The little leaguer whose family went to court to get a bat-flip suspension lifted has turned the viral moment into a piece of baseball memorabilia.
Marco Rocco is now a pin.
The 12-year-old from Haddonfield, New Jersey, was embroiled in a legal fight last month after he was ejected for flipping his bat as he celebrated a home run in the final of a Little League sectional tournament. He faced a suspension from his first state tournament game for the ejection and the bat flip until his father took Little League to court and won an emergency temporary restraining order that allowed Rocco to play in the New Jersey State tournament.
Photo: AP
The flip is set to become part of the pin-trading culture that happens each year in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, during the Little League World Series. The pin depicts Rocco flipping the bat on his home-run trot to first base with “Batflip 2025” at the bottom and “Haddonfield” inscribed on the left side.
The pin is not for sale and is jointly released by the Rocco family and by family friends, and former major leaguers, Jeff and Todd Frazier. Only 75 pins were produced in honor of the 75th year of Haddonfield Little League and they will be traded only at the Little League World Series.
“They said it was a significant event in Little League this year,” said Joe Rocco, Marco’s father. “There was a lot of national attention on it and they thought making a pin and keeping a pin at a limited number would be an interesting item at the Little League World Series.”
Photo: AP
The Fraziers presented the pin idea to Joe Rocco to depict the biggest Little League story to burst on the scene since Mo’ne Davis — the first girl to earn a win and to throw a shutout in Little League World Series history — and he was instantly on board.
Joe Rocco said that he was unfamiliar with pin-trading culture — which Little League says is widely believed to have started in the mid-1970s by a team from Taiwan — and was simply excited to attend the US championship and Little League World Series final with his son.
Marco Rocco tossed his bat in the air on July 16 after his sixth-inning, two-run homer in the final of the sectional tournament. He was ejected and suspended for a game over what his family was told were actions deemed “unsportsmanlike” and “horseplay.”
Joe Rocco said that dozens of parents reached out to him to either offer support or ask for advice on how to handle similar disputes.
He said there was, of course, some blowback for his decision to take Little League to court over a disputed decision.
“It was chaotic, for a while, which is not what we wanted,” he said.
Their day in court ended with the judge allowing Marco Rocco to play and Little League did not appeal.
Joe Rocco said he was told that Little League would not appeal the decision, but would consider adding rules that would ban bat flipping.
“I think after this summer they absolutely need to put some sort of rule on it, whether it goes one way or the other so there’s clarity on it,” Joe Rocco said. “They need to be clear in the rules so this doesn’t happen again.”
Joe Rocco owns youth sports performance training facility Kresson Sports with Ken Goldin. Goldin is the owner of Goldin Auctions and star of the reality show King of Collectibles: The Goldin Touch. He also had a son on the Haddonfield team.
Goldin already has the bat Marco Rocco flipped in his collection.
It is to be auctioned.
Taiwan is represented at the Williamsburg tournament again this year after Taipei-based Tung-Yuan won the Asia-Pacific Region qualifier at the Hwaseong Dream Park in South Korea from June 27 to July 3.
Tung-Yuan beat North Seoul B 2-0 in the final on July 3 to book their place in Pennsylvania, where they are to open against Mexico tomorrow.
Taiwan fell just short in the championship game of the Little League World Series last year, with Taoyuan-based Guishan losing 2-1 to Florida.
Additional reporting by staff writer
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