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Photograph by Skye Dunlap

Giants players Amy Walker, left, Julie Krajieck and Matt Healy waited for Sunnyvale Southern Little League's opening day ceremonies to begin last Saturday.

Play Ball

Sunnyvale Little Leaguers throw in the first pitch

By Steve Enders

For more than 40 years, young baseball players and their families have been crowding Sunnyvale's parks, taking part in America's national pastime. This year will be no different.

Last weekend, Sunnyvale Southern Little League threw out its first pitch. Next weekend, Sunnyvale Serra, Sunnyvale National and Sunnyvale Metro will do the same.

Families and friends came together last Saturday, filling De Anza Park to watch the first games of Sunnyvale Southern's 40th season. De Anza's three ball fields were filled with players from six teams--each trying to win, or at least put forth their best efforts.

The snack shack was in full operation, as was the pit barbecue.

The brothers, sisters and friends of players seemed more interested in the park's playground than the games, but dads could be heard discussing the upcoming season and its prospects with seriousness. Some parents were watching the games, while others were catching up with people they hadn't seen since last season.

On the main field, the Orioles and Rockies battled it out. The two minor teams are made up of kids age 10 to 12. In minors, the pitches get faster, the balls fly farther and the competition seems a bit more intense.

The Rockies jumped out to a quick first-inning lead by capitalizing on the mistakes of the Orioles' rusty infield.

It's only the first game, and as one coach said later that day, "all these mistakes will be gone by the end of the season." So far, most teams have held only a couple practices, he said.

Sunnyvale Southern and its rival leagues are a very small piece of a gigantic, global Little League.

What began as a three-team league in a small Pennsylvania town in 1939 has grown to a worldwide phenomenon of more than three million kids in 90 countries.

This year, kids in Egypt, Qatar, Ghana and South Africa will play organized Little League-brand baseball for the first time in those countries' histories.

Little League has spawned some of the best professional baseball players in the major leagues, as well as others who have gone on to succeed in other professional sports, including football.

The one overriding factor is that they're all there to have fun and play baseball.

"Character, courage and loyalty" is the league's creed as it strives to turn kids into "citizens rather than superior athletes."

On Saturday at De Anza Park, a group of 5- and 6-year-old tee-ballers were busy being molded into better citizens. When a batter hit a ball, more often than not, the entire defensive team would pounce upon it as it dribbled through the grassy infield. When the players stopped running after the ball soccer-player style, they often looked, well, out to lunch.

"Look alive, look alive out there!" one parent exclaimed to the defense. The centerfielder had his hat on backward and was lying face down in the grass.

A small boy took his stance next to the tee, as a coach tried to explain how to hold the bat and swing at the motionless ball that rests, about waist high, on top of the tee.

He swung, he missed. The parents tried to mask their chuckles.

"That's so cute," one grandmotherly looking lady said aloud to herself.

The batter wound up for another shot and, this time, made contact with the ball--a slow roller traveling about 10 feet into the infield.

The second basegirl got a glove on the ball before anyone else and attempted a quick throw to first base, even though the batter had touched the bag already. The ball shot straight up in the air and nearly hit her in the head before the ball found its way back to the tee.

The parents and coaches told her it was a great try, and all the players were complimented on their efforts despite the result.

Sunnyvale's Dave Gregory, a tee-ball coach and parent, said that his daughter, Madison, enjoys playing.

"Their attention span isn't too long; they're all lookin' around," he said. "There's no competitiveness here."

Gregory said that coaching the kids is fun and tiring at the same time. "It takes a lot of time, but I get lots of help from the parents," Gregory said.

Coaches and league presidents said that most of the kids playing Little League play other sports such as roller hockey, soccer and football. They say it's in their nature, especially when they reach early teenage years, to be athletic and competitive and participate in organized sports.

Sunnyvale National Little League president Robert Rodriguez said that Little League reflects life.

"Life's competitive," he says. "Some detractors say there's too much [competition]. But these kids play other sports, too. They're competitive with every other sport."

While there are more boys participating in Little League, girls also have a chance at getting involved. They play hardball with the boys up until age 7 or 8, then they have the choice to move to softball or continue playing hardball.

League presidents said that many girls are successful in baseball, but most choose to play softball with the other girls. Their seasons start and end at the same time and have a similar structure of age divisions like baseball.

A coach in the league's farm division, Dave Ramer, said that most kids involved with baseball come from athletic parents who like to keep their kids active.

Also, Ramer said, the Sunnyvale parks system is well maintained, which leads to more people who want to enjoy them.

"The parks are great in Sunnyvale. We've got the top parks," he said.

The Little League season culminates at another great park in Williamsport, Pa., for the Little League World Series, where the best majors team in America plays the best international team for the world championship.

Last year, the all-star team from Sunnyvale National Little League came as close as any team from Sunnyvale ever has to winning a championship, going all the way to the Western regional tournament in the junior division.

Those kids will be back this year, playing their last seasons in the juniors division as 13-year-olds. Rodriguez says they'll be back in top form, and he expects a lot from the boys.

"We're looking forward to a good year," he said. "We have a good shot at getting to Michigan for the junior championships."

Sunnyvale Southern's league president, Andy Gonzales, said that their league took off right at the same time as the aerospace industry.

"The interest in baseball became apparent," he said. "It's linked to the growth of the area."

Sunnyvale National's Rodriguez said Sunnyvale's baseball leagues serve another purpose: keeping kids off the streets and out of trouble.

He said, "Even the kids who don't play, you see them all hanging out at the park [on game days]."

Most teams in Sunnyvale play on Saturdays and Wednesdays at any park in Sunnyvale with a baseball or softball field. Sunnyvale Middle School, De Anza Park, Washington Park and Fair Oaks Park can be some of the best venues in Sunnyvale to catch a game on a sunny afternoon.

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This article appeared in the Sunnyvale Sun, March 25, 1998.
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