Little League International is investigating charges that Jackie Robinson West, the all-black team from the South Side of Chicago that beat Las Vegas’ Mountain Ridge 7-5 in the U.S. Championship in August, broke residency rules to build a stacked roster.
In the junior college ranks, mostly you play winning baseball in a vacuum. But the folks who follow JC baseball have noticed coach Nick Garritano’s Coyotes, ranking them second in the nation in a preseason poll.
It was a little before 2 p.m. Monday at Cashman Field. A man from the grounds crew was spreading fertilizer in the outfield, walking from the Dotty’s casino sign in deepest left-center field to the right-field foul line. Another grounds crew man was working on the pitcher’s mound in the left-field bullpen.
Long-suffering Cubs fans bought tickets to see a young, talented club led by a skipper who knows how to mold a World Series contender. But a Series title would be bittersweet because their heroes, Ron Santo and now Ernie Banks, won’t be around to see it.
