How kids paid the price for adults’ mistakes in Little League World Series scandal

CHICAGO, IL - FEBRUARY 11: Brandon Green, a catcher and pitcher for the Jackie Robinson West Little League baseball team, speaks alongside his mother Venisa during a press conference after learning the team would be stripped of their national champion title on February 11, 2015 in Chicago, Illinois. The team was forced to forfeit all of their 2014 wins after the league found they had players on their roster that lived outside the teams boundaries. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)

The story of the Jackie Robinson West Little League baseball team is a heart-warming tale about a group of under-privileged kids from one of Chicago’s more dangerous neighborhoods rising above adversity and poverty to shine a good light on a part of town that wasn’t always seen that way.

The story of the Jackie Robinson West Little League baseball team is a heart-warming tale about a group of under-privileged kids from one of Chicago’s more dangerous neighborhoods rising above adversity and poverty to shine a good light on a part of town that wasn’t always seen that way.

During this summer’s Little League World Series, the team from JRW on Chicago’s South Side ran roughshod through nearly every other team they faced on their way to beating the team from Las Vegas to win the Little League World Series U.S. Championship. Though they ultimately lost to the International champions, South Korea, in the final game, they became the first team made up entirely of black players to win a U.S. Championship, and in doing so, won the hearts of fans across the country.

Yesterday, the news broke that the kids from JRW would be stripped of their U.S. Championship after it was discovered that several kids on the team resided outside of the Jackie Robinson West district. The U.S. Championship was awarded to the Las Vegas Mountain Ridge Little League Team.

Should the kids from JRW be punished for the mistakes made by adults? What would be an appropriate alternative to stripping the team of its title?

Guests:

Jon Greenberg, columnist for ESPNChicago.com. He followed the team last summer on its Little League World Series run and wrote a column yesterday for ESPN about them being stripped of their title.

Bill Littlefield, host of “Only A Game,” NPR’s sports show that airs weekends on affiliate stations across the country and is based out of NPR affiliate WBUR in Boston.