Old, wise message finds new baseball audience
'He's Just a Little Boy' poem being posted at Little League fields
By Spencer Fordin / MLB.com | 08/04/12 1:44 PM ET
It's an urgent message of civility that echoes through the ages, a plea for compassion that comes from an author beyond the grave. And against all odds, it resonates better than ever today.
Joel McKinnon didn't immediately realize what he had stumbled upon when he found a poem called "He Is Just a Little Boy" posted at a Little League field. McKinnon simply took a picture of the poem and posted it to his Facebook page, and suddenly an entire movement blossomed around it.
Now, McKinnon and his employer -- Farmers Insurance -- find themselves printing the inspirational poem onto signs and shipping them to fields around the country. Around 1,500 fields have requested copies of the poem, which urges spectators to take the feelings of players into account.
"I was doing nothing more than what's already been done: Sharing the message," said McKinnon. "I've always been a fan of positive reinforcement. You don't push people down. You lift them up. You're not always going to win, and when you don't, there's a right way and a wrong way to handle it."
Kids, believe it or not, usually grasp that lesson on their own through experience and through the tutelage of their coaches. Parents sometimes get carried away, though, a phenomenon that's as true today as it was when Chaplain Bob Fox penned his poem sometime before World War II.
McKinnon said he believed the poem had been written sometime in the '20s or 30's, but its anti-heckling refrain bears ample currency today. The poem dramatizes the all-or-nothing stakes of competition and urges fans to watch the game politely lest they ruin the game for the kids.
