Message garbled in Little League flap

A baseball team of 11- and 12-yearolds should not be at the center of any controversy greater than littering a park with their post-game juice boxes.

Of course, that never will be the case so long as 30- and 40-year-olds are in charge.

The Jackie Robinson West Chicago Little League World Series team had its U.S. championship stripped after it was found to have imported players from outside its district.

And still some of the adults are letting down the kids.

From Little League president and CEO Stephen Kenner, who said: “What these players accomplished on the field and the memories and lessons they have learned during the Little League World Series tournament is something the kids can be proud of, but it is unfortunate that the actions of adults have led to this outcome.”

To White House press secretary Josh Earnest, who speaking for the president who met with this team after its World Series experience, said: “The president is proud of the way that they represented their city and their country. Some dirty dealing by adults doesn’t take anything away from the accomplishments by the children.”

It is one thing to distance the children from the chicanery of the organizers. It is another to throw away a teaching opportunity while trying to spare their feelings.

Exactly what do these kids have to feel gratified about once it was shown that their team was formed outside the boundaries of the rules. What kind of “accomplishment” is it to win without the satisfaction of doing it the right way? Where is the sense that every rule-abiding opponent it beat along the way was wronged?

No, the young players of the Jackie Robinson West team don’t need to bear any burden of shame. They have no apologies to make. But what played out in Williamsport last summer was

nothing for them to be proud of either.