Aug 23, 2025; Williamsport, PA, USA; A general view before the game between Mountain Region and Metro Region at Howard J. Lamade Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Ross-Imagn Images

Brian Palazzolo, a young man who pitched for Connecticut during the 2025 Little League World Series (LLWS), wants to be an actuary when he grows up. This, of course, is completely OK. Some of us really like math, numbers, and statistics. When you know what you like, you know what you like.

But when ESPN's broadcast crew featuring Karl Ravech, Todd Frazier, and Jessica Mendoza learned about Palazzolo's aspirations for his future during the LLWS third-place game against Aruba on Sunday, they were confused. Ravech, for one, seemed to be surprised that a child knew they wanted to be an actuary. Meanwhile, Frazier and Mendoza admitted they weren't entirely sure what an actuary is, which led to Ravech sharing a concise explanation and example of the occupation's general responsibilities.

As Connecticut played through an eventual 4-2 win, this led to an amusing couple of minutes on the ESPN broadcast as the crew tried to make sense of a young man wanting a job where ... he may be doing things like assessing risk and potential damages. It's just not something you hear about every day!

To be clear, I'm also somewhat surprised that a child is deliberately highlighting a profession like actuary as their dream job. It's not something you would expect from young people all that much, especially, you know? But hey, if that's what they want, I appreciate them sharing their focused goals with a national audience. That takes guts.

It might lead to the ESPN crew trying to get to the bottom of the decision live, but it's still worth highlighting for someone's confidence.

This article originally appeared on For The Win: ESPN announcers were mystified by Little Leaguer's dream job choice

Reporting by Robert Zeglinski, For The Win / For The Win

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