Mayor Rahm Emanuel has asked Little League officials to reverse their decision to strip the Chicago champions of their U.S. title Wednesday.
Emanuel fought for JRW in a lengthy phone call with Little League International President and CEO Stephen Keener Wednesday in effort to have them change their mind, the mayor's office confirmed.
The mayor made it clear that by stripping the team of the title, the league was making the children the perpetrators, when they are the victims, a source confirms.
"The normal and natural reaction is to be heartbroken, but I ask everybody to remember how much these kids showed their real character," Emanuel said earlier Wednesday during a sit-down interview with Telemundo Chicago.
While the mayor agrees the punishment deserves to go to someone, it should not fall on the children.
And he's not the only one calling on officials to reverse the decision.
City leaders, parents and Jackie Robinson West players called on Little League officials to reverse their decision to strip the Chicago champions of their U.S. title over residency violations, saying that the team doesn’t deserve to be punished.
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JRW was stripped of its Little League World Series national championship title Wednesday after officials determined the South Side team added top suburban players in violation of residency rules.
