Terry Parker umpired the Little League World Series once then tried security there before turning to hosting for visiting teams.
Dale McClintock started hosting three years ago.
“We’re kind of a babysitter in a way, but we're here to help out the teams, the managers and the coaches in any way we can,” Parker said in his heavy Texas accent.
“Yeah, I consider it more like an escort, as opposed to a babysitter,” McClintock said. “But escort, you make sure that they need where they need to be, on time, and as Terry said, to schedule their practices in the batting cages, on the field.”
Team hosting offers another unique look into the volunteer effort that goes into pulling off a Little League World Series.
McClintock lives in the Williamsport area, but Parker flies in from Texas every year at his own expense.
“It can get expensive. But I made friends up here, and luckily, they have a good place to put me up, and they're super good folks, Chris and Cherie Rogers, they put me up in like a little basement apartment, and it's actually very nice,” Parker said. “And they're just very hospitable people. And that's what you meet though, working through Little League a lot of times is very hospitable people. And they're more than willing to take care of the people who do come from out of state or out of town, and it makes it a lot easier. It makes it easier on the pocketbook, because we're out of pocket for all of our expenses.”
Team hosts began at the inception of the World Series in 1947, said Sam Ranck, senior director of strategy and development, who oversees hosts in a position he’s held since 2008.
“If you have a love of baseball, especially at this level - which is probably the purest level of baseball - the kids become somewhat superstars once they're here. If you enjoy that aspect of children playing a game, it's a great two weeks,” McClintock said.
Originally, hosts were referred to as uncles and aunts.
“We have transitioned to using team hosts because it's more inclusive and descriptive of the role that they're actually fulfilling,” Ranck said. “They're here to host the players, to guide them through. But ultimately, the manager and coach are still responsible for the team.”
The group of 46 volunteers are responsible for the players, and work alongside managers and coaches. They coordinate team schedules, make sure they get to where they need on time and equipment.
“When they arrive, you have to show them around everywhere they're going to be going, tell them what's expected of them and what to do and what to not do,” Parker said.
This includes scheduling practices, walking teams through pregame routines and making sure players are at the stadium on time and more, Ranck said.
“It could include scheduling practice time, but then also helping the team identify some ancillary activities they can participate in, they may schedule a visit to the museum, they may take a trip over to the original little league field to take a tour over there or they may go to some other attractions in the area,” Ranck said.
Each host partners with another to oversee a team. Parker and McClintock teamed up since the first time McClintock hosted three years ago.
“We get to interact with the players and the coaches and managers more directly than most other employees, other than probably the staff, the media staff, but we spend a lot of time with them,” McClintock said.
Little League officials declined to make players and managers available to discuss hosts.
Hosts choose teams through a drawing a month before the World Series. They pluck a random ball out of the 20 in a bucket, Parker said. One ball for each region.
McClintock and Parker were in charge of Hawaii’s team this year.
“Thanks to him (McClintock), he drew the ball out for West, so that's how we wound up with the West region,” Parker said.
Parker hosted Hawaii for the first time in 2018, and Hawaii won the World Series.
In 2022, they co-hosted Hawaii and Hawaii won again.
“We had the exact same three coaches that we had in 2018 in 2022 and we won the World Series again. I've been lucky enough to win it two times in six years, and now we have Hawaii again, and we'll see how this one turns out,” Parker said. “I couldn't find a better partner than Dale. We work together very well.”
There will be no three-peat. Hawaii was eliminated Wednesday.
Parker first got involved in 2011 when he umpired for the World Series, but you usually can only umpie once. He kept coming back year after year from Texas. Eventually, he wanted to get more involved and worked security.
“Knowing a lot of the folks here, they said, ‘if you're going to keep coming back, we're going to put you to work.’ And we said, ‘put us to work,’” he said. “I worked three years in security and worked my way into the uncleship.”
Hosts get exclusive embroidered shirts and jackets and three free meals a day. They eat with the players and coaches. The shirts, jackets and meals rank second to the experiences with players, Parker said.
“That intermingling with them and watching all the other players get together in the recreation room,” he said. “Those kids, they don't know any enemies. They get together and they talk to each other through translators on their cell phones. If adults could be more like them, this world would be much better off.”
People interested in hosting can reach out to Little League.
