Little League parents are batshit crazy.

The entire Springfield (Montco) neighborhood has grinded to a halt because someone flew a plane over a game, exposing a dad who complained to the league about the season ending early so travel baseball players could compete on summer teams. This is from Isaac Avilucea at Axios:

The flyover, at a May 18 Little League game, targeted a father who recently complained about league scheduling.

– Parents said several coaches immediately began laughing and snapping photos of the airplane banner, which read, “His name is Zach Magid!!”

– Magid complained to officials about a decision to end the in-house season early for the second straight year so more advanced players could begin competing on summer travel teams. He felt it unfair to intramural players who wouldn’t get to compete in a playoff to crown a champion.

– Magid tells Axios league leaders reversed the decision after he contacted a district coordinator, who relayed the parent’s concerns to board members. He thought the issue settled until the flyover.

The banner is hilarious. So simple, yet effective enough to cause an international incident:

I have to know. Why the extra exclamation point? Did they pay extra to really get the point across? Was one exclamation point not enough? Does the banner company mandate a 20 character minimum?

I actually agree with the dad who complained. Fuck the travel ball kids. Having an entire season not to crown a champion is un-American. You play to win the game. You play to win the league. You’re looking at a member of the Montgomery Township Double-AA  Little League Champ Altoona Curve. An accomplishment they can never take from me.


Maybe I’ve been too far removed from Little League, but I don’t understand how the league can’t do both. Has travel ball culture just totally taken over? Growing up we’d do the Little League season, have playoffs, and the All-Stars would form two travel ball teams and play in a couple tournaments after the season. Easy peasy. Then we’d have the rest of the summer to piss off and enjoy it. It wasn’t until 10 or 11 if you didn’t make the travel baseball team you played Little League. What’re these 9 year olds, the Harlem Globetrotters? Are they going on a multi-county tour to Bucks, Delco, Chester, and Montco to play other 9 year olds? Relax people.

Now obviously we can discern this guy’s kid sucks and wasn’t picked for a travel team, right? That’s probably the easiest ruling we can come up with, or else he wouldn’t be complaining about the season ending early. If this guy’s kid was an All-Star, he probably wouldn’t have made a peep. Maybe less snitching and more catch and batting cages with your kid if you don’t want him shackled to right field next season. Maybe less Fortnite and iPad and more film. Use this as motivation. Never told your kid about Michael Jordan? Is this how parents in a LeBron household raise their kids? Crying to the refs (township)? That’s a dude who is apparently fearing for his safety. Relax guy. Did you forget you live in Springfield Montco and not Springfield Delco for a second?

This is nothing compared to the Long Island Inferno drama. The cream of the crop when it comes to batshit Little League parents. Fights, stalking, and revenge. You want to fear for your safety? Move Robert Sanfilippo’s son out of the starting shortstop position:

Kinkead: Let’s be honest, none of these kids are going pro anyway. Every parent thinks their son is next Ken Griffey Jr., then they end up with a business degree from Penn State Berks and a 9 to 5 office job. 

 

UPDATE: Little League dad reached out to me through email. He wanted to stress that his kid does not suck and plays first and third base on one of the travel teams. So his kid would actually benefit from the shortened season. The reason for the complaint is because he thinks league leadership was in the wrong and wanted to address it.