Little League World Series

The Little League World Series is a baseball tournament for children aged 11, 12 and 13 years old. Named for the World Series in Major League Baseball, it was first held in 1947 and is held every August in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania in the United States. (The postal address of the organization is in Williamsport, but the stadium complex is in South Williamsport.) Initially, only teams from the US competed in the "World Series" but it has since become a worldwide tournament. The tournament has gained popular renown, especially in the United States, where games from the Series and even from regional tournaments are broadcast on ESPN.

In 2006, the age limit was changed such that players could turn 13 after May 1, not August 1, as had previously been the case. As the competitions take place in the Northern Hemisphere summer, many of the players have already turned 13 before the World Series. The 2006 tournament also marked the end of the American Broadcasting Company broadcasts under the "ABC Sports" name. As of September 1, 2006, all Disney sports properties are under the ESPN title, regardless of which channel from Disney airs the sporting event.

The Little League World Series is one of [http://www.littleleague.org/series/index.htm eight tournaments] sponsored by Little League International. Each of them brings baseball or softball all-star teams from around the world together in one of four age divisions. The tournament structure described here is that used for the Little League Baseball World Series. The structure used for the other World Series is similar.

Championship tally by U.S. state

Famous participants in Little League World Series

* Wilson Alvarez - MLB Player (1982 World Series) / Maracaibo, Venezuela
* Jim Barbieri - Former MLB Player (1954 World Series, 1966 MLB World Series) / Schenectady, New York
* Tyler Elson - Former LLWS Player (2000 LLWS MVP Pitcher)
* Jason Bay - MLB Player (1990 World Series) /Trail, British Columbia
* Larvell Blanks - Former MLB Player (1962 World Series) / Del Rio, Texas
* Derek Bell - Former MLB Player (1980, 1981 World Series, 1992 MLB World Series Champion) / Tampa, Florida
* Sean Burroughs - MLB Player (1992, 1993 World Series) / Long Beach, CA
* Matt Cassel - NFL Quarterback for the New England Patriots (1994 World Series) / Northridge, California
* Bill Connors - Former MLB Player (1954 World Series) / Schenectady, New York
* Chris Drury - NHL Player (1989 World Series Champion, 2001 Stanley Cup Champion) / Trumbull, CT - 1989 LLWS MVP, 1998 Hobey Baker Award Winner, 1999 Calder Memorial Trophy Winner
* Ray Ferraro - Former NHL Player (1976 World Series) / Trail, British Columbia
* Gale Gilbert - Former NFL Quarterback for the Buffalo Bills, San Diego Chargers, and Seattle Seahawks (1973 World Series Runner-Up) / Red Bluff, California
* Dwight Gooden - Former MLB Player (1979 World Series, 1986 MLB World Series Champion) / Tampa, Florida
* Charlie Hayes - Former MLB Player (1977 World Series, 1996 MLB world Series Champion) / Hattiesburg, Mississippi
* Ken Hubbs - Former MLB Player (1954 World Series) / Colton, California 1962 National League MLB Rookie of The Year and Gold Glove Winner
* Keith Lampard - Former MLB Player (1958 World Series) / Portland, Oregon
* Carney Lansford - Former MLB Player (1969 World Series, 1988 & 1990 MLB World Series Runner-Up, 1989 MLB World Series Champion) / Santa Clara, California 1981 MLB Batting Champ, 1988 AL All-Star, 1992 Hutch Award Winner
* Vance Lovelace - Former MLB Player (1975 World Series) / Tampa, Florida
* Jason Marquis - MLB Player (1991 World Series & 2006 MLB World Series Champion) / Staten Island, New York 2005 NL Silver Slugger
* Stephane Matteau - Former NHL Player (1982 World Series, 1994 Stanley Cup Champion)/ Rouyn-Noranda, Quebec
* Lloyd McClendon - Former MLB Player & Manager, Currently an MLB Hitting Coach (1971 World Series) / Gary, Indiana
* Lastings Milledge - MLB Player (1997 World Series) / Bradenton, Florida
* Jim Pankovits - Former MLB Player (1968 World Series) / Richmond, Virginia
* Marc Pisciotta - Former MLB Player (1983 World Series) / Marietta, Georgia
* Boog Powell - Former MLB Player (1954 World Series, 1969 & 1971 MLB World Series Runner-Up, 1966 & 1970 MLB World Series Champion) / Lakeland, Florida
* Turk Schonert - Former NFL Player and Currently Offensive Coordinator of the Buffalo Bills (1968 World Series) / Garden Grove, California
* Gary Sheffield - MLB Player (1980 World Series, 1997 MLB World Series Champion) / Tampa, Florida 1992 MLB Batting Champ, 7-Time NL All-Star, 2-Time AL All-Star, 5-Time Silver Slugger
* Brian Sipe - Former NFL quarterback and 1980 NFL MVP (1961 World Series) / El Cajon, California
* Carl Taylor - Former MLB Player (1954 World Series) / Lakeland, Florida
* Hector Torres - Former MLB Player (1958 World Series) / Monterrey, Mexico
* George Tsamis - Former MLB Player (1979 World Series) / Campbell, California
* Pierre Turgeon - Former NHL Player (1982 World Series / Rouyn-Noranda, Quebec 4-Time NHL All-Star
* Jason Varitek - MLB Player (1984 World Series, 1994 NCAA CWS, 2004 & 2007 MLB World Series Champion) / Altamonte Springs, Florida
* Ed Vosberg - Former MLB Player (1973 World Series Runner-Up, 1980 NCAA CWS Champion, 1997 MLB World Series Champion) / Tucson, Arizona
* Dan Wilson - Former MLB Player (1981 World Series) / Barrington, Illinois 1996 AL All-Star
* Rick Wise - Former MLB Player (1958 World Series, 1975 MLB World Series) / Portland, Oregon

