Youth Baseball

Eric Sopracasa, a junior midfielder at the University of Massachusetts, is one of only two lacrosse players known to have died after being struck in the chest with a ball, a leading cardiac researcher said.Sopracasa, from Farmingville, N.Y., collapsed after being hit by a ball in practice Wednesday, said UMass officials. He was later pronounced dead at Cooley Dickinson Hospital. The cause of death is unknown, but the circumstances are similar to those of several young athletes who have died after being struck in the chest with a baseball or hockey puck.

NEW YORK -- As a starter in the National League Championship Series, Atlanta's John Smoltz plowed through the New York Mets' batting order. As a reliever, he was buried under a pile of runs.Smoltz will return to his more familiar role tonight, taking the ball for Game 4 of the World Series against the New York Yankees. The only time he'll be in the bullpen is to warm up.The Braves -- down 3-0 in the Series -- need Smoltz to be as effective as his Oct. 16 outing at Shea Stadium, when he held the Mets to one run through seven innings before two more scored in the eighth once he had been removed.

HAVANA -- It may have looked like the Orioles' goodwill trip to Cuba went off without a hitch, but the game still was under a cloud of uncertainty as late as Saturday afternoon.Orioles consultant Scott Armstrong said yesterday that a dispute over the tickets allotted to the club for distribution to Cuban youth baseball players prompted a veiled threat that the Orioles would refuse to board the charter flight for Havana.The Orioles originally tried to negotiate an allotment of 5,000 tickets for distribution to the club's entourage and to youth groups in Cuba, but had reduced that demand to 500. The Cuban sports authorities eventually settled on 270 tickets, enough for all of the players who had taken part in the youth baseball exchange with underprivileged children from the Baltimore/Washington area.

This afternoon, as two teams of 11- and 12-year-olds play the nationally televised championship game of the Little League World Series, it might be an appropriate time to honor the founder of Little League baseball in the most fitting way possible: by turning off the TV and having a catch with Dad out back.Behind the mom-and-apple-pie image of Little League is this dirty secret: Carl E. Stotz, the man who invented the miniature version of the national pastime in this old Susquehanna River town, never much liked what became of his creation.

BALTIMORE ORIOLES trainer Richie Bancells wants his pitchers to take a month off -- no throwing to catchers or targets. They need time to rest their arms and minds. If this advice is good for major leaguers, it should be sound, too, for Little Leaguers who increasingly are playing baseball year-round. Spring, summer, fall and winter -- even in cold-weather states -- young players are adding velocity to their fastballs or perfecting their swings.The trend toward year-round baseball is growing.

Osceola Smith, a longtime baseball organizer and coach in Turners Station who taught the game to former National Football League great Calvin Hill and NAACP President Kweisi Mfume, died Wednesday of heart failure at Northwest Hospital Center in Randallstown.Mr. Smith, 85, known as "Mr. Smitty," coached hundreds of youths in and around Turners Station for more than 40 years, telling friends and relatives that being involved with the youngsters was his "ministry."Mr. Mfume said Mr. Smith "never got the headlines, but he taught us all how to act like men."

Empty seats on Opening Day, disinterested advertisers and young fans focused on Michael Jordan and Eric Lindros, not Ken Griffey.Fallout from the strike?Guess again.Although the 7 1/2 -month players strike bashed baseball's image, the most crippling marketing problems were there long before: tepid national television appeal, an aging fan base and fierce competition from one-time upstarts basketball and hockey.Baseball is still a hugely successful and popular sport, selling millions of tickets a year and generating lush profits for many teams.

Punitive damagesImagine this: In the state of Alabama, a person found out a car manufacturer failed to inform him that they touched up some scratches on his car prior to its purchase.He sued and was awarded $4,000 for the reduction in value of the car. Hurrah! And $4 million in punitive damages. Boo!Imagine this: A Little League organization was sued by a woman who was hit by a ball that her own daughter failed to catch. The threat of an excessive punitive damage award forced the Little League into a $10,000 out-of-court settlement.

Just six months ago, the closing of Long Reach Park to make way for a new high school threatened to leave some Columbia-area youths on the sidelines this baseball season.But thanks to a cooperative effort between Columbia Youth Baseball and the Howard County Department of Recreation and Parks, the games go on.The two organizations pooled their resources to refurbish Harpers Choice Park off Cedar Lane, enlarging the infield areas and installing new fences, benches and backstops at a cost of about $14,000.

Sheriff Salary Cartoon Off BaseThe hat Rob Snyder portrayed in the Feb. 6 editorial cartoon belonged on the last sheriff who was in office for 20 years and gave away duties.Our sheriff since 1990, Robert Pepersack, has continued to ask for more responsibilities willingly. Just ask the deputies and District Court. . . . It's pretty sad when the chief dog catcher of the county gets a salary larger than most police and more than our elected sheriff.avid R. HaightGlen BurnieBG&E Thanks?If Baltimore Gas & Electric is truly thankful of the efforts put forth by citizens during our recent cold snap, they should stop attempting to raise our rates every year as an alternative to spreading out payments.

