'JOY IN MUDVILLE' Book exposes life in Little League

The author tries to put into perspective manyof the Little Leaguehorror stories that make news each year.
By ED RUNYAN
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
& quot;Joy in Mudville, a Little League Memoir, & quot; by Greg Mitchell (Washington Square Press, $13).
A preoccupation can come over adult men and women this time of year that renders them an emotional wreck, nervous all the time, sometimes angry, sometimes making them unable to eat or sleep well. Sometimes their spouses send them out the door over it.
The preoccupation is Little League baseball, and one author, in a book due out this week, has documented just what makes it such a roller-coaster ride.
Starting with the draft and wintertime practices in gymnasiums to the final exciting out of a playoff championship game, author Greg Mitchell describes the frustrating times, such as when the coach questions whether he has made a judgment error that will ruin him with the parents, to the pinnacle moment when his son pitches the deciding innings of a winning championship game.
Along the way, the author also does something else interesting. As a published author and a contributor to The New York Times and other esteemed publications, Mitchell has access to personalities such as Bruce Springsteen and former major leaguer Jeff Burroughs to add to the narrative.
This is no ordinary Little League dad, for sure. Though his emotions, experiences and thought processes are probably common among ordinary Little League dads and moms, he puts some perspective on play that most coaches probably could not (or would not be able to put down in such good writing).
Between sections dealing with the final games of the A's championship season, Mitchell adds a relevant discussion with former major league great Mike Schmidt.
Dad's attitude
In bringing up the subject of whether it is better to be hard or easy on a youngster learning the game, the star Philadelphia Phillies third baseman noted that despite his father's help, he also & quot;was critical of everything I did. I was really never good enough for him. He was on me all the time. & quot;
Mitchell notes that the father of Kansas City Royals great George Brett, Jack, is known for never attending a single World Series or playoff game involving his son and generally refusing to talk about him.
& quot;You can't get too close to your sons, & quot; Jack Brett said. & quot;I think that with a friendly look, a little smile, and nodding your head, you can show your affection. If he hit four homers in a row, I would not say anything to him. ... My attitude is: 'He had a great game, but he was lucky.' & quot;
Mitchell also gives some interesting insights into the state of baseball among youngsters today, noting that participation today in basketball is double that of Little League baseball, and even soccer nationwide has larger numbers.
Lows and highs
He sprinkles tales of some of the more infamous episodes of poor sportsmanship and violence that have occurred in recent years involving baseball players and parents, including the high school player who threw a pitch at a player's head because the kid was taking practice swings too close to home plate while he was warming up.
Through it all, Mitchell describes the colorful characters who inhabit his baseball team and the highs and lows of their season of destiny, when they miraculously won nearly every game, usually with late-inning rallies.
The author declares that all of the occurrences in the book are true, right down to the very competitive manager from another team who goes behind the backstop during a crucial game and yells "swing" and "take" to try to dupe the author's players into striking out.
The author admits that he has changed some of the names in the book, and this manager is perhaps one of those.
When this successful season had ended, the writer-coach was moved to relate another of his many quotes from literature, this time from Mark Twain, who said & quot;every boy deserved one great summer. Andy [Mitchell] already had one, and he still had several summers of boyhood remaining. & quot;