Championship notes

*In 1975, Little League Baseball banned all non-US teams from the World Series. After considerable criticism, the ban was rescinded the following year. [http://www.rauzulusstreet.com/features/littleleagueworldseries.html]

*In 1985, Mexicali (MX) represented the Western Region of the United States because of its proximity to the El Centro/Calexico area in Southern California, and the potential players from that region could have played for that city's leagues. It represented California's District 22 in the Southern California region, and won the Western Region tournament. After the 1985 Series, the region was shifted from California leagues to Mexico leagues. Similarly, the South Lake Tahoe (CA) Little League plays in the Nevada region of Little League in order to save on travel costs with the team closer to other leagues in Nevada than to those in California.

*In 1992, Long Beach was declared a 6–0 winner after the international tournament committee determined that Zamboanga City had used ineligible players that were either not from within its city limits, overage, or both. Although this is incorrect by Little League rule. If this had been a district, or sectional and the winning team a been caught cheating no team would be sent to the next tournament.

No teams from Taiwan (now required to compete as "Chinese Taipei") participated after the 1996 tournament until the 2003 tournament, after the Chinese Taipei Baseball Association decided its leagues would no longer charter with Little League, claiming inability to comply with rules enacted in 1992 regarding the maximum size of player pools and number of participating teams in leagues based at schools, and residency requirements, which Little League Baseball had stated they would enforce more strictly, especially after the 1992 incident. From the introduction of Far East teams in 1967 until after 1996, Taiwan had won 17 of a possible 30 championships and had been runners-up twice. [Taiwan, once dominant, to return to Little League, Associated Press Newswires, 25 April 2003, The Associated Press.]

Television coverage

The first broadcast of the Little League World Series on television was on ABC Sports (now ESPN on ABC) in 1963. At first, only the championship game was televised. Since the late 1980s, when the tournament was reorganized, both the U.S. and international championships, the "semifinals," have been shown. As the years passed, more telecasts were added on ABC, ESPN, and ESPN2. In 2006, 28 of the 36 games were televised on the three networks.

The 2006 world championship game was to be the last telecast on ABC Sports before ESPN's complete takeover of the sports division and name change. However, the final was postponed one day because of rain and was shown by ESPN2.

In January 2007, it was announced that ESPN, ESPN2, and ABC had extended their contract with the Little League organization through 2014. [http://www.latimes.com/sports/custom/extras/la-spw-tvcol5jan05,1,6528696.column?page=2&coll=la-sports-extras] That year, every game of the LLWS was scheduled to be televised for the first time, with all but one game live on ESPN, ESPN2 or ABC. (The other game was to be available online at ESPN360, then shown on ESPN2 the next day.) [http://www.littleleague.org/media/tv_lineup_07.asp] In addition, a number of games were to be shown in high-definition on one of ESPN's two dedicated HD channels, or on ABC HD. The championship games in all other divisions, as well as the semifinals and finals of the Little League Softball World Series, was scheduled for either ESPN, ESPN2 or ESPNU.

Radio coverage

Most LLWS games are broadcast live on local radio station WRAK 1400AM, which is owned by Clear Channel. The radio broadcasts are also streamed online at [http://www.littleleague.org/series/2007divisions/llbb/series.htm the LLWS page at littleleague.org] .

ee also

*Danny Almonte - the center of an age fraud investigation during 2001 series

*List of Little League World Series broadcasters

*Little League World Series Baseball 2008 (video game)- A recently released video game adaptation of the LLWS.

References

External links

* [http://www.littleleague.org Official site]
* [http://www.littleleague.org/museum/ Peter J. McGovern Little League Museum]
* [http://www.unpage.org/shared/un-genin.htm Comprehensive information on regional tournaments]