south will similarly compete in the Miami-Dade American League. The leagues' regular season will last until the week before Memorial Day. Each league will then conduct a League Championship Playoff (with all teams eligible), followed by the first annual Miami-Dade Interleague World Series.

Interleague trophies will be given to the winner of each league, as well as the World Series winner. Our league will also recognize with an award the majors team that finishes the season with the best regular season record (including all games played to date), and will also crown as our league champion the team that advances the farthest in the Interleague playoffs.

What does all that mean? First, it means that some of our games will be played at other parks. It is important for you parents to make a strong showing of positive support for your teams, because you know that the other leagues will have the stands packed in their parks!
It is also important for us (players, parents and coaches alike) to carry the banner of NMB sportsmanship and positve attitude, regardless of whether people at those parks reciprocate.

Second, it means that the majors division will stop using our local "continuous batting order" rule, and transfer over to the standard 9-person batting order used in major league baseball. Everyone still gets to play. We will use pinch-hitters (and even pinch runners). Little League rules require that every player on every team be allowed to bat once and field for 6 outs. The practical effect of this rule shift may not even be noticeable to most of you. It does mean, though, that our majors managers and coaches will gain valuable experience in playing under these rules, which are very similar to those used in the Little League Tournament, which will follow in July.

Your manager will be discussing these changes with parents and players alike in the near future. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to call or email League President Jim Allen.

We train our coaches, we train our umpires, and of course we train our kids. But what about us parents? Rick Wolff, Chairman of the Center for Sports Parenting, has some good tips for us, too. Check out this important story from the St. Petersburg Times, published with permission on the Little League web site.