A little league director is sending a message to near 4,000 players about the Houston Astros. Indeed, that message is the tactics of the Astros is not approved or condoned.
NBC Sports Philadelphia has the full skinny, however a few quotes from the little league director shed light on why he wants no association between the 2017 World Champions and his youth league.
Is a local Little League district responding to the Astros' cheating scandal with a harsher sentence than Major League Baseball? https://t.co/QZcuEaey2r
— NBC Sports Philadelphia (@NBCSPhilly) February 20, 2020
Here is what Bob Bertoni, head of District 16/31 Little League in Pennsylvania says.
“Right now, in our leagues, the Astros are suspended.”
Bertoni continues, and it seems like he doesn’t want the kids in the league to associate the game of baseball with the Astros’ brand of recent tactics.
“I think about our Little League pledge; that’s the first thing that comes to my mind. Part of the pledge is, ‘I will play fair and strive to win. Our kids emulate and idolize major league players,” he added. “I don’t think we as an organization should be idolizing teams that have decided not to play by the rules.”
Some will say this is taking it too far, perhaps even being sensitive. As a baseball romantic, I get it. After all, it is a children’s game at it’s root. I have said it before on these very pages – that when you cheat – this is the type of thing you open yourself up to.
