While the Little League World Series (LLWS) is currently played in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, the long -standing house of this baseball classic, the tournament for children from 10 to 12 years old began in 1947. Little the organizers knew that 78 years later, this version of a world series would become a global sensation.
The LLW had its first taste for international teams in 1957 when Monterrey, Mexico, played and won the tournament. The team defended its title a year later. It would take nine years later before another team outside the United States was crowned champion and the team left West Tokyo, Japan, when they beat a team from Chicago Illinois by a final score of 4-1.
With the title of West Tokyo, a race on the championships started Asian teams as in 1968, 1969, and from 1971 to 1974 from Wakayama, Osaka, Japan, Taichung, Taiwan, Taipei, Taiwan, Tainan, Taiwan and Kaohsiung, Taiwan have defeated the United States teams. The title matches for 1971, 1973 and 1974 saw the winning Taiwanese teams marking 12 points in each championship match.
These 12 points are far from the highest total by a team in the history of LLWS. In the very first World Series title match, the host Williamsport beat Lock Haven, Pennsylvania 16-7. In 1987, Hualien, Taiwan, erased a team from Irvine, California, 21-1. Taiwan was again dominant in 1995 when they crushed spring, Texas 17-3. Last year, Lake Mary obtained the best of Taoyuan, in Taiwan, he made additional sleeves for a 2-1 victory.
Overall, the United States is still far in the titles with next 40 by Taiwan with 17 then Japan with 11. By states, California has eight titles. Pennsylvania, Connecticut, New Jersey and Hawaii all won four. Among the international teams, Mexico and South Korea won three. Venezuela won twice. This leaves only Curacao who won in 2004.
If you are curious if one of the former LLWS participants reached the major leagues, 72 former small leaguers have played for an MLB team or are still active. Some of the most recognizable and notable players are:
- Wilson Alvarez
- Jim Barbieri (who was the first to play in LLWS and MLB World Series)
- Jason Bay (recruit of the year of the 2004 MLB for the National League)
- Derek Bell (Member of T 1992 MLB World Series Champions)
- Cody Bellinger (currently active)
- Todd Frazier (2015 MLB Home Run Derby Field)
- Lloyd McClendon (former pirate director)
- Arc Powell
- Gary Sheffield
- Jason Varitek
Baseball players are not the only athletes to participate in LLW. The former quarter of the National Football League Matt Cassel played for Northridge, California, during the 1994 tournament when his team finished second. Another quarter-Arrière Turk Schonert also played not only in the Little League World Series, but in the Super Bowl with the Bengals of Cincinnati. Another signal caller and a fairly good was Brian Sipe who played for the Browns of Cleveland and also El Cajon of California in 1961. Sipe was also the most precious player in the NFL in 1980.
The hockey star, Pierre Turgeon, was a Rouyn-Noranda Baseball player in Quebec in the 1982 LLW. Women were not excluded in this summer classic. Mo’ne Davis became the first girl to record a winning mound victory in 2014 as a member of Taney Little League in 2014. Taney played in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Davis was not alone as Krissy Wendell, a former player of the United States national hockey team, also participating in 1994 for Brooklyn Park, Minnesota. The girls have participated since the first appearance in 1984 by Brussels, Victoria Roche in Belgium participated. Since then, 20 other appearances, including Mo’ne Davis, have been recorded.
Although he had no career in sport, the governor of Florida, Ron Desantis, was a league baseball player in his youth and played for the Florida Dunedin team 1991. Then there is the dark side of the LLW which took place in 2001 when a Bronx team, New York, sent Danny Almonte in competition knowing that it was more than 10-12 years. His coaches were broken for falsifying his birth certificate and therefore his team disqualified.
While we looked back 75 years ago at 1950, that year, the Houston Little League of Texas won the batting title Bridgeport, Connecticut. It was only the fourth LLW in history and the match was tight with a final score of 2-1. Before 25 to 1975, Lakewood, New Jersey became a champion with a victory over Tampa, Florida. 1975 represented the ban on international teams from which seemed to be an embarrassment of the United States because in three previous years in the 1970s, Taiwan teams had outlined 120-2 opponents in nine games. The ban was lifted in 1976 after a public outroar.
25 years ago in 2000, as a new century was on our doorstep, the Sierra Maestra Little League in Maracaibo, Venezuela, won the LLWS championship abroad after defeating Bellaire Little League of Texas. Interesting facts on the Little League World Series are:
- The first series in 1947 was played at Original Field at Memorial Park, Williamsport.
- The series was founded by Carl Stotz, a clerk of the petroleum company of Williamsport in 1939.
- In 1959, the matches were moved to the Howard J. Lamade stadium. After an eight team format was abandoned for a new invitation to 20 teams, the volunteer stadium has become a second place.
- The teams played in 29 different countries and 44 distinct states.
- Current estimates have 16,000 games played in 45 days to enter the Williamsport end towers, which is now limited to 16 teams.
