Calling a Foul on Commack North Little League

Now that summer is officially here, it’s time to reflect back on spring, and the little league season that never was.

When my boys started playing baseball I could barely watch them get up to the plate or clumsily attempt a play in the field without swelling with pride, and overall verklemptness.  I didn’t miss a game; freezing in the early spring and hiding under umbrellas during Commack’s monsoon season. We dealt with the inevitable rain-outs, volunteered at the field house, the bagel breakfast, picture night and as team parents. We enjoyed a happy camaraderie with the other families, all while watching kids learn how to play the game and gain the important lessons one can only learn by being on a team. That bit of bliss lasted for a good number of years. 

Then I learned the behind-the-scenes politics of little league. As I got acquainted with the practices, I saw things in a different light. Disclaimer: the coaches I’ve had the pleasure of knowing have all been caring volunteers who love the game and are genuinely concerned about the kid’s experience. Having said that, I soon learned that some coaches, and dare I say a number of the CNLL board members, also care a great deal about winning. During the draft (Really? A draft in Little League?) certain coaches are given the opportunity to stack their teams. This is not conjecture. Every year we play a board member’s team and every kid is a powerhouse. I tell my kids “Life isn’t fair,” and guess what? It starts in Little League!

Then came the Junior/Senior Division.  This is the program for kids age 12-16 and this is where CNLL shamefully falls apart. It is the first time the kids play on regulation-sized fields, the first chance they have to play against Huntington Tri-Village teams, and the last years they will spend as part of Little League. It would be wonderful if their send-off were positive.

What’s wrong, you ask?  Plenty.

Teams for this division cannot be picked at the start of the season like the rest because kids are trying out for school teams and little league is the back-up plan.  So…the draft doesn’t happen until after the season has officially started. 

This year the coach's call came two weeks after opening day. My son’s on his team, but he doesn’t know anything yet. Hang tight – he’ll get back to us. That coach needed to bow out and two weeks later the new coach calls. By then, we had missed the first two games with a promise to reschedule. Not so much.

The team roster has 17 kids on it. Plenty of kids for the occasional absence and minor injury. Day one - 8 kids drop out and we’re down to 9 - the minimum number a team can play with.  One kid goes to their cousin’s communion? Well then we can’t play OR we grab kids from the opposing team to play outfield. I love that.

We show up for a game at Silo one night. So do three other kids. The opposing Tri-Village team has 13 eager-to-play-ball kids and we have no team, no umpires and no bases.  A Huntington player is overheard saying to his teammate, “This is like playing baseball in the middle ages.” 

How embarrassing for Commack. With the game forfeited, our coach wrangles a stray kid wandering the park to play, and the two teams have a mixed-up scrimmage. Good thing that kid didn’t get hit in the face with a ball. Whose insurance would have picked that up?

Our main field is a forgotten patch of dirt at Cedar Road Park where there are no dugouts and no bleachers. The trash cans are overflowing, the ground is littered with garbage, rusty fence pieces and beer bottles and there are weeds, poison ivy and actual trees growing against the backstop. Compare this to the manicured fields in Greenlawn that Tri-Village calls home.  Another embarrassment.

The season ends with more scrimmages, and we finish playing 5 out the 12 scheduled games.  Huh?  And all this for only $150! But the kids did learn important lessons: If you’re in charge, you win; if you join a team where others count on you, personal integrity means nothing. Commack takes little pride in its CNLL Jr./Sr. Division. What a shame.