All those concerned about how large an audience this year's World Series will draw might be overlooking a demographic that, after a long absence from nearly every aspect of baseball, is showing signs of coming back. Michael Singletary is not only part of that group, but is also committed to it. Singletary is president of James Mosher Baseball in West Baltimore, the oldest known youth baseball league for African-Americans on the East Coast. This week, he was telling one of the league's players that it was important for him to watch the Tampa Bay Rays-Philadelphia Phillies showdown that began last night.

On a recent afternoon, two kids played basketball at the eastern end of North Harford Park, off Hamlet Avenue. At the other end, on Laurelton Avenue, two school buses slowed a stop and a dozen kids poured out. They milled around a nearby apartment complex for a while, teasing and chasing each other. Sitting between the two scenes is a pair of vacant baseball fields - or what used to be baseball fields. Or, if Stephen Johnson and Shane Scott are successful in their mission, what will soon be baseball fields again.

This year's Cal Ripken 12-and-under World Series, the eighth overall and fifth in Aberdeen, will be the first played with 70-foot base paths and 50 feet between the rubber and home plate. In previous Ripken World Series, the games were played with 60-foot base paths and a 46-foot pitching distance. Cal Ripken Jr.'s proposal of going to the longer distances received an overwhelmingly favorable response from the Babe Ruth leagues and commissioners. The recently inducted Hall of Famer sees it as a "proactive step" that "will have a tremendous impact on youth baseball."

DEAR CAL -- My kids' baseball coach spends every practice doing little more than batting practice. The entire emphasis is on hitting, with pitching (just fastballs) getting a little attention when the kids are throwing to the hitters. The problem I see is that there's no time spent really teaching fielding or situational baseball. I've talked to the coach, and he says at this age (13-14) the game is all about hitting. He says they get fielding practice when the balls are hit. I disagree.

The minor league Ripken Stadium, which opened to acclaim and sold-out games five years ago, has proved to be such a financial drain to the small town of Aberdeen that the mayor now wants to sell it. Mayor S. Fred Simmons says that he has had conversations with several potential buyers but that the most promising involve the stadium's namesake: hometown hero Cal Ripken Jr., who owns the team that plays there, as well as a sprawling youth baseball operation...

The latest effort to bring baseball back to life in America's blighted urban neighborhoods and their residents couldn't have picked a better city to start. There's no concrete evidence that Baltimore needs help in this area more than anyplace else. Nor was that specifically why Bank of America's fundraising campaign for the 7-year-old Little League Urban Initiative kicked off at Camden Yards on Thursday, with Hall of Famer Dave Winfield doing five hours' worth of print and broadcast interviews next to the Orioles dugout.

Tomorrow morning in North Baltimore, I expect to be surrounded by Crickets. I'll probably catch a glimpse of 14 Gophers. And it would not be surprising to encounter roving bands of Knights and Wizards. It sounds harrowing, but it's Opening Day of the youth baseball season. Of all the traditions and rituals of kids sports, nothing compares with Opening Day. For the parents, there's the challenge of finding a parking space and the risk some chilly mornings of losing a finger to frostbite.

Baseball is major cause of blindness As a pediatric eye physician and surgeon, I have been distressed by the Maryland Senate's unwillingness to pass the bill that would protect children from blinding injuries playing baseball ("Youth baseball could get new look: masks, goggles," March 22). The leading cause of monocular blindness in children ages 5 to 12 is baseball injuries. Young pitchers can throw a ball up to 60 miles per hour. The impact of a wild pitch to a child's fragile eye can result in permanent eye damage such as ruptured globes and retinal detachments.

As spring settles in, with the crack of Little League bats soon to follow, Maryland senators wrangled yesterday over whether the state should be trying to save baseball's youngest players from bruises, bloody noses and concussions. A bill to require youth league players to wear state-approved protective gear struck some senators as too costly and too hard to enforce. "What are you going to have - helmet police?" asked Sen. Sandra B. Schrader, a Howard County Republican whose daughter plays softball.

DETROIT - The last time Major League Baseball brought its midsummer spectacle to Detroit, various urban pockets pulsated with excitement. Kids were armed with little more than their imaginations enjoying the nuances of a sport now branded as hopelessly out of touch with the modern youthful spirit. The 1971 All-Star Game was an opportunity to take an old white T-shirt, cut off the sleeves, apply a little Magic Marker, place it over a black T-shirt and create a vintage Pittsburgh Pirates' Roberto Clemente "jersey" that you proudly showed off to your masochistic American League friends.