The Biggest Little League Cheating Scandal Ever 

#1 thing that ruins kids sports: The Parents and always will be.

when little league is more serious about cheating than the MLB

Judging by their overwhelming past success in the Chicago area, I'm led to believe that the team's president and other staff had recruited outside of their boundary areas for decades. The reason the other coach acted when they did was probably becuase it was common knowledge locally that they could really do nothing about until JRW became big enough for the Little League's Officials to take notice.

Can we just take a second to appreciate how good those kids from Vegas actually were. Those kids 100% deserved to win

These kids had a worse punishment than the Astros! It wasn’t even the kids fault...

Now the only question is just how good were those Korean kids?

of course Jesse Jackson dragged his ass into this.

This is truly heartbreaking. That clip at the end honestly got me and I really hope this didn't affect their love for the sport

The headline should be “How Adults Ruin Kids Fun”

"That kid pitching...he's not 12...he's 35!" "How do you know?" "His wife and 3 kids are sitting behind the dugout!"

"Why didn't Little League do anything sooner?" I think I have a guess.

Reactions of adults to yell and act offended when caught cheating is astonishing

“Baseball was made for kids. Grownups only screw it up.” Can’t recall who said that, but it is a legit quote

The sad part is that all these boys were talented and worked so hard then the adults, who cheated, screwed it all up for them.

So basically, the kids knew what was happening, the adults cheated and tried to cover their lies with the typical lousy excuse of racism. The organization was guilty of joining in with that lie for publicity. And innocent kids and people suffered due to them.

Blaming on racism is just the easiest coping mechanism for a lot of people. Instead of accepting you did wrong it has to be something out of your control

when they stripping little league titles and not the astro’s title lmfaoooo

Of course he's 12, just look at his drivers license!

Little League officials, the coaches, every parent, and the kids all knew they cheated. Shameful. I feel bad for all the teams they played against.

Playing the race card after getting caught is absolutely pathetic

I played Jackie Robinson growing up. They have always used older players on there teams and everyone could tell. Cheated our team out of a lot of district wins

Having coached Little League teams I can say first hand that cheating does go on by some coaches who want to win at any cost. I can also say first hand that some parents should not be allowed anywhere near a Little League game. By far the biggest problem Little League coaches have to deal with is abuse from parents. Sad.

I believe the kids knew they were on a team that was using kids from outside of their area. How could they not. All kids have played with kids from their own neighborhood at all levels prior to being on that team. Friends, who go to the same school, have been put on different teams because of where they live. This isn't a secret that the kids don't know about.

I actually live in the same area as Mountain Ridge LL, the NV team that the championship was relinquished to. Actually was one of our rival LL’s when I was growing up playing, and it’s crazy to me every time I pass those fields with the banner, I can’t help to think about the Jackie Robinson team. What a story. Melancholy storyline for sure.

I wonder what would’ve happened if the coach had a brain and didn’t let the kids run the score up 43-2...

That's a damned shame. These kids played their hearts out, and are now branded as cheaters because of shady adults.

They all knew what they were doing and never expected to get called out on it and they probably wouldn't have if they just hadn't cheated way way too much.

Anyone who didn't realize they were obviously cheating from the very first time they showed up on TV is genuinely too naive to be treated as a serious person. Their coach is literally visibly illiterate.

In conclusion: Adults suck at being adults and those kids can ball.

In the mid to late 80's my oldest son played Little League. His coach wanted to use his younger brother birth certificate in order to enter a tournament. I said no.

Why is it racist when you get caught cheating.

This was much of a bigger scandal since the Danny Almonte case, a pitcher who was known for his fastballs and a no-hitter, when it was revealed that he was two years too old to compete.

