<p>Mickey Lay, manager of the Warner Robins Little League World Series team, wants to make sure his team of 12-year-old boys has fun while playing in the national spotlight.</p><p>Lay laughs, jokes and plays pingpong with his players. He sings lines like "Good morning, sweet sunshine" on his wake-up calls to his players.</p><p>And Lay, a 46-year-old who sells school furniture and equipment, sometimes lets the players poke fun at his girth. The players even call him Fat Albert.</p><p>As the Warner Robins team practiced Thursday for Friday night's opening game against Lake Oswego, Ore., Lay sat on a plastic five-gallon bucket tossing baseballs during batting practice.</p><p>One boy complained about the accuracy of Lay's throws.</p><p>"Son," Lay said, "the pitcher ain't gonna throw it where you want it."</p><p>At another practice, when a fly ball dropped just beyond the reach of an outfielder, Lay hollered, "You lay off them Cokes and Gatorades, you'd get there."</p><p>The Warner Robins All-Stars advanced to the World Series by winning the Southeast regional title in Florida.</p><p>"What I'll always remember about that championship game at the Southeast regional was that after it was over, every player hugged me _ and I hugged them back," Lay says. "I love every one of them, and I hope they look back on this one day and say they enjoyed it."</p><p>The Warner Robins team has an important alumnus.</p><p>Gov. Sonny Perdue was a catcher for the Warner Robins Little League team almost 50 years ago, but that team didn't enjoy as much success _ losing in the 1959 state district tournament.</p><p>"I'm struck by the fact that it's taken me 50 years to get to the World Series, but I'm vicariously exhilarated," Perdue told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.</p><p>Lay says he wants his players to relish their time in Pennsylvania.</p><p>"This is Little League baseball," Lay says. "There's nothing that compares to it. There's not another tournament or organization that can even come close to this. When you walk in here, you realize this is the king of them all. This is the bowl game, the Rose Bowl."</p><p>Lay's players seem to genuinely like him. They goof off, just like most 12-year-olds, and they usually escape with little more than a gentle scolding.</p><p>"Some coaches, they'll be hard on you all the time," said one of Lay's players, Hunter Jackson. "We have time to joke around, and we have time to be serious."</p><p>Lay says he's just doing his best to "give back" to the boys.</p><p>"I'm very fortunate to be involved in this," he said, adding "It's about the kids."</p><p>Added Lay: "We want to accomplish more than just getting here."</p><p>___</p><p>HASH(0x2dec340)</p>
