Jackie Robinson Little League Parents Claim ESPN, Little League Used and Abused Their Kids

The Chicago boys who amazed and delighted the nation in the summer of 2014 by winning the Little League National Championship, only to have the title stripped away because the adults who ran Jackie Robinson West cheated, were deeply wronged, according to their parents and coach.

Who wronged them? Just about everybody.

So claims a lawsuit filed in Cook County circuit court on Thursday — the one-year anniversary of the ignominious revocation of the title — and Little League International, Jackie Robinson West LL, Bill Haley, Annie Haley, ESPN, Evergreen Park Little League, EPLL president Chris Janes, who lodged the complaint with Little League International, and ESPN sports commentator Stephen A. Smith are all named as defendants.

The investigation devastated the boys and brought shame and embarrassment to a city that seized on their incredible play and victories as the feel-good story of the year.

Thursday’s lawsuit was filed by the parents of 13 players, represented by lawyer James Karamanis.

The suit seeks damages for defamation and slander, and also asks for a judge to reinstate the national title.

Essentially, the lawsuit claims everyone knew there were problems but no one acted in good faith to remedy those problems before the team’s highly publicized tournament run and World Series wins, nor did they act in the weeks thereafter as the boys were used to promote Little League at the MLB World Series and the White House.

Among the lawsuit’s allegations:

• Little League was aware of the potential residency issues of the children of the JRW Parents, but chose to ignore and/or deliberately conceal these facts in order to garner higher ratings, publicity, and money for Little League
• At no time did Bill Haley inform the JRW Parents their children were ineligible to play due to residency requirements.
• Instead of alerting the JRW Parents, the JRW Tournament Coach Darold Butler, or the JRW Tournament Team members, Little League and JRWLL chose to conceal and/or ignore any and all potential residency issues that existed during the tournament.
• Nina Johnson and Pat Wilson expressly informed Bill Haley in September and October 2014 that there were JRW players who lived outside the proper boundaries, however, neither Little League, JRWLL, Bill Haley, nor Annie Haley acknowledged the potential problem.
• On or around November 6, 2014, Little League organized a trip for the JRW Tournament Team to visit the White House and arranged for the JRW Team to attend the Major League Baseball World Series in San Francisco. Little League CEO Steve Keener and Rules Chairman Pat Wilson accompanied the JRW Team to the White House and are included in the picture with President Barack Obama. After the visit with the President, Little League distributed the pictures from the visit worldwide. Little League deliberately capitalized on the notoriety of the JRW Team and the JRW Parents in order to bolster its corporate image, gain donations and otherwise profit from the unique appeal of the JRW Tournament Team ... and enhance its corporate image to raise, among other things, the value of its television deal with ESPN.
• Immediately prior to Little League announcing that the title had been stripped, ESPN broke the story before any of the JRW players or their families were informed; ESPN continually aired the Jackie Robinson West tournaments and reported on circumstances surrounding the stripping of the World Series Title from the JRW Tournament Team.
• Bill Haley perpetuated the distress by stating that he was organizing a petition to send to Defendant Little League in an attempt to reinstate the title. Despite the players and family having collected thousands of signatures and delivering them to Bill Haley, JRWLL failed to send those petitions to Defendant Little League. These petitions were nothing more than a fiction created by JRWLL to placate the JRW Parents.
• Stephen A. Smith, individually and as agent, servant, or employee of ESPN, defamed and slandered coach Darold Butler by indirectly and directly stating that he had engaged in criminal, fraudulent acts. Smith directly accused the JRW Parents of perpetrating a fraud against the Little League. Specifically, Smith stated that the JRW Parents falsified documents and engaged in deceit when referencing the ineligible residences of the players. Smith stated that the picture of Darold Butler should be put on the screen and “treat[ed] it like the mug shot it deserves to be treated like.”

STEPHEN A. SMITH’S COMMENTS

READ THE LAWSUIT