Little League Classic: Mets excited to play kids' game in Williamsport

Brandon Nimmo has taken part in the Little League Classic before.

It was Aug. 19, 2018, and a then-25-year-old Nimmo was sidelined with a left index finger bruise suffered when he was hit by a pitch three days earlier.

But he was still with the Mets, taking in all that Williamsport, Pennsylvania — home of the Little League World Series — has to offer.

He remembers his first time meeting a big-leaguer when a former Rockies player visited his Cheyenne East High School in Wyoming. Now on the other side of those moments with the game’s youth, Nimmo knows the impact they have.

“When they see us and the interactions they get with us, they see us down on the field and have this perception of we’re kind of these untouchable people,” Nimmo told Newsday. “It’s hard to get to them and everything.

“But when you get one-on-one with us, you realize we were kids just like you at one point and we had dreams just like you, and we went after those dreams and were fortunate enough to keep playing this game as our job.

“It makes it a little more realistic and something that the kids can tangibly touch and be like, ‘OK, maybe I really could do this. If I really put my head to it and I put my heart to it, this is something that I could do.’ ”

Nimmo and the Mets will face the Mariners in the eighth Little League Classic at 7 p.m. Sunday at Historic Bowman Field in Williamsport.

The team will land at Williamsport Regional Airport on Sunday morning, visit the Little League Complex to interact with kids and watch their games, then head to the 2,366-seat ballpark, which will be filled with LLWS players and families.

Nimmo is not the only former Met returning to Williamsport. Jeff McNeil also was with the Mets in 2018.

Juan Soto and Clay Holmes, Sunday’s starting pitcher, played in last year’s game with the Yankees. Cedric Mullins played with the Orioles in the 2022 Classic. Holmes and Starling Marte played in the game with Pittsburgh in 2019. Marte also played in the first rendition of the game with the Pirates in 2017.

“I think it’s an honor to be able to have that opportunity to bring these kids to be able to see us,” Marte said through an interpreter. “And also when you fast-forward and hopefully these players continue to excel, and when they end up signing or getting drafted, you can always look back and say, ‘Oh, like, I saw that kid when he was playing in the Little League World Series.’ And it would be a special moment, just because the hard work paid off.”

What will the day have in store?

“It’s going to feel chaotic,” Mullins said. “You got a ton of kids screaming at you. You’re going down, I guess, a cement carpet walking up to, I think, the clubhouse, something like that. But there’s a walkway that you go through, a bunch of kids on the side. You’re going to stop by, perhaps say hello to some people. It’s going to be fun.”

Advice from across town

No one gained more from the Little League Classic experience than Jazz Chisholm Jr.

Chisholm, who was acquired by the Yankees only 22 days before last year’s Little League Classic, was on the injured list during their 3-2, 10-inning loss to Detroit. That did not stop him from making a new friend.

Russell McGee of Henderson, Nevada, told Chisholm that he was his favorite player. Chisholm immediately took McGee under his wing and gave him his phone number. The two remain close today.

“He hangs out with me all the time,” Chisholm said. “He plays for my travel ball team too. I started a travel ball team right after that, and he’s like one of my best players.”

McGee visited Chisholm at spring training this year, and Chisholm said he took him to a Formula 1 race in Las Vegas.

Luke Weaver took part in the Little League Classic twice, last year with the Yankees and in 2017 with the Cardinals. He has some advice for the Mets.

“More than anything, just coming in with an open mind,” Weaver said. “It’s a long day. You got to do everything and play in the same day, so a good attitude. And just understand that it’s a very unique experience. They do their best to cater it, to make it as easy as possible. Know that you’re an inspiration to kids who want to one day be doing what you’re doing. And those little things just add up, so you can rest the next day or whatever you need to.

“But just soak it in, experience it all and look back.”

Cody Bellinger has never participated in the Little League Classic, but he played in the 2007 LLWS, representing Arizona’s Chandler National Little League team that lost in the quarterfinals.

Bellinger called the experience “so sick” and remembered his team having no fear. He did not have a Little League Classic to attend 18 years ago, but he could imagine just how unique it is for today’s young stars.

“I’ve seen a lot of the games,” Bellinger said. “I remember Juan last year, and all the kids were doing the Soto Shuffle behind him. It’s so cool. The kids are just out there having the best time of their lives.”

A different experience, but a special one

Historic Bowman Field, home to the Williamsport Crosscutters of the MLB Draft League, is not exactly suited for a full MLB season.

Although the field has major-league dimensions, the clubhouses are not quite like the ones at MLB stadiums, and Nimmo noted that the lighting was a problem seven years ago. But for one night, it is a sacrifice worth making.

The players have been in the kids’ shoes before.

“It was fun to be able to hang out with the kids, to be able to have big-leaguers be able to have those smaller moments with the kids,” said Nimmo, who held a sandlot game with local Little Leaguers at Flushing Meadows Corona Park on Tuesday. “Not just a quick hi or whatever. Be able to kind of ask the questions and whatnot.

“To be able to have that interaction with the kids and the youth of our game that’s going to be the future of our game is a lot of fun and something that I think should be fostered, most definitely.”

Mullins remembered sliding down the hill with kids at Howard J. Lamade Stadium, a right of passage at the LLWS.

Holmes had memorable interactions with the Japanese players, who were “super-inquisitive” about baseball things such as the sweeper and different pitch grips.

“They’re obviously going to live their dream, but obviously I think every ballplayer kind of wants to grow up and be a major-league player,” Holmes said. “So just to see the excitement for them and what it means to them, I think it makes it super-special for us.”

Marte, from the Dominican Republic, recalled his conversations with the players from Latino backgrounds, giving them advice on the journey ahead.

“It’s marvelous,” he said. “It’s a marvelous occasion for everyone involved, but especially for those kids that are working hard trying to make it to this level eventually. To be able to see players like us, professional players around, and for us to watch them play in those games and eventually for them to watch us. I think it’s a really special event for everybody involved.”