It may not be the Major Leagues here at Gameday Baseball's First Tennessee Fields, but if you're between the ages of 10 and 12 years old, playing at the National Youth Baseball Championships (NYBC) is about as close as it gets.
Nervous?
Not these kids.
"It didn't even feel like the cameras were on us," 10-year-old Brooklyn Bonnies pitcher Nicholas Candelario said.
That's what happens when you get the flat-out best teams in eight different youth baseball leagues and put them all in one sports complex -- no fear. All of these kids are good, most of them have played in big games, and a lot of them have aspirations that go way beyond what's going on right now.
Southern Jaguars player Demarcus Felton is already thinking about getting accepted into his target university, Florida A&M.
"I think it's really exciting and really good, because all those scouts out there, it will probably help us when we get older," said Felton, a 10-year-old from Atlanta, Ga. "They can be like, 'I saw this kid at this tournament, and he was pretty good.' And I can get accepted into college, which is where I want to go.
"It's something we really should take advantage of."
But even though all of the kids making up the 16 teams in Memphis, Tenn., this week are stars in their own right, there's always room for a little bit of pregame jitters -- especially when all of their moves are being captured on camera to be displayed on the Web for the whole country to witness.
"You could tell from the first game, these kids were shaking in their boots -- it's a kick," said Eddie Einhorn, vice chairman of the White Sox and founder of the NYBC. "They get a little shy seeing the camera like that."
And a little antsy the night before.
"When my son found out we were coming here, he was so elated," said Anthony Baker, whose son, 11-year-old Andrew, is an outfielder for former Major Leaguer Chet Lemon's 10-year-old Juice team from Orlando, Fla. "He woke up so early in the morning, he didn't even let me sleep. Our whole flight up there, he was at a whole other level.
"I haven't been able to get any rest."
But how could they not be excited?
Playing in a tournament like this is the kind of thing kids dream about when they're in the backyard swinging a bat or in their rooms playing video games.
Of all the kids at the tournament, a very large percentage -- if not all -- will grow up to be something other than professional baseball players. But the experience they get here will likely be one they'll hold onto for a long time.
"Just hearing when they were going to invite us over here, you got goosebumps," said Jackie Hardy, mother of first baseman Tyrell on the Bonnies. "It's something that you want to keep in your heart and take with you because you never know when something like this will happen again."
Added Marcos Castillo, father of left fielder Marcos Jr. on the Bonnies: "They feel like the Yankees. ... For a 10-year-old to accomplish something like this, it's something they'll never forget."
But excuse Miami's Tamiami Playmakers if they're not overwhelmed.
They just came from playing in Cooperstown, N.Y.
"They're numb to it," assistant coach Ruben Someillan said.
During the opening ceremonies on Thursday afternoon, which featured a barbeque, a live band, contests, video games and an introduction ceremony that concluded with fireworks, Someillan was drinking it all in once again. And even though the NYBC is brand new, he said he'd already put it up there with the Cooperstown tournament he just came from.
"This doesn't take a backseat to that," Someillan said. "The whole atmosphere -- you can feel it, you know? It's great, it's great.
"It's the best of the best."
But no matter how great the ambiance is, or how high the stakes get, Someillan has to remember that he's dealing with pre-teen children. And to them, baseball is what it was always meant to be -- a game.
"We don't put pressure on them," he said. "They're in the pool, they're playing basketball. We keep it loose."
Lemon, who played 16 seasons in the Majors, knows a little bit about keeping it loose.
Currently, he coaches four different Amateur Athletic Union teams ranging from 18 to 10 years old. To Lemon, it's very important to adjust from dealing with a young adult, getting ready to go to college, and a kid barely in middle school.
"With the 10-year-olds, I can't even look at them if they make a mistake," Lemon said. "The thing with them is, they want to impress me so much that if I just look at them when they make an error, they'll probably start crying or something.
"But with the 18-year-olds, I can be straight up with them. I'll go to the mound and be like, 'Listen, you don't get this guy out, I'm taking you out. That's it.' You can't do that with the younger guys."
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