When I played Senior League, I witnessed parental interference in full force. Two boys who spent their summers with their father, who lived in our city, wanted to play ball and, as no one knew how well the boys played, no one wanted them, so they were placed on our team, which had finished last the previous two years. Well, they proved to be stud pitchers, and the team united behind them and started to win, win, win. This really riled up the coaches of the other teams, all fathers of players, so they eventually tried to ban them from playing because they were not residents. (This was in the 70s when divorced parents were not the norm). Somehow they dodged this bullet and they were allowed to pitch in the playoffs and we made our way to the championship game, but another protest was filed against our team during this time for a player "playing out of uniform." Seems one of our two star pitchers wore a different baseball cap than the teams and, unbelievably, this protest stood up and we forfeited that game, allowing that coach's team to play in the championship. It was disgusting and I refused to play organized baseball ever again.

Fun fact. Jackie Robinson west short stop, Ed Howard, was drafted first round 16 overall to the Cubs! 2020

If a politician gets involved you know something scandalous is happening.

It’s crazy that it takes more than half of the whole video to get to the first mention of what the scandal actually was

Who else isn't a huge baseball fan but thought this was really interesting

Coach: "This is punishment for the kids." Everyone: "You're right. The teams out there that could've won with eligible players were definitely punished."

No team is above the rules! They cheated, they got caught, they paid the price!

For anyone interested in the outcome, apparently it got settled in what seems to be late April of 2021 in favour of Jackie Robinson and the coaches. Little League settled with them and dropped their own lawsuit against the coaches though I cannot find for how much or any details on the settlement. They did not get their title back though.

Any time Jesse Jackson is involved you know the race card is coming out.

What bothers me the most about issues like this, and as a Canadian, I've seen it happen in minor hockey, is that the kids who legitimately reside within the boundaries get left out because of the ringers who are brought in. As a parent, that would really piss me off if it was my kid. The parents who knew their kid wasn't eligible to play for the JR team should be ashamed of themselves.

Your editing and story telling skills are awesome to watch!

My nephew was the coach of the Las Vegas team, and he never got angry about this whole thing. He has completely forgiven, all those who are involved and moved on with his life.

I feel bad for those 5 kids who really were eligible. They probably didn't even know that their team had done anything wrong, but now everybody just thinks of them as cheaters.

As soon as I saw the Reverend Jesse Jackson involved, I knew that something was not right, if not corrupt.

You can almost get away w anything if you cry racism

I live in Illinois made it to state last year hoping to do it again this year District-won Sub state-won State-3rd place

I Was expecting fake birth certificates, trash cans and steroids 😂

Sucks for the kids of Jackie Robinson West. Sucks worse for the teams they beat to get there.

Sure started early in life to learn how to cheat.

They tried their own little self-affirmative action and got caught.

Once I saw the "Reverend" Jackson all teary-eyed in front of a microphone I knew this would quickly become a racial money grab!

Cheating has nothing to do with race and everything to do with character. I blame the adults in this mess.

In highschool there was a place called Farmington Hills which would dominate the national football playoffs every year. Their work around to "not cheating" was to pay for new houses and cars and other perks to move players across the country. For some reason this was known and not stopped or called cheating.

If Rev. Jesse Jackson shows up to support their cause, I automatically know they are guilty.

One of those kids, Ed Howard, was actually drafted by the Cubs in 2020.

I like how the parents and officials swing this as an attack on the kids. Nope, it was your fault and the kids suffered the consequences. They knowingly broke the rules and then claimed the ruling was racist. Their imaginary get out of jail card.

Wouldn't doubt at all these kids real ages were fudged and they were older than the leagues' requirements to boot.

One of my most vivid memories of little league baseball, now over 20 years ago, was standing next to the opposing team at the state tournament as we watched the parents of other players fight in the stand. None of the kids cared. I'm from further south of Chicago and played all black teams while we were all white. The only people who made that an issue were the parents. The kids from both teams literally stood next to each other talking and joking while grown men in the crowd hurled abuse at each other.

I remember when the Dominican Republic had a 36yr old with kids suited up out there 😂🤣😭

As a little league player, this happened a lot more than people think

These parents and defenders are idiots! They clearly cheated and were rightfully stripped of the title and it’s not like these kids are five years old. Most of them probably knew that they were supposed to be in a different league. It sucks but considering how they barely beat the Vegas team they didn’t cheat. They obviously deserve to be stripped of their title.

