As mentioned by MJD over the weekend, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia's Little League all-star team has a 6-foot-8, 256-pound player. That means that if things work out, Aaron Durley could become the tallest major leaguer ever; he should pass Randy Johnson (6-10) sometime around Labor Day, and probably already outweighs him. But there's more.
• Dhahran, which qualifies for the tournament nearly every year, has a tradition in which all of their players dye their hair blond before the first game.
• Durley, 13, doesn't pitch. He does, however, turn any sentence he hears into a rhyme.
• Dhahran also has players who are 6-3 and 5-8.
Meanwhile, Sunday's ESPN LLWS broadcast included a soft-focus feature on the Lake Charles, La., team, whose manager died of cancer before the squad made it to Williamsport. Seems the coach had a habit of giving his players coin pendants for good play, and all the players displayed their coins, as misty, heartwarming music played in the background.
Then it was back to the live action. ESPN broadcaster Eric Karros informed the audience that the Lake Charles team was not allowed to wear the lucky coin pendants because "Little League World Series rules prohibit the wearing of necklaces, chains, pendants or any form of jewelry." And on the next pitch, a Lake Charles batter was called out on a botched call by the first base umpire.
Little League Baseball, Inc.: "Taking all of the fun out of it since 1939."
Man Among Boys In Little League World Series [MSNBC]
(UPDATE: Apparently, Nationals reliever Jon Rauch is taller than Randy Johnson. So there you go.)