Most Wonderful Time Of The Year: It's Officially Little League World Series Player Questionnaire Season

The Little League World Series gets underway on Wednesday, and to me, it always signaled the end of summer.

But what a way to wrap things up.

Kids give it everything they’ve got to bring glory to their country, state, or region while other kids who aren’t as good at baseball slide down a hill on pieces of cardboard.

It is, in short, a slice of Americana.

While the games themselves are entertaining, the LLWS packs in even more entertainment value with the player questionnaire. In my opinion, this is the most fascinating part of the entire spectacle.

That's where we get all the incredible info about players, like their nicknames, their favorite foods, movies, and more.

It's fantastic. Although, nothing will ever make you feel more like a bumbling old geezer than not knowing who the hell a 12-year-old is talking about when they name their favorite musicians.

“I don’t know who that is… does he do hip-hopping on the TikToks?”

Go back to sleep, Grandpa…

Little League World Series legend Alfred "Big Al" Delia takes a selfie with fans who just so happen to be the New York Mets' Michael Conforto and Brandon Nimmo back in 2018. (Photo by Alex Trautwig/MLB via Getty Images)

The LLWS Player Questionnaire: Where Stars Are Born

The player questionnaire has star-making power. Even for kids who aren’t necessarily going to wow with pitching performances or clutch home runs, the player questionnaire gives them a chance at becoming the talk of Williamsport with their personalities.

Who could ever forget New Jersey’s own Alfred “Big Al” Delia and his penchant for hitting dingers?

Six seconds is all it took for Big Al to cement his place in Williamsport history.

Then, a couple years later there was ladies' man Davin Ritter who gave his girlfriend — or girlfriends — a shoutout.

This stuff is all part of the fun. You never know if someone will join them in LLWS immortality.

It isn’t just the showstoppers that make the questionnaire fun. It’s also an interesting way to understand the next generation of America’s youth.

One question I always find intriguing is who kids say their favorite ball player is. I like seeing who is popular and whose stock falls from year to year. During this year's regionals I saw plenty of Shohei Ohtani fans, a bunch of Aaron Judge fans, and even a kid who had hopped on the Elly De La Cruz bandwagon.

However, the pop culture questions are the ones that spur the most conversation. Nothing can leave you and your girlfriend sitting on the couch trying to suss out how an 11-year-old could be a massive fan of the rapper Future like the Little World Series Player Questionnaire.

Seriously. My girlfriend and I were watching a game last week and we couldn't figure out how a kid becomes a big Future fan. Not that there's anything wrong with that. It just felt completely bizarre for a kid in middle school to say that Future is his favorite musician.

Some Answers Make You Feel Good About The State Of America's Youth While Others... Well, Don't

The questionnaire always highlights the generational gap between players and viewers, although, occasionally, you’ll have a kid who gives an inkling of hope that the next generation isn't doomed after all. An old soul who says his favorite band is the Beatles or something like that.

Unfortunately, those moments are few and far between. You’re more likely going to get bummed out seeing that the most popular movie among the youth of today is something like Transformers.

Not the ones with Megan Foxx either. The most recent one.

*Shudders*

ESPN's Mike Monaco shared some of his favorite answers ahead of last year's tournament to get you hyped for what to expect on the questionnaire front in 2023.

There are always some real gems. I like the kid who said his special talent is usually not burning pizza rolls in the microwave. Do you know how long you'd have to put frozen pizza rolls in the microwave to burn them?

Just bust out the air fryer (with your parents' permission), my dude.

It always makes me wonder how I would’ve answered these questions had one of my Little League teams made it to Williamsport. I wouldn't have necessarily wowed with my career statistics (one home run; the fact that it was hit over the shortest fence in the league doesn't matter).

So, I would've had to win the television audience over with my charm. Considering I don't have much of that either, it would have been hard for a 12-year-old me to have gained LLWS immortality.

That just goes to show what a rare breed the likes of Big Al or lady-killer Davin Ritter are. Will we see anyone join them in the Pantheon of LLWS Player Questionnaire legends?

We shall find out soon enough.

Follow on X (Twitter, to the layperson): @Matt_Reigle