Breaking down the best of the Little League World Series

http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2012/08/breaking_down_the_best_of_the.html#incart_river_default FROM PENNLIVE Here is Little League at its best. A team from Uganda played a team from Panama before nearly 7,300 fans Friday night in the Little League World Series. The Uganda players’ families are too poor to come to the United States to watch them. But most in the crowd cheered for them like it was a hometown team. After a player from the Uganda team hit a home run in the final inning, the fans gave him a standing ovation. The Little League World SeriesView full sizePaul Chaplin, The Patriot-NewsThe New England representative from Fairfield, Conn., takes on the Midwest representative from Kearney, Neb., at Howard J. Lamade Stadium during the Little League World Series in South Williamsport. Uganda lost. But after the game, the winning Panama manager got the players from both teams together on the pitcher’s mound for a photograph. The Ugandan players then walked off the field doffing their hats to the crowd to show their appreciation. That’s what the Little League World Series is all about. After covering the Little League World Series in one capacity or another for more than 50 years, I am often asked what stands out for me. Here’s a list of what I like most about the annual classic. 1. As a sports enthusiast, I would put the games themselves at the top of the list because it is baseball being played the way it should. The players hustle on and off the field and run hard when on base. 2. Renewing acquaintances with other series regulars such as Paul Graziano of northern New Jersey, who has been the public address announcer in Howard J. Lamade Stadium for 42 years. 3. Surprises. While finishing a story following a night game in 2000, actor Kevin Costner hit towering home runs off a Little League staffer after Lamade Stadium emptied. Costner had been enshrined in the Little League Hall of Excellence earlier in the day. 4. Getting collector’s pins without trading them. I got one this week from District Judge James G. Carn, a long-time usher who in his spare time repaints the old blue and gold signs at the entrances to municipalities. His pin is in the shape of one of those signs, with “Road to Williamsport” being part of the wording. 5. Listening to families and fans of teams from Canada and Mexico loudly sing their national anthems — as they did Friday — as they are played over the public address system. 6. Meeting strangers, especially parents, who respond to your inquiries as if they knew you and then have them recognize you a couple of days later.