On a cool spring afternoon at Grappone Park, a sharp “PING!” pierces the air from the batter’s box as a Concord little leaguer knocks a pitch toward shortstop.
He takes off down the 60-foot baseline, kicking up clumps of dirt as he reaches his stride. Cheers erupt from one dugout, accompanied by another chorus of encouragement from the bleachers, where parents and grandparents and brothers and sisters sit bundled in sweatshirts and zipped-up coats.
Summer’s warmth hadn’t yet arrived, but the sounds signaled it was close, as close as the call at first on this play, the ball smacking the leather of the first-baseman’s glove as the baserunner’s cleat touches the bag. He’s safe, but the play spurs more cheers from both dugouts and all the spectators surrounding the field.
It is a timeless Concord Little League moment that happens game after game, season after season as a community of families come together for another year of baseball in the city.
The participation numbers aren’t what they once were – the program once held two leagues in Concord, now there is one. During its Opening Day parade earlier this month, the entire league of players fit into the infield of a little league diamond for a picture.
Pinpointing the drivers of this decline still considered the national pastime is a challenge. Joe Russell, who sits on the league’s board of directors, said it’s a combination of factors, most notably the rise of AAU and elite travel teams.
“I think AAU got really big and we lost some players,” said Russell, who coached the Concord All-Stars to the state championship series last year. “We had kids (being driven) down to Bedford to play AAU for the Blackflies and they weren’t playing here.”
Another aspect is the pace of the game. In the age of digital entertainment, getting elementary-school aged players to stand patiently in the outfield can be a challenge.
As the number of Little League players has declined, other faster-paced spring sports have grown.
Since its inaugural season in 2011, the Concord Crush lacrosse program has grown to approximately 280 players this year, including both boys and girls.
“It fluctuates a bit, but numbers are increasing generally as more families learn about lacrosse,” Concord Crush Vice President Scott Daniels wrote in an email.
Concord Litte League opened the season with 274 players, Russell said.
A longtime Little League coach who grew up playing at Grappone Park, Russell said the AAU option is good for “outstanding little leaguers.” Russell also helps out as a coach for the Seacoast United Cubs, an AAU club which expanded its baseball programs to the Concord area in 2017 and is based out of SU’s indoor sports facility on Ferry Street. The ability to train players year-round is a big draw, Russell said.
“A lot of players are there because they have an indoor facility and coaches that help with hitting,” he said. “That’s for the stars looking for that next level.”
The growth of elite travel and AAU programs, in baseball as well as other sports, has allowed more skilled players to take the next step earlier in their development by offering specialized training and more competitive games, but it comes at a steep cost. Parents are opening their wallets each year and paying fees of more than $1,200 to provide their young athletes with this extra edge. The cost to play little league in Concord, meanwhile, is less than $100.
As more players lean toward participating in these specialized programs, local teams are shrinking, and not just at the little league level. In the summer of 2017, the Exeter Post 32 team forfeited its game in the state Senior American Legion baseball tournament because it simply did not have enough players that day. Four players had left the state to play in a travel showcase in Georgia with their AAU team.
But options are good, Russell said, and Concord Little League formed a partnership with the Seacoast United in the city, sharing players and coaches. They’re collaborating on a project to make the diamond at Memorial Field convertible between 60 and 70 feet, which will help little league players make the transition, eventually, to the standard 90-foot diamond.
“We’re trying to keep baseball right here in Concord,” Russell said. “Even the kids who are good, they won’t go to Bedford or anywhere else. They’ll stay right here.”
He hopes to see Concord’s Sunset League revived, as well. The oldest after-supper summer baseball league in the country has experienced a sharp decline in participation and currently has just four teams. Like Little League, the teams are all sponsored by local businesses.
“I played Sunset League, but I’m 51 and too old to play now,” Russell said. “They’re looking for players, and I’m hoping a lot of kids (in Concord) continue to play and that league continues on.”
Even at the professional level, the sport is lagging behind the NFL and NBA in television ratings, but is America’s pastime really dying?
It’s true the number of people attending live MLB games or tuning in on television continues to sag. USA Todayreported MLB saw a drop in overall attendance by about 4% in 2018, the largest dip in a decade.
However, some recent data challenges the notion that baseball is on its way out. Since 2014, the number of people who played baseball in the U.S. – from Little League to college – jumped 21% to nearly 15.9 million people, according to a study published in theWall Street Journal in February.
In Concord, love of the game remains strong.
Becky Craigue’s 12-year-old son, Derek, has been in Concord Little League since T-ball. Becky, a standout field hockey player at UNH in the ’90s and a member of the school’s athletic hall of fame, said sports, in general, are popular in their family, but none as much as baseball and softball. Derek has three cousins also in Little League and an older cousin in Babe Ruth.
“If my kids all of a sudden wanted to play something different, that’s totally fine,” Becky said. “I wouldn’t care, but baseball and softball is what we love.”
She said she doesn’t believe the game needs to change to attract more kids to participate.
“Leave the game the way it is,” she said. “Those who love it don’t need half an hour shaved off.”
The size of Concord’s Little League might never return to what it was, but there does not appear to be serious concern about the league getting any smaller. Russell said numbers have been relatively steady the last few years, although they fluctuate between age groups.
Most importantly, the sense of community remains. As two teams of 11- and 12-year olds faced off at Grappone Park on that cold day earlier this spring, younger kids played T-ball on the field behind it. A group of parents stood to one side where they could watch both games by merely turning their heads.
“Everybody knows everyone,” Russell said. “Even as things have changed, the baseball community here still stays the same.”
(Nick Stoico can be reached at 369-3321, nstoico@cmonitor.com or on Twitter @NickStoico.)