Posted by Teddy Panos, Sun Staff
Have you caught wind of the big story at the Little League World Series?
The story of the LLWS so far is Saudi Arabia first baseman Aaron Durley…all 6-foot-8, 256-pounds of him. The photo on the left is not taken from a deceiving angle that distorts his size. This is what the 13-year old first baseman actually looks like in comparison to most little leaguers, many of whom take pictures with their jumbo-sized opponent whenever the opportunity arises.
Durley, who lists Big Papi as his favorite baseball player, is no stranger to the LLWS. He appeared in last year’s tournament as a mere 6-foot-4 12-year old. I guess the growth spurt is to be expected. His manager is his father James, who can look his son eye-to-eye.
Now, I don’t want to come off as a cynic here, but perhaps tournament officials might want to inspect this kid’s birth certificate a little more closely. At the very least, chop him down and count the rings on that Redwood…something!
Aside from the obvious size jokes (by the way, they say another famous Saudi, Osama Bin Laden, is 6-5), I’m curious to know what they’re feeding kids in
Imagine what the McDonald’s tab must come up to when that team bus strolls in! Cha-ching!!!
Have any of you seen this kid play? Am I the only one who thinks there’s something fishy here? What about the rest of the tournament? Can
I saw this and it was the funniest thing. So cute, the kids are so serious about this. There was one boy who looked into the camera during an interview and had such a serious look to his face. I wish I was that determined when I was his age. The only down side, baseball for kids is supposed to be fun, not competition. I heard one kid was so angry that his team lost, he swore everything in the book at his coach. ??? Why? C'mon, is it just us 2 or is there something wrong about child competition on this level?
Kids are there to have fun, at least that's the way it was when I was a kid. Huh, maybe this iPod generation is too busy being entertained by electronic junk than playing anything out doors. I guess this is at least an attempt at getting kids more active and away from the video games and cartoons. I dunno, I'm still in awe about the kid flippin out...
Teddy, hes probably 30 years old. He might be Danny Almonte's long lost brother?