The death of 9-year-old Kasier Carlile on Sunday prompted the National Baseball Congress to suspend the use of bat boys and girls in its World Series in Kansas, the Wichita Eagle reported Monday.
Carlile was hit in the head with a bat on a follow-through swing near the on-deck circle Saturday during the Liberal Bee Jays' game. Carlile was wearing a helmet.
Players were aware of Kaiser's death before Sunday's game. The Bee Jays won 8-0 on Saturday and followed with a run-rule, seven-inning 8-0 victory over the Haysville Aviators.
"We just lost a little, 9-year-old Bee Jay and it's incredibly sad," said Kasier's father, Mike Carlile. "No one wrote us a book to tell us how to do this. We're just dealing with it the best way we know how and that's to keep coming out and keep honoring Kaiser on the field."
Mike Carlile is the Liberal General Manager.
The organization planned to honor Carlile at games Monday and today.
The Eagle reported that the city of Wichita, which owns the facility, is deciding whether to investigate the death. A city official said it was too early to decide.
Mike Carlile told the Eagle that the parents of Kaiser wanted the Bee Jays to continue playing -- and winning -- in the National Baseball Congress World Series.
"It is such an unfortunate accident and all we can do is be strong for the family," Bee Jays Manager Adam Anderson said. "That's all they wanted us to do was go out there and play a good baseball game and that's what we did."
Cavs tops in East
Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., writes that the Cleveland Cavaliers are the team to beat in the Eastern Conference.
"The long-held belief had been that in order to be the best, you had to be built to beat the best," Winderman wrote.
"So you strategized with Jordan Rules, added bulk to contend with the beef of Shaq, worked to solve the riddle of Phil Jackson's triangle.
"But what the NBA has shown in recent years, particularly in the past three, is that success has been delivered through diversity: the LeBron James-centric Miami Heat in 2012 and '13, the selfless San Antonio Spurs and their irrepressible ball movement in 2014, and now the three-point threat of the Golden State Warriors.
"Yet among the league's lesser half, where the depth of talent is decidedly shallower, the focus can remain singular: getting past LeBron and the Cleveland Cavaliers. Nothing this offseason has changed the Eastern Conference half of the equation.
"Unlike in the Western Conference, where the Spurs reloaded with LaMarcus Aldridge, the Houston Rockets fortified with even greater depth, and the Los Angeles Clippers now have legitimate wing options, the East very much still has a target team, led by the player who has represented the conference in the past five NBA Finals."
He said it
From Brad Dickson of the Omaha World-Herald:
• "Lolo Jones said she could last a minute vs. Ronda Rousey. That's when you know a competitor is dominant. Another athlete brags, 'Yeah, I could go a full minute with her before being knocked out.' "
• "I wouldn't say new Husker head coach Mike Riley won over Big Ten writers at media days, but most are now calling him 'Uncle Mike.' "
• "Urban Meyer claims that 'the first guy that jogs out' will start at quarterback. Isn't that how Purdue found its last two head coaches?"
SPORTS QUIZ
How many active major league players played at the Kingdome in Seattle?
ANSWER
Seven: Torii Hunter (Pine Bluff), Carlos Beltran, Bartolo Colon, LaTroy Hawkins, David Ortiz, A.J. Pierzynski and Alex Rodriguez. The Kingdome was the home of the Seattle Mariners in 1977-1999.
Sports on 08/04/2015