These kids knew something.

CORRECTION: at 10:33 I say that a player was claimed by Lansing MICHIGAN.... I misspoke and meant to say Lansing ILLINOIS.... still out of district but very different from Lansing Michigan which is in a completely different state.

Shame on the parents and coaches that lied to benefit themselves at the pain the children have had to endure. Just shame. Nothing wrong with the kids. Everything wrong with the parents and coaches who knew they were cheating.

So the all black team with sob backstory that got politicized and became heroes overnight was the result of cheating. Shocker!

I remember seeing these kids on the news constantly. Had no idea about this controversy

I know how this works. I was a coach in our local Little League. The boundary issue is in place for a reason. It prevents teams from drawing All Star players from outside their boundaries. That’s why it’s so difficult to field a team that can go deep into sectionals and nationals. This was pure fraud. The players knew. A player and parents who live outside the boundaries knew what was happening. None of these players or parents would have ever played with or against each other, except during non-little league travel fall/winter ball. This was in essence a dream team that pulled players from every corner of Chicago land, of which all but 5 players were from within the boundaries. The “adults” that defended this action also knew what was happening. Believe me, as a parent of a player, you know who all the studs are in your county when you are involved in off season travel ball.

4 donations for $90! Damn where were all those politicians, celebrities, and supporters when the team needed them?

I've heard this kind of thing going on up to high school levels, where schools will look to recruit kids from out of the area to come attend to make their team better, especially in football. It doesn't shock me that parents would try to bend the rules to create a super team of this level because they want to win so badly. I don't blame the kids, and I feel bad they had to be made victim of all this. But it's pretty clear they got the short end of the stick thanks to the officials and parents in their area.

Their parents really failed them here. They took a golden opportunity to teach their kids why cheaters never prosper because they always get caught out and tunrned it into a "lesson" on how to cry "racism" when you get caught doing something wrong and happen to be black.

Ya reminds me of playing little league at 16. I figured they would catch on when they saw me driving to my games.

Houston Astros: *"We will watch your career with great interest."*

How tf do you cheat and then cry racism ? Crazy😂

Boy Chicago cant get shit right not even there mayor😂😂😂

Anytime anyone says "check everyone else" they know they're in the wrong

I actually go to school with Tré Honduras. He was committed to Michigan, but he lost his senior year last year due to Covid, and is now in a Junior College. He’s a stud tho, got a lot of power and a great swing.

I wonder where these kids are now, being that they’re from Chicago

My brother played against these kids one time. You see little 4’11 kids hitting homers left and right. It was so unfair

This casually just became the best baseball channel in existence...

Damn these kids got stripped of their title but not the Astros

No wonder a team packed with ringers from all over the region beat teams made up of local kids in the same neighborhoods. The politicians involved are the worst offenders in this scandal IMO.

Jesse "Smollett" Jackson

They get mad at the guy for calling them out for cheating, when they were 100% cheating. Lol motives be damned you cheated.

Cheating? In Chicago? No! Surely not! So shocking!

