Little League Rules Versus the Majors | News

Many of the differences between little league ball and the majors have something in common, two-thirds.

Little league plays six innings. That's two-thirds of the major league's nine inning game.

The field is two-thirds of the size. A little league runner only has to travel 60 feet to reach the next base instead of 90. The pitcher only has to get the ball 46 feet to cross home plate instead of 60.5 feet, and to hit the game-winning homerun, the fence is only 225 feet away. In the major leagues, the ball has to sail closer to 400 feet to clear the fence.

Another big difference is the pitch count. Little league pitchers can't go over 85 pitches per game.

"And there are certain thresholds on the way up to that 85 where, when the pitcher meets those thresholds, they have to have a certain number of days rest," says Lance Van Auken, director of communications for the Southeast Regional Headquarters.

He says the pitch count rule is meant to keep the players' arms from wearing out before they get a shot at the big leagues.

A little league pitcher can throw a ball almost 70 miles per hour. Van Auken says if you take into account the differences in the distance between the pitchers mound and home plate, it would equal about a 90-mile-an-hour pitch in the major leagues.

Van Auken says, in the little league, they try to teach the kids to focus on style of their pitch instead of the speed.

"To throw off-speed pitches, to not focus so much on getting the speed of that pitch up another mile or two. That's the kind of thing that can throw off your mechanics, because you're focused so much on throwing the ball harder," he says.

Van Auken says the biggest difference that sets little league apart is the price tag. Games and parking are free so spectators can pack the stands without digging into their wallets.