The 12-Year-Old Dominating Sports

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Hey Friends,

We don’t talk about youth athletes often, but this story is too good to ignore.

Gavin Weir, a 12-year-old from South Dakota, has been paraded around as the best youth pitcher in the country this year. Of course, reputations aren’t always easy to uphold, but Weir has DELIVERED at the 2021 Little League World Series.

His stat line reads like a video game: Weir has thrown 600+ pitches to 132 batters over 40+ innings this summer, striking out 114 batters (86%), walking 6 batters, and only allowing 1 hit while throwing 4 no-hitters.

At an age where most coaches are just focused on pitchers throwing more strikes than balls, Gavin Weir has displayed an elite repertoire of pitching talent. He throws five different pitches, including a nasty slider, can touch about 75 miles per hour and has an uncanny ability to change speeds and locate his pitches for such a young age.

So you’re worried about his mechanics? Don’t be; as if we weren’t already overreacting, his pitching style is being compared to 7x All-Star Chris Sale.

Remember, Gavin Weir is 12-years-old.

And if that historic stat line isn’t impressive enough, Gavin Weir might (somehow) be the best hitter at the tournament also.

He went 4-for-9 in the regional tournament with a home run, 4 RBIs, a 1.949 on-base plus slugging — almost 2x the MLB leader right now — and hit a 3-run, game-winning home run less than 24 hours after throwing a no-hitter earlier this week.

I know we are all overreacting, to some degree, but come on, this is amazing stuff.

The Little League World Series (LLWS) is one of the most unique sporting events in the world. Sure, it’s technically just an annual baseball tournament for children—typically boys—aged 10 to 12 years old. But it’s also so much more than that.

The annual international tournament is held in Williamsport, Pennslyvania, with last year being the first cancellation in more than 70+ years. It has been nationally televised on networks like ESPN and ABC since 1963, and more than 50 former LLWS players have gone on to have MLB careers.

But similar to other major professional sporting events like the Super Bowl, NBA Finals, or a Formula 1 Grand Prix, the Little League World Series also provides enormous economic value to the local community.

Most estimates suggest that the Little League World Series injects between $35-$40 million into the local economy between transportation, lodging, food, and more.

Estimated Local Economic Impact

• NFL Super Bowl: $500 million

• Formula 1 Grand Prix: $150 million

• NCAA March Madness: $100 million

• NBA Finals: $50 million

Again, I think it’s important to note that these are estimates. Countless other economists have debated these figures for decades, and truthfully, I tend to believe they are often overstated myself.

But for a small town in Eastern Pennslyvania, having thousands of out-of-town visitors ascend on your city for 10+ days is obviously significant, even without international teams competing this year.

Have a great day, and I’ll talk to everyone tomorrow.

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