It's Little League World Series Week!
The 60th Little League World Series begins in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. Sixteen teams divided into four pools (two pools made up of teams from the United States and two pools of international teams) of four teams each will play a modified Olympic pool play format for the first round.
Each team will play each of the other three teams in the pool during the initial round with the top two teams advancing from each pool. For the second round, single elimination play begins with the United States winner and the International winner slated to play the Championship Game on August 27.
The Little League (Baseball) World Series is a baseball tournament for children under 13, named for the World Series in Major League Baseball. It was first held in 1947 and is held every August in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania. The Little League World Series is one of eight tournaments sponsored by Little League International.
Among the U.S. participants are Staten Island, NY; Lemont, IL; Phoenix, AZ; Columbus, GA; Columbia, MO; and Lake Charles, LA. Some of the International participants include Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands; Surrey, BC; Matamoros, Tamaulipas; Kawaguchi City, Japan; Moscow, Russia, and Willemstad, Curacao.
Since the inception of Little League Baseball in 1939, the organization has met with many successes and firsts. The first Little League World Series in was held in 1947, the first non-American championship team in played 1957, and the first time girls were allowed to play was in 1974.
Here are some interesting facts about Little League Baseball!
1939
Williamsport, Penn., finds a place on the map, thanks to the inauguration of Little League Baseball there by Carl Stotz and George and Bert Bebble. The three teams wear uniforms bought from a $35 donation.
1948
Little League hits 94 leagues.
1949-50
The United States has 307 leagues.
1951
The first Little League established outside the United States is in British Columbia, Canada.
1953
For the first time ever, the Little League World Series is televised by CBS... Birmingham, Ala., defeats Schenectady, N.Y., 1-0, in one of the only two 1-0 World Series finals in history.
1957
The first non-American team to win the World Series is one from Monterrey, Mexico. Angel Macias pitches the first perfect game in a World Series championship.
1962
Not only is Jackie Robinson inducted into baseball's Hall of Fame, but he also makes an appearance at the Little League World Series.
1971
The aluminum bat, developed in cooperation with Little League, is first used.
1980
Vice President George Bush, a former Little League coach, throws out the first pitch for the Little League World Series championship game.
1984
Seoul defeats Altamonte Springs, Fla., 6-2, to win Korea's first Little League World Series championship.
1985
ABC carries the Little League World Series championship game live for the first time on "Wide World of Sports". For the first time in baseball history, the home plate umpire wears a miniature camera on his mask.
1988
Tom Seaver becomes the first enshrined player of the Peter J. McGovern Little League Museum Hall of Excellence. Seaver is a graduate of the Spartan Little League in Fresno, Calif.
1989
Little League Baseball celebrates its 50th anniversary. Poland charters four teams for the first Little League Programs in a former Eastern Bloc country. Trumbull (Conn.) National Little League is the first U.S. team to win the World Series since 1983.
1995
Hall of Famer Stan Musial throws out the first pitch. ... Chinese Taipei regains the World Series title with a 17-3 win over a team from Spring, Texas.
1997
Sharon Robinson, daughter of the late Jackie Robinson, is a guest at the Little League World Series as Little League celebrates Jackie's entry into the major leagues 50 years earlier.
1998
Little League expands to include more than 95 countries. ... Toms River (N.J.) Little League wins the World Series, defeating Kashima (Japan) 12-9 in a championship game featuring 11 home runs and 41,200 fans at Lamade Stadium.
For the fifth year since the tournament expanded from eight to 16 teams in 2001, every Little League Baseball World Series team will have at least one game on national television (ABC, ESPN, and ESPN2).
The world championship game of the Little League Baseball World Series (Aug. 18-27; for 11-12-year-olds) can be seen live on ABC at 3:30 p.m., on Sunday, Aug. 27. ABC also will televise the U.S. championship game in the afternoon, on Saturday, Aug. 26 at 3:30.
Here is the Complete Schedule and More About The Series!
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Please remember: The Canteen is a place to honor and entertain our troops. Let's have fun!
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God Bless You All ~ Today, Tomorrow and Always
