‘Larry bleeds Little League baseball. Always has and always will.'

Larry Brown didn’t need much time to realize that his proper place wasn’t in the Little League dugout.

“I decided to turn the coaching over to the better coaches, since I wasn’t one,” Brown said. “I found out I was better at administrating than coaching.”

Not just better. In the eyes of the Little League International headquarters in South Williamsport, Pa., he was one of the best. After 22 years of volunteering in Odessa youth baseball and 10 years of serving as the Texas District 3 administrator, Brown is going national.

Last week, the 64-year-old Odessa resident began serving as one of five new members on the 12-person Little League International (LLI) advisory board.

“It’s an honor that they’d value my opinion,” Brown said of his appointment. “I’ve been successful, so my opinions would be valuable to them.”

Brown will serve his term through 2013 and represent the Southwestern region — which includes Arizona, Colorado, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico and Oklahoma and Texas.

It was an honor Brown never saw coming.

“I had no idea at all until I got a call from (LLI president and CEO) Steve Keener that I’d been recommended, and he wanted to know if I’d accept an appointment,” Brown said. “I was surprised. Excited. I called my wife, and I accepted.”

Brown never played Little League baseball. Like many volunteers, he didn’t get involved in the organization until his son started playing ball. He tried his hand at coaching, but after four years of what he considered “marginal success” as a coach, he stepped down to focus on administrating from behind the scenes.

His son moved on from Little League play years ago, but Brown isn’t going anywhere.

“I tease him all the time,” said Bill Howard, secretary of the Odessa Youth Baseball Association (OYBA), and Texas District 3 umpiring chief. “The day he quits Little League will be the day I quit Little League.

“Larry bleeds Little League baseball. Always has and always will,” Howard said.

Brown has spent his administrative tenure funneling that passion into his district. District 3 now includes Odessa, Midland, Andrews and Big Spring, but it was once too large to manage — also encompassing El Paso and smaller towns in between, including Pecos, Monahans, Greenwood, Stanton and Coahoma.

When Brown found out that El Paso wasn’t being serviced as well within District 3, he took action.

“Larry didn’t like the idea that although (El Paso) was five hours away, it wasn’t being serviced,” said Dan Velte, Director of League Development and Affiliation for LLI. “He set up meetings with district officers there, and eventually he was able to build (El Paso) up and move it into its separate district. He gave them what they needed to start some programs.”

Velte worked at the Southwestern regional office in Waco at that time and witnessed Brown’s work firsthand. So when openings in the LLI advisory board emerged, Brown was an easy recommendation.

Brown flew to South Williamsport the last weekend in October to attend his first of two annual advisory meetings. And though he was the new kid on the block during the three-day council, he didn’t feel any pressure to stand out.

“Even if I would have been the only new member, that would be fine,” Brown said. “Sitting on a board with all the decision makers was a pretty neat experience.

“I took more the role of sitting back and listening this time. I’ll strike next year,” he said.

Brown said he came away eager to explore new experiments and opportunities in his district, including expanding age classifications and allowing players to lead off at a younger age — the current minimum age for “open bases” is 13.

LLI also faces the challenge of declining participation around the country. In the time since LLI was founded in 1939, other sports, club and select leagues have risen to take some of the market share away from Little League baseball. Yet Brown is encouraged by some recent growth in Odessa — three years after it folded due to low participation, the Southside League will once again become a full-fledged member of the OYBA in 2011.

And Brown is still committed to his district. He helped bring the regional tournament to Midland, and he has sent Odessa umpires to the Junior World Series and Little League World Series regional play. His next goal is to help his friend Howard fulfill his dream of umpiring in the Little League World Series.

Although Brown now has a national voice, his heart is still in West Texas.

“I love baseball, I love youth, and I think I can make a difference,” Brown said. “I got to do what I wanted. Now I want to help some more people.”