Staten Island Team Opens Series With Win - SOUTH WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. - Jim Rice criticized today\'s major leaguers as too individualistic, then offered Little Leaguers some old-school tips: Respect your opponents, don\'t showboat, and stay off performance-enhancing drugs. Later, to stress his point at a news conference before the start of the Little League World Series, the new baseball Hall of Famer flexed the muscles in his right arm and said, \"That\'s all the steroids you need. ... It\'s called God-given talent.\" Nick Pucciarelli — all 5-foot-4 and 122 pounds of him — put on a hitting display Friday that would have made Rice proud. The 12-year-old outfielder homered and tripled as Staten Island, N.Y., beat Mercer Island, Wash., 10-2, on the opening day of the series. Staten Island\'s players didn\'t get to hear Rice\'s talk Friday morning because they were getting ready for their game, though the former Boston Red Sox outfielder did offer the New Yorkers some hitting advice in the dugout. \"He was telling us how to hit line drives and groundballs. If you roll your hands over, it\'s always going to be a ground ball. So how to punch the baseball for line drives,\" Pucciarelli said, mimicking a hitting motion. Manager Michael Zaccariello, sitting two seats over, whispered a gentle reminder. \"You guys have heard that before, right,\" he asked, as Pucciarelli nodded. Zaccariello said the team\'s hitting coach, Glen Morisano, gives the same tips to the players. \"Just checking,\" the manager said.
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