photo credit: Phillip Walton
Story By Mike Wood
For the summer staple of Little League baseball, the COVID-19 pandemic has put one of the nation’s great traditions largely on hold.
There are scattered ball games around the U.S. Mostly, it’s a prolonged waiting game.
A smattering of leagues and teams are practicing, a few are playing games and many leagues have shut down altogether for the summer.
The East Bay, which has produced eventual big leaguers from Dontrelle Willis to Brandon Crawford, has a handful of teams practicing under strict guidelines, giving those kids a rare chance to have fun outdoors after spending much of the past few months inside. Others are waiting until better days.
That wait loomed to grow longer as July began. Both East Bay counties — Alameda and Contra Costa — announced June 29 they were pausing their respective next phases of reopening, citing recent increases in positive COVID-19 tests and hospitalizations. While those moves didn’t directly affect the ability to stage modified practices, any remaining hopes for something slightly resembling a Little League season are fading in the hot summer sun.
Writing starting lineup cards has given way to writing extensive safety protocols for resuming modified practice and, eventually, games. The starting point are best practices protocols and a season resumption guide from Little League International, but everything is tied to particular local guidelines set by county health departments and local officials.
Parents decide for their kids whether to opt in for a restart, or opt out. Another path to clear is usage of fields, often run by municipalities or school districts. According to District 4 administrator Ted Boet, getting clearances from school-run sites have been challenging, mainly due to the many things schools and their districts have on their plates right now. District 4 oversees leagues in Alameda, Berkeley, Oakland and a good portion of Contra Costa County. District 57 covers the rest of Alameda County and the Tri-Valley.
“I would tell you that for the average league board of directors, this has been more of a mental drain,” Boet said. “Most leagues gave up, due to the uncertainty of it all.”
In the East Bay, a few Little Leagues have opted for modified practices.
Danville Little League resumed practices on June 15, but under strict protocols set by the league itself, Little League Baseball International, Contra Costa County and local officials. Also among those to return to modified practices or planning to do so were Alameda, Lafayette, Martinez and Tassajara Valley Little Leagues, according to postings on their respective websites.
Right now it’s a chance for a little outdoor exercise. A planned outing, for some structure in uncertain times.
“We just wanted to get kids out of the house; that was our primary goal,” Danville Little League President Kevin Salmon said. “Give them something to do outdoors.”
Based on restrictions by East Bay counties and local authorities, no more than 12 youths of a “stable” group are allowed to practice together, so each team must have 12 or fewer players. That’s led to some reallocating of players who are returning from the postponed start of the season.
“On June 15 we had 45 percent of spring registration back on the field, but had to reassemble teams to get to the 12 barrier,” Salmon said.
Alameda was planning a target date of July 5 to resume practices and for games to resume Aug. 3.
“This statement (on June 29) means this is becoming less likely that we will play games soon,” Alameda Little League President Ron Matthews wrote in a text message response. “We will wait for the next phase.”
Matthews noted that a good number of parents are opting to have their kids return.
“We had 850-900 registrants (at the start of the season) and some years have had as many as 1000,” he said. “We might have 700 continue to play.”
Little League International canceled its 2020 World Series and Regional tournaments on April 30. No World Series will be contested at the fabled locale of Williamsport, Pennsylvania, or six other divisional Series sites, including the Intermediate World Series in Livermore.
As the leagues attempt to gather again, no high-fives or handshakes or celebratory contact are allowed. Dugouts must have social distancing. Hand sanitizer is in use while sunflower seeds are out, and there is no shared equipment, such as gloves, bats, helmets and catcher’s mitts.
Here are just some of the Little League International best practices guidelines:
>>No food or concession sales are allowed at facilities.
>>Umpires are permitted to be placed behind the pitcher’s mound/circle to call balls and strikes.
>>All spectators should follow best social distancing practices — stay six feet away from individuals outside their household; wear a cloth face covering at all times; avoid direct hand or other contact with players/managers/coaches during play.
>>Leagues may choose to minimize exposure risk to spectators by limiting attendance to only essential volunteers and limited family members.
