'Tis the season of painted wagons -- minivans adorned with Jimmy's name and number bound for the district tournament. July truly is a dangerous season for kids and parents if level heads don't prevail. Too often well-intentioned adults turn youth baseball into a hot, dusty march toward frustration -- one that ends with kids quitting baseball.

Jerry Gatto coached baseball for 33 years at Cleveland High School and Lewis & Clark College. Since last month, he has watched his 9-year-old grandson play on an All-Star team in West Linn. The team has traversed the Northwest, piling on games each weekend. "He has seen more cities in the Northwest in the past five weeks than I did in my career," said Gatto. "And there is so much emphasis on winning and parental involvement and not enough on good fundamentals and positive reinforcement. It has taken a lot of the fun out of it."

So how do you keep fun alive? The first thing parents must do is take a deep breath -- and perhaps a Valium or two -- and repeat after me: "This -All-Star stuff is no big deal." I figured that out -- though it did take a while -- and you can, too. I coached nine tournament teams in 11 years in youth baseball. I started to get a clue at the end of my tenure and am here now to save a few parents and coaches from themselves.

But first, the good news: Some Little League districts are doing a better job of policing adults and keeping the emphasis on the kids. District 4, which takes in Portland's west suburbs and some of the state's most competitive programs, has become a leader. This summer, the district will play host to state and regional tournaments and the Little League Softball World Series, at Alpenrose - the Yankee Stadium of Oregon youth ballparks. Under the leadership of administrator Gary Rowell, the district has pushed behavior contracts for parents, criminal background checks for all volunteers and smart changes to the pitching rules. This spring, the district was one of a few Districts that participated in a pilot program in which pitching limits are linked to the number of pitches thrown rather than total innings worked. Rowell became a believer after watching a pitcher in an honors tournament throw more than 70 pitches -- in one inning. (Twelve-year-olds shouldn't throw more than 75 pitches in a game, according to athletic trainers and coaches who have worked with kids.) Build up that group of pitchers!

The district also instituted pool play at its All-Star tournament, which guarantees a specific number of games per team, based on the number of teams participating. And it installed strict rules forbidding spectators from talking to coaches or players during a game, and banning parents from hovering near the dugout. "Our tournaments are so different than they used to be," said Rowell. "I like to think there is a lot less bad behavior now than there was in the '90s. "I have given all my players here permission to ignore their parents, and they think that is pretty cool."

Baseball is a difficult game where failure is more common than walk-off homers. Parents and coaches must accent the positive. Otherwise, kids get disillusioned and toss the mitt into the back of the closet. When I look back on my own experience, I cringe. Early on, I worked youth teams too hard in tournament preparation. By the time we got to Alpenrose, the kids already were toast.

Two years ago at spring training, I talked to Sean Burroughs, the San Diego Padres third baseman, about his Little League experience. His Long Beach, Calif., team won World Series titles in 1992 and 1993. And what was the winning training regimen? Burroughs shared the daily itinerary:

        go surfing in the morning,

        eat pizza for lunch,

        show up at the ballpark and play.

Keep them hungry, keep fun in the lineup and they will keep putting on those spikes.

Your team will be a lot harder to beat if they remember to bring their smiles to the ballpark as well as their gloves.

Brian Meehan, 503-221-4341; brianmeehan@news.oregonian.com