4 | SEPTEMBER 9 • 2021 

for openers

All Hail Taylor North!
H

uge sports news! Michigan beats 
an Ohio team! Enjoy that head-
line now because that’s the last 
time you’ll see that sports headline for the 
remainder of the year. Ooh, admittedly 
with the college football sea-
son now upon us, that was 
a really cheap shot from this 
Spartan alum at Wolverine 
faithful. 
Yes, Michigan did defeat 
Ohio, but it was on the 
famed Little League baseball 
diamond in Williamsport, 
Pa. On Sunday, Aug. 29, Taylor North, 
our state’s representative in the 2021 Little 
League World Series, defeated Hamilton 
Ohio’s West Side squad 5-2, to capture our 
state’s first title since Hamtramck captured 
the crown in 1959. And, boy, was our 
current depressing news cycle in need of a 
healthy dose of a feel-good story. 
I mean, seriously folks, can you possibly 
imagine a sports team that actually hasn’t 
been capable of winning a championship 
in 62 years? Ooh, admittedly with the pro 
football season now upon us, that was 
a really cheap shot at our Detroit Lions 
whose current championship drought 
stands at 64 years.
COVID restrictions forced most of 
Taylor’s 16-game tournament schedule 
to be played without family members in 
attendance. Still, over a 23-day stretch 
away from home, these courageous kids 
defeated champions from seven different 
states. 
It takes me back (cue theme music from 
the film Field of Dreams) to the days when 
my old 1960s Camp Tanuga softball teams 
traveled up north in the back of a stake 
truck to play teams from Camp Walden, 
Maplehurst and Sea Gull. Win or lose, we 
always stopped at a Dairy Queen on the 
way back. 
My Little League career wasn’t as 
notable. The two things I remember most 
were, one, panicking each time I stepped 
into the batter’s box praying I wouldn’t 
be nailed by some 12-year-old’s wildly 
inaccurate fastball. And two, our manager 
taking us to an A&W Root Beer stand 
after any game that we turned a double 
play in. Who knew ice cream would play 
such a dominant role in my baseball 

career?
I did go on to enjoy some “success” as 
an adult softball player. I was the winning 
pitcher for Drakeshire Bowling Lanes in 
the 1978 Southfield Parks & Rec Men’s 
Class B Softball Championship. After 
getting the last out, our catcher, Jeffery, 
charged the mound and picked me up like 
Bill Freehan famously picked up Mickey 
Lolich after clinching the ’68 Series against 
the Cardinals. Too bad smart phones 
didn’t exist to capture how goofy we 
looked.
Yes, baseball is in my blood. That’s 
why I cherish the Little League World 
Series tournament. (Cue theme music 
from the film The Natural.) Each year, it 
allows us the throwback thrill of enjoying 
our national pastime in its purest and 

most innocent form. Teams competing 
without the benefit of sign stealing, foreign 
substances being applied to pitched balls 
or testing positive for performance-
enhancing drugs.
Although, to be completely transparent, 
one Taylor player, 12-year-old Gavin Ulin, 
stunned the audience during an in-depth 
ESPN interview when he admitted to 
profiting off of “grass.”
“I cut lawns in my spare time,” Gavin 
said. “I got 10 lawns a week. … I like that 
cash.”
He said he makes $35-40 per lawn. 
That’s a street value of up to $400 a week 
from his “grass” business. Oh, there is 
one thing he probably won’t be cutting 
any time soon — his now nationally 
recognized mullet haircut that hangs 
below his cap. This kid was “Taylor-made” 
for a great story.
I’m writing this prior to the big 
championship parade and celebration that 
was scheduled for last Thursday in Taylor’s 
Heritage Park. Hopefully, there, the players 
made up for the most notable error they 
made during their championship run 
when the squad attempted, but misfired, 
in dumping a cooler full of Gatorade over 
the head of their beloved manager Rick 
Thorning after the last out secured their 
title. 
It will be exciting to check back in a few 
years to see if a Taylor Little Leaguer has 
made it to the big leagues. It has happened.
Trenton-born Steve Avery, 51, dawned 
a Taylor Little League uniform back in the 
1980s and went on to become an All-Star 
pitcher for the Atlanta Braves in the early 
1990s and appeared in four World Series.
Avery even had a short pitching stint 
in Detroit. But to this year’s Taylor North 
squad, Avery’s biggest stop in baseball 
no doubt was when he visited the team’s 
practice prior to their Great Lakes 
Regional Game. 
Three cheers to Taylor North on being 
Little League World Champions! I only 
wish I could’ve been in the celebratory 
locker room to watch the players douse 
themselves with juice boxes. 

Alan Muskovitz is a writer, voice-over/acting 

talent, speaker, and emcee. Visit his website at 

laughwithbigal.com, “Like” Al on Facebook and reach 

him at amuskovitz@thejewishnews.com.

Alan 
Muskovitz

PURELY COMMENTARY

Alan Muskovitz 
with his 
championship 
plaque.

Alan Muskovitz 
up to bat over 
40 years ago. 

