What A Time To Be Alive

Iowa Little Leaguer claims ESPN is fixing LLWS game, has seen one too many movies

The more you watch it, the more you realize how tainted the Little League World Series has become. The fact we are now using video replay for a game between 11- and 12-year-olds just doesn't feel right. The fact that volunteer umpires have to deal with MLB-umpire level scrutiny is a sign the whole thing has gone a little too far.

The latest sign we've lost the LLWS plot came this past weekend, when a team from Iowa and a team from Washington squared off in an elimination game. With Iowa leading 6-3 in the bottom of the sixth, the final inning in Little League, an Iowa pitcher appeared to end the game with a pitch on the left corner of the plate. The umpire, however, called ball four, allowing Washington to bring the tying run to the plate with two outs. 

As the runner made his way to first, the Iowa team had a little mound conference and one player could be heard saying "It's for ESPN, so they can come back." What an accusation! 

As we were saying, we've officially gone too far when a little leaguer can be heard on a hot mic claiming ESPN is rigging Little League World Series games. We're sure this kid is a great kid, but he's seen one too many movies. 

The best part is the coach sort of ... not disagreeing with it? You'd think he would have shut such an allegation down, but he pretty much just said "OK" and tried to settle everyone down. It worked, with Iowa winning 6-3 and advancing. ESPN tried to get Washington back into the game and the network failed miserably.