Why Little League?

Neill, you are absolutely right when you said that the stole base was almost a given. As highly competitve as our 11 year old league is, no one ever threw to second when there was a runner on third, we always conceeded second to the runner. Our 12 year old league however showed a marked improvement after having gone through all of this the year previous. However, it is not the poor throw out rate by the catcher that is the point in question. When our 12 year olds move up to the 13/14 bracket, they will know all about leading off, pick-off moves, holding runners, first basemen who don't just play off the bag because the runner can't lead off, SS/2B communicating about who will take the throw, catchers learning to not only catch the pitch, but being aware of the runner taking off (even if he doesn't throw too many of them out), etc. What a shock it must be to a 13 year old who has never done any of this, who is going up against a 14 year old who has had an entire season to get ready for him! Playing by Major League rules better prepares the player for his later years in ball. And since all of the 11 year olds get into this at the same time, it doesn't give anyone an advantage due to previous experience. You are right when you said it is these kinds of arguements that help make ball so fun!