MLB Star Sends Inspiring Message to Local Little League Team

One thing you hear a lot around youth baseball and football fields as both a player and a parent is that no one here is going pro.

Honestly, it's something that I've said myself, if only to cool parents off who can sometimes take Little League baseball just a little too seriously.

I've seen at least one field that richly reminds parents that "no Division 1 scholarships will be handed out today."

The Real Odds of Local Youth Baseball Players Making the MLB

Less than one in 10 Little Leaguers will play varsity baseball in high school. Only two to three percent of varsity ball players will play Division 1 baseball in college, and about two percent of D1 players will ever play in one Major League Baseball game.

With all of those numbers taken ito consideration, only one in 12,000 Little Leaguers will ever play in the big leagues.

But guess what? It happens. There are 30-year-old guys walking around the SouthCoast who can actually say they've faced a big leaguer. That big leaguer is Washington Nationals reliever P.J. Poulin.

Some Big Leaguers Remember Where They Came From

What makes it nice is when that Major League Baseball player doesn't forget where he came from. Poulin was a U12 all star player in Fairhaven Little League back in 2009, so he remembers how important all star games are to boys that age. That's why it was so incredible when Poulin personally reached out to the Fairhaven All-Stars.

Major League Baseball Star Surprises Hometown Little League Team

A shoutout from an actual Major League Baseball player is almost inconceiveable, but that's exactly what happened for the Fairhaven Acushnet U11 team.

"I just want to wish you guys good luck moving forward. Get to that Cal Ripken World Series!" said the Tabor Academy grad.

Needless to say, the video has been played endlessly in Fairhaven and Acushnet. "Can you believe he sent this to us?" the players kept saying.

Poulin made his Major League debut last summer. He's currently on the Washington Nationals' injured list as he nurses a hurt elbow. Poulin has acted as the team's closer at times this season.

"They don't have to look up to some major leaguer they'll never meet, they can look up to him," said Chad Amaral, one of the coaches for the U11 team.

The Fairhaven Acushnet U11 team made it to New England's final four teams, but lost to Exeter. In the end, they were Eastern Massachusetts champs and were two wins away from a trip to the national World Series.