Learning from Little League

When Major League Baseball players behave badly - use PEDs, get arrested for DUIs, or engage in any other undesirable three-letter acronyms - the sports-consuming public criticizes these athletes for their actions primarily because they should be acting like "good role models for children."  It's widely believed - and probably rightfully so - that baseball-loving youngsters copy and idolize their MLB heroes, that will thus seek to mimic their actions (both on and of the field) whenever possible.

But what if the situation was turned upside down?  What if, instead of Little Leaguers imitating Major League Baseball players, MLB took a few pointers from the Little League World Series in an effort to improve the sport?  While the main reasons people watch the LLWS admittedly aren't baseball-specific (people love watching kids from across the globe compete in all sorts of sports - remember Global Guts on Nickelodeon?), there are a number of great aspects of the world's dominant youth baseball competition that would translate well to the professional game.

• You have to love the way the the Little Leaguers hustle back to their dugouts after a strikeout.  While I don't expect Major Leaguers to sprint out of the batter's box after a called strike three, MLB could definitely use a little less chatter between hitters and umpires.  Somehow, Little League baseball has taught its youngsters a lesson that most MLB players have yet to absorb: it's a long season (or tournament) with tons of at-bats, so there's no use getting worked up over one bad plate appearance or one blown call.
• The LLWS features an awesome array of uniform colors that Major League Baseball cannot match.  I'm not asking classic teams like the Yankees or Red Sox to change their vintage duds, but at the same time there's no reason every team (particularly the relatively modern franchises) needs to gravitate toward unis that are predominantly black, navy, royal blue and / or red.  This weekend alone I saw LLWS teams wearing lots of orange, green, baby blue and gold; there's no reason some unimaginative MLB teams (like the Padres, perhaps) couldn't go back to a more interesting color palette (with perhaps a more modern design).
• How awesome would it be if MLB had more pitchers that could really hit?  I love a good sacrifice bunt as much as anyone, but it would be great to see some NL starting pitchers that could not only handle the bat, but who were good enough to be inserted into the middle of their team's lineup.  Or what about a guy who played in the outfield on nights when he wasn't pitching?  Given the movement toward more and more specialization in baseball, we're unlikely to see this one any time soon - but can you tell me you wouldn't like to see more stories like this (or this, for that matter) in Major League Baseball?

We all know that Little League Baseball isn't perfect.  Sometimes, the kids are too tall.  Sometimes they're too old.  And sometimes they're, well, just kind of weird looking.  But there are definitely a few elements of the Little League game that could be used to improve the MLB fan experience.  While nothing will keep me away from an exciting summer of MLB baseball, I'll be sure to tune in to the LLWS from time to time for a refreshing change of pace.