>>All individuals should measure their body temperature to ensure no fever is present prior to participating or attending each Little League activity. Anyone with symptoms of fever, cough, or worsening respiratory symptoms, or any known exposure to a person with COVID-19 should not attend any Little League activity until cleared by a medical professional.
>>No personal player bat bags/equipment bags should be allowed in the dugout. Player equipment should be spaced accordingly outside the dugout to prevent direct contact.
>>Baseballs and softballs should be rotated through on a regular basis, at least every two innings, to limit individual contact.
>>Players and coaches should take measures to prevent all but the essential contact necessary to play the game. This should include refraining from handshakes, high fives, fist/elbow bumps, chest bumps, group celebrations, etc. Little League International suggests lining up outside the dugout and tipping caps to the opposing team as a sign of good sportsmanship after a game.
“We’ve come up with Imaginary high-fives, and we’re emphasizing the thumbs-up,” Matthews said.
To eventually get back to games and even have fans attending, Boet looks at three different scenarios of potential gathering sizes: “There would be those with 30 or less for gathering, which is about what it would take to put on a game,” he said. “Then there would be 50 or under, and then over 50.”
Not only are league officials tasked with many measures to implement and understand, so are coaches.
“Coaches have to sign a document that they understand the protocols, and have taught them to their parents,” said Matthews, whose league’s resumption of practice guidelines contain 50 points. “They need to keep them on file so I may see them upon my request at any time, or from any other board member.”
Many leagues are using platforms like Zoom to conduct meetings and keep parents updated.
And even if coaches and players are not working together in person, there are ways to teach and learn. San Ramon Little League is among those using social media, with a series of instructional videos on its Instagram account.
League officials are used to developing plans for incidents like injuries, but nothing along the severity of COVID-19.
“We have to write safety plans, and in recent years to write up serious stuff such as how to deal with head trauma,” Salmon said. “I don’t think anyone had imagined having to write a safety plan for a highly contagious virus, for which so little is known about.”
In 21 years as league president, Matthews has seen most of everything, but like any of us, has never experienced this. He is no stranger to health crises, losing his father to the polio epidemic in the 1950s.
“Not in my wildest imagination; not that the entire nation and entire world would be involved in such a horrific situation,” he said.
Amid all this, the effort to put together workable guidelines and plan for eventual comebacks has produced some positive vibes.
“Nobody is talking about wins and losses and no one is talking about all-stars, since there are no all-stars,” Salmon said.
Salmon has been amazed by the support from the parents in his area, saying he could count the complaints on one hand.
“It’s mostly ‘thanks for trying,’ ‘we appreciate what you are doing,’” he said. “We surveyed parents, asking that whenever we can restart, if you would be willing to pitch in and help,” Salmon said. “We had over 100 parents respond yes, and these were not necessarily active board members.”
What Little Leagues are attempting might provide a blueprint for high school sports, whenever schools are reopened and sports are able to proceed. Salmon is also a San Ramon Valley High-Danville sports parent, so he is eager to see what decision the California Interscholastic Federation reaches regarding fall sports. A decision is expected by July 20, according to a CIF news release.
“The next big milestone is what CIF decides,” Salmon said, adding that he finds it hard to imagine fall high school sports will go as typically scheduled.
Though games are mainly stalled, hundreds of volunteers are working behind the scenes to get things ready, under appropriate guidelines, with the big question being when will that be. When players once again experience the good gained from playing sports.
“I played Little League in the late 50s and early 60s, and I don’t remember a darn thing about the games, but I remember the coaches and players very well,” Matthews said. “What we teach are life lessons.
“In my strong opinion not only do they need a physical outlet, but a mental and an emotional outlet. If this can’t go on, we can say we tried our damnedest.”
This story was first published in SportStars Magazine’s July issue. To read more content from the issue, or to keep tabs on high school sports content throughout NorCal, be sure to visit SportStarsMag.com.
I think this can be done safely enough.
However, any Parent who starts whining about the safety precautions should simply be banned.
They can go yell on the street corner to get all of their 1st Amendment able out of the way and then everyone else can have a good time.
Rob you lack self control that you had to make a comment like that? You are far too old to be writing some crap like that. You got nothing good to say your comments expose you, so just stay quite it’s not about you never was. Youre a bum