If you were wondering how much impact the conspiracy theories, half-truths, and lies we see in the political world are having in American culture, consider the case of a 12-year-old pitcher from Iowa whose team is playing in the Little League World Series.
Colin Townsend was on the mound Saturday in a game between Iowa and Washington. He had just walked a batter, putting two runners on base with the potential tying run coming to plate. Two were out and Iowa led 6-3 in the final inning of the game.
Iowa manager Dave McFate walked to the pitcher’s mound to discuss strategy with his pitcher and the infielders when Townsend, according to Mediaite, “channeled his inner Donald Trump” and suggested the umpire was working for ESPN (which is televising the Little League World Series), telling McFate:
“This is for ESPN … It’s for ESPN so they can comeback (sic) … Because ESPN likes this. All ESPN.”
Fortunately, McFate refused to buy into his pitcher’s suggestion, telling him:
“Nothing we can do about that strike call, okay? There’s two outs … We gotta shake that, we gotta shake that.”
The manager then added:
“Hey, focus right here. Focus right here on me. Shake it. Shake it, okay? We need one out … let’s go, you can do this. You can do this. You can do this.”
Iowa went on to win the game over Washington, 6-3, and then bested Utah Sunday by a score of 10-2.
