Trump, Mariano Rivera mark Opening Day at White House
WASHINGTON President Donald Trump recruited Baseball Hall of Famer Mariano Rivera to help mark baseball's Opening Day with a group of Little League players at the White House on Thursday. Riveras old team was in Washington to open up Major League Baseballs abbreviated season Thursday night against the defending champion Nationals. Trump, for his part, said he'd been invited to toss out the opening pitch on Aug. 15 at Yankee Stadium. The president praised Major League Baseball for moving forward. I think Major League Baseball is setting an example by playing to empty stadiums.
Game on? Little League offers 'best practices' for return
WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. Little League is offering youth baseball organizations a pathway forward as they eye a restart amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Little League canceled the 2020 Little League World Series and other championships because of the pandemic last month but remains hopeful a regular season may still be possible. Umpires would move from behind home plate to behind the pitcher's mound and game balls would be switched out every two innings. Toomey said he would sign his 10-year-old son up for baseball tomorrow because he believes it can be done safely. The best practices were released a week after Major League Baseball put together a 67-page proposal outlining how it could conceivably return to play this year.
Forget pro, college sports: Why the absence of youth sports might have biggest impact of all
Little League International, which announced the move, also canceled regional tournaments but said the events would return in 2021. By contrast, the NFL, the world’s most affluent professional sports league, generated roughly $16 billion in 2018, according to USA Today. Major League Baseball generated $10.7 billion in 2019 and the NBA nearly $8 billion in 2018, according to Forbes, so youth sports generated more money than those leagues combined. The owner of Michigan Elite Volleyball Academy in suburban Detroit, an organization that’s home to 150 youth volleyball teams and has produced numerous Division I college volleyball players over the years, Sack had been, as usual, making preparations for the club’s signature event. “You go from ramping up to this.”Cancellations of such big youth sports events have a serious trickle-down effect, too.
Florida man arrested after punching Little League umpire in face
Alberto Ramos is accused of punching a Little League umpire in the face after a game. LAKELAND, Fla. - A Florida man was arrested Friday after he punched an umpire in the face following a Little League game, deputies said. According to the Polk County Sheriff's Office, Ramos disagreed with a call an umpire made, so after the game Ramos went to the clubhouse to complain to the head umpire. Instead of leaving, Ramos said he would "kick his ass" and then punched the umpire in the face, deputies said. "Not only was he arrested, he's also been trespassed from the ballpark."