WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. – Towards the end of every summer, the one sporting event that we all love to watch is the Little League World Series.
You turn on ESPN and you watch John Smith from Texas belt a three-run home run in Williamsport, Pa., on ESPN and you quickly text your buddies saying, “Remember when we were on the Twins and Steve hit that bomb off the pitcher who had the beard?”
The response is “LOL” — laugh out loud — and we relive those glory days.
Well, I had a better view this year. I was there. In Williamsport.
Before arriving last Monday – and coming home on Sunday night – all I remember thinking about Williamsport was it was a place with “two nice fields,” one of which features a big hill that fans would climb and just to grab a home run ball.
After spending six days there, thinking the best 12-year-old baseball players in the entire world played on “two nice fields” is like saying Denzel Washington is an ordinary actor or Darren Oliver was a better pitcher for the Red Sox than Pedro Martinez.
You get the picture.
And yes, I was ignorant.
I arrived at Williamsport on Monday afternoon, shortly after lunch time. As I walked up the hill on my way to the media center to get my credential, I looked to my right and there was the beautiful Volunteer Stadium.
From there, it was onto the field with the hill.
A few steps inside turned into standing completely still.
The view of Lamade Stadium was breathtaking. It was one thousand times better than I expected.
It reminded me of the first time I walked into Fenway Park in 1983.
“Wow!” I repeated that several times.
The first time walking into Camden Yards and Wrigley Field was the same, except that was the summer of 1996.
This was different. Much different.
Suddenly I started to get upset – and thinking to myself, “This wasn’t what I saw on TV”, and “how could I have waited this long to see this place?”
Two days later, I was up in a press box seat and reporting on the first U.S. game, the Salem All-Stars facing off against perennial favorites from Hawaii.
It was like I was living in a dream world. It was spectacular.
The next night, while taking in the Pennsylvania-Texas game, the view was from a few rows behind home plate. The field was completely lit up, the stadium’s signs seemed bigger than ever and the 15,000 fans seemed more like 50,000.
A few innings later, the view came from “The Hill.” To the left was hundreds of kids sliding down, and to the right, the skyline was overlooking the entire field.
Just stunning.
During those few innings, a few extremely friendly and proud locals shared with me some thoughts and facts about the stadium, the history of Williamsport and their state.
Those 15,000 people, especially myself, enjoyed a perfect night of baseball in the most perfect stadium.
Two days later, on Saturday, was my sequel. This time it was Pennsylvania on the winning end, defeating Salem. The final score, 5-0, and the loss didn’t matter.
What mattered was the 12 boys who made up Team New England. While their bats were quieted by some special pitching, they never wavered. They fought, a trait they carried for a few months in some tough games, until the last out.
Years from now, these 12 players will be sitting on their couches at home, flipping channels and will come across Team New England playing Team Pennsylvania.
A group text will go out saying “Remember when … “
I know I always will.