I coached H.S. Baseball for 20yrs, including a stretch in L.L. When my Nephew was playing, my brother asked me to help the team. eventually the playoffs came around... we were last a last place team 8th seed. Of course we had to face the #1... as it happens with L.L. the Umpires are teenagers and they didn't show up. the meeting at home plate I was stunned.... One coach said "I can't ump...." I thought he had bad vision or back issues "why" "no way I can be biased".... "are you kidding" "their 10yr old's." I said I would do it, "Because I could be unbiased".. stick around till the end To the infamous games: The game was close, tied 2-2 bottom of the 4th (played 5 innings plus extra in the playoffs). My team was out thinking them and had kept striking out their best hitters. We had walked one of their best players and a coaches kid... wild pitch blocked by our catcher, still moved the runner to second. Eventually it came down to a bad throw from the cutoff... An ill advised throw to home, got past the catcher, I guess their runner purposely ran into the catcher. Our side crowd went wild... I didn't see this because runner had scored and I turned my attention to the field...where there the play was still live. The only thing that gave me the impression it was intentional... I heard one of their coaches say "shut up" when I looked he was nose through the fence glaring at what I later learned was his ex-wife. then realized it was their kid who was involved at the plate...next batter had a simple hit to right and they took a 4-2 lead into the bottom of the 5th for the win... Midweek my brother called me; "you won't believe it" . The word was out, that team in there second game nearly had to forfeit and was eventually disqualified...cheating yes and the ex-wife/ mom made her son tell the league his coach (Dad) told them to interfere with the other teams.. all good - BUT, What sent them down were the illegal bats... The teenage umpire in the second round game, found the illegal bat after a hit, the batter tossed the bat up the first base line. Their first base coach forgot to pickup the bat right away...so the umpire picked it up...he was a H.S. catcher... and noticed the barrel didn't feel right for the age group...funny as it sounds...This kid had his own umpire gear, In his backpack he had L.L. rule book and not just a taper measure but a tailors tape just for something like this. The first base coach (an adult) and their head coach tried to take the bat....I guess the umpire told them "Sir's, if you try and take this bat from me Ill forfeit this game". In the crowd was the league rules official and heard bats clanking and saw their bench coach trying to tuck bats into their catcher equip. bag... By L.L. rules at that time. illegal bats: Batter was out and ejected...the head coach was ejected and all bats had to be inspected. At that game all but one of their batts were impounded by the league. The league actually went through photos from the season and found the team was using these illegal bats all season.. plus they found the bats details by the logo were purposely removed Note: this team was stacked...talk about cheating... 12 players on the team. they only drafted 6. These other six players parents were told to waited until after the draft, call the league and tell them their kids wanted to play baseball and heard there was a team that needed players. The league banned the coaches who start their own travel team and were eventually suspended for cheating... by the travel league

When you can't argue the facts, argue the optics.

you should do a piece on what happened to the kids. Most are at draft age now

Kinda crazy how people expect us to believe the kids were ignorant of the rules enough to not know they had to live in the district they were competing for.

This is such a well executed video bro good stuff

Hey the adult cheated. The coach knew the rules and got caught. End of story.

Having played in one of the tournaments in NY I can tell you that as we kept winning, the players on the opposing teams suddenly started looking older and bigger. LOTS of cheating goes on by ADULTS who want to win at any cost. They ruin the game for kids who just want to play because it's fun. We came to find out later that one of the teams we routed 13-2 was actually Babe Ruth League team of 15 year olds. We were 12 year olds. We got really disgusted with the system and we went to our coach to pull us out of the tournament because the adults surrounding it were AWFUL PEOPLE and since were inner city kids, the suburban kids and parents treated us horribly because we were winning so much and I guess one or two of us were too brash and flashy for them. BUT to pull the race card when you know you did something wrong is just as disgusting to me. It's a shame but cheating happens a LOT in Little League.

It must have been extremely obvious if media eventually had to report on it

These scandals happen way more often then people notice. My father in law is a president of a basketball club in Texas and he goes the extra mile to make sure this shit doesn’t happen. He will flat out call coaches and parents out for trying to stack the teams. Magnolia basketball league is the truest and most honest kids basketball league.

Im a little league softball coach n the only thing that takes the fun away from the kids are the parents. We are all guilty of it at some point...

They weren't "investgating the children", they were investigating the management .

I like how the intro for this video has the same music as the DCS JF-17 Thunder trailer lol. Feels funny because I keep thinking of the fighter jet.

Wakandans being less than perfect saints? say it isn't so

Turns out their lawsuit was settled in April '21 after admitting their players were ineligible. Tho the coaches continue to try and shift blame, while saying its not their fault the players weren't from their district, that it was little leagues fault for not monitoring the league well enough. Crazy stuff, you would think people would just move on already.