Jackie Robinson West, the Chicago-area team that won the U.S. championship in the Little League World Series last summer, has been stripped of its title after an investigation found the team used ineligible players in an attempt to build a super-team.
The Chicago South Side team, whose players were African-American and raised hopes that the game would enjoy a resurgence among young blacks, was found to have used players who live outside its geographic area. On Wednesday morning, Little League International announced its decision, saying that the U.S. championship would now go to the Mountain Ridge team from Las Vegas. Its investigation determined that Jackie Robinson West used a falsified boundary map and that team officials met with neighboring Little League districts in Illinois to claim players.
“For more than 75 years, Little League has been an organization where fair play is valued over the importance of wins and losses,” Little League International chief executive Stephen Keener said in a statement (via ESPN). “This is a heartbreaking decision. 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.
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“As our Little League operations staff learned of the many issues and actions that occurred over the course of 2014 and prior, as painful as this is, we feel it a necessary decision to maintain the integrity of the Little League program. No team can be allowed to attempt to strengthen its team by putting players on their roster that live outside their boundaries.”
[On Baseball: Spoiling a good story for kids who needed one.]
Darold Butler, the team’s manager, was suspended from Little League activity and Michael Kelly, the Illinois District 4 administrator, was removed from his position. “Little League takes these matters very seriously and has spent countless hours gathering information about the many issues facing Jackie Robinson West Little League and Illinois District 4,” Keener said (via ESPN). “During our review, it became clear that both Jackie Robinson West officials and District Administrator Mike Kelly signed documents to make players eligible who should not have been.”
Jackie Robinson West players advanced to the Little League title game, losing to a team from Seoul. They were one of the feel-good stories of the tournament, along with Mo’Ne Davis, and were honored by President Obama at the White House. But DNAinfo.com reported that the team used players recruited from neighboring Little League districts, building a super-team. Little League rules are designed to create community teams in which players are friends and often schoolmates as well as teammates.
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Kristi Black, who was president of the Mountain Ridge Little League when it lost in the U.S. championship game, told ESPN that she favored taking the title from JRW but did not believe her team should be declared the champion. “It’s not a matter of changing the name on the title or the championship,” Black said. “The outcome of the game is what it is, and the kids have moved on. For us, it’s more of an ethics thing, a matter of doing what’s right. Our intention is to not have the next 27 kids put in this position.”
Chris Janes, vice president of the Evergreen Park Athletic Association on Chicago’s South Side, told Chicago’s ABC affiliate that his group was suspicious of the super-team, especially after JRW outscored it 43-2 in a little over four innings in a sectional playoff game.
“We even went through public records, voter registration, vehicle registration,” James said. “We pulled up everything to the point we were satisfied making the accusation.”
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This isn’t the first time Little League has found itself in controversy. In 1992, the title was taken from Zamboanga, Philippines, and given to Long Beach, Calif., because the Zamboanga team either used players outside its district or who were over the age limit.
In another instance that garnered far bigger headlines, the 2001 Bronx, N.Y., that finished third had to forfeit its games after pitcher Danny Almonte was revealed to have been at least 14, too old for Little League eligibility.
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