League helps 4-year-olds learn baseball

They are just 4 years old, yet here they are playing baseball, a game for teenagers and adults.

It’s the most fun sport in town. Even everyday citizens will come out with the parents and grandparents to see the excitement.

It’s called the Four-YearOld Instructional League and plays on Thursdays at the Atlanta Sports Complex starting at 6 p.m. Each game lasts about an hour. The season is short with just four teams in the league.

The team names are the Sour Patches, the Sharks, the Broncos and the Bananas.

In some ways the Bananas team is best named because after each contest they get to make a circle, lift their arms and yell, “Let’s Go Bananas.” And then they can dance a jig, giggle or do whatever they wish.

The league is, of course, all for fun. No one keeps score, everyone gets to bat a round each inning and no one keeps up with errors. It all works beautifully.

Another reason it’s fun is because for parents and fans coaching at this level is all about encouragement. That’s easy for parents to do.

The rules are naturally a little different here. There are no outs, for example, and players run only to one base at a time. Learning baserunning is sometimes a major accomplishment. One has to concentrate on a lot of different things while hustling to the roar of the crowd.

At four years of age, some players are just becoming social. They may run to get the ball but then don’t know what to do with it and hold it as a prize. Nearly every hit results in a dogpile of players trying for ownership of the ball.

Among the players, it’s usually friendly fraternization out there. The players often forget they are on competitive teams. A player from one team will drop his or her glove and clap for the other team’s player who has just made a good play.

Neighbors, don’t you see. Fans laugh together, too, and applaud everyone.

At nearly every game some tears will fall, and every game will result in some completely original, out-of-the-sky action. Youngsters can also be like adults in having a bad day, but it’s rare. And, after all, there’s a snow cone after the game, so things can’t be too bad.

At the end, the players seem to enjoy most the lineup where teams congratulate each other by touching the hands of the other team as it going across a bridge.

This will change only a little as the season continues. The game will see some sparkling plays and improvements—and something of a score may become noticeable. But the good times will continue.

Girls and boys also play on the same team, each seemingly equal to the other. That’s good.

And the coaches are always on their best behavior, always conscious of the example they are setting.

All of this is what makes the game of baseball for fouryear-olds delightful. The youngsters will make you laugh. Not at them but with them. They are having a good time. Isn’t that what 4-yearolds are supposed to do?

top left The batter doesn’t seem to have a chance in this infield lineup of players in the Four-Year-Old Instructional League. They are in their “alligator stance,” which means to use their gloves as jaws.

Staff photos by Neil Abeles bottom left One-player, one-coach seems to be the rule in the FourYear-Old Instructional League of the Atlanta Baseball Association. That goes even for players and coaches on opposing teams.

top right Jett Martin of the Bananas team heads to third base.

■ Sour Patch team coach Dustin Wilson helps a player bat. This is a pretty hard task when the bat and the tee set are each about as tall as you.

■ The Sharks players are looking up, even into the sun, because they are listening intently to their coach giving last-minute instructions.