Interesting read on sandlot ball (or lackthereof). Long, but good.

[nick]

MLB - Sandlot ball going the way of wooden bats

It won't let me copy and paste. If linking is a problem, you can take this down.

Article basically talks about how sandlot ball has gone extinct, and the benefits of league ball vs. unrestricted sandlot play.

Just from personal experience...

I know when I was growing up, by the time I was thirteen I had dropped out of every park district league I was a part of for the time being. I couldn't handle the politics of baseball... the coaches kids, the park directors, etc. Just the way some of those things are takes a lot of the fun out of them. I had no desire to play high school ball, or baseball in general and didn't for 2 or 3 more years...

This article makes some really good points, and it's a shame that baseball isn't a sport for kids to just go out and have fun with anymore.

Atleast we have OOTP.

[henks]

The MLB has come up with the RBI program, trying to bring baseball to the inner-city kids.

It was a good read, though.