Little League Baseball World Series

Little League Baseball World Series

Current season	Little League World Series 2015
sport	baseball
abbreviation	LLWS
Association	Little League Baseball and Softball
League foundation	1947
Teams	16
Country countries	International
Title holder	Japan (2017)
Record champions	Chinese Taipei (17)
Website	Little League Baseball & Softball

A Little League World Series game at Howard J. Lamade Stadium in South Williamsport.

The Little League Baseball World Series is an international baseball tournament for boys between the ages of 11 and 12. The first tournament was held in 1947 under the name National Little League Tournament. Only later was the name adjusted to Major League Baseball and the tournament was renamed Little League World Series. Since then, the tournament has always been held in August in South Williamsport , Pennsylvania .

Initially only teams from the United States played , but gradually more and more international teams were added. As of 1957, the countries and states were divided into eight groups (four US and four international groups). One team from each group qualified for the World Series. From 2001 the number of groups doubled.

The games will be broadcast live nationwide on ESPN and ABC across the United States . The local radio station WRAK (AM) also broadcasts some games live.

In Europe, the games could be seen live on ESPN America until August 1, 2013 .

qualification

The qualifying tournaments for the Little League World Series usually take place in early summer all over the world. The respective modes differ from region to region. In the United States, for example, tournaments begin at the school district level. So it can be that in the larger states some teams have to win up to four tournaments to qualify for the World Series. In Japan and Europe, however, two tournaments are sufficient.

This is how the United States' qualifying regions are composed:

• Great Lakes region
• Central Atlantic region
• Midwest region
• New England region
• Northwest region
• Southeast region
• Southwest region
• West region

At the international level, the regions have been composed as follows since 2013:

• Asia Pacific and Middle East region
• Canada region
• Caribbean region
• Europe and Africa region
• Japan region
• Latin America region
• Mexico region
• Australia region

Before 2013, the regions were repeatedly converted. Former regions were:

• Asia Region (International)
• Asia Pacific Region (International)
• Region Europe (International)
• Europe, Middle East and Africa Region (International)
• Far East Region (International)
• Gulf States Region (USA)
• Middle East Africa Region (International)
• East Region (USA)
• Pacific Region (International)
• South Region (USA)
• Transatlantic Region (International)
• Central region (USA)
• West Region (USA)

Venues

In the history of the Little League World Series, three different venues were played. Originally the games took place in Williamsport . It has been played at Howard J. Lamade Stadium in South Williamsport since 1959 . When the field of participants increased to 16 teams in 2001, a second stadium was built, the Little League Volunteer Stadium. The latter two stadiums are still played today.

Both stadiums are the same size and have a playing field length from the home base to the fence of 68.6 m (until 2006 62.5 m). Admission is free for everyone, but due to the high demand, the tickets must be raffled. Outside the Lamade Stadium there is a hill with a berm which is actively used by the spectators. The stadium and the hill together have a capacity of up to 45,000 spectators. This is the same as Angel Stadium of Anaheim or Citi Field . In the German-speaking area, this is comparable to the Weser Stadium or St. Jakob Park .

The current attendance record comes from 2011, when 41,848 spectators were counted for the game Great Lakes against the Central Atlantic.

Finals

The following finals took place in the events:

1940s

year	winner	Result	loser
1947	Williamsport	16-7	Lock Haven
1948	Lock Haven	6-5	Saint Petersburg
1949	Hammonton	5–0	Pensacola
1950	Houston	2–1	Bridgeport

1950s year winner Result loser 1951 Stamford 3–0 Austin 1952 Norwalk 4-3 Monongahela 1953 Birmingham 1–0 Schenectady 1954 Schenectady 7-5 Colton 1955 Morrisville 4-3 Merchantville 1956 Roswell 3–1 Merchantville 1957  South Monterrey 1   4-0  West La Mesa 1958  Latin America Monterrey 10-1  North Kankakee 1959  North Hamtramck 12-0  West Auburn 1960  East Levittown 5–0  South Fort Worth

1960s year winner Result loser 1961  West El Cajon 4-2  South El Campo 1962  West San Jose 3–0  North Kankakee 1963  West Granada Hills 2–1  East Stratford 1964  East Staten Island 4-0  Latin America Monterrey 1965  East Windsor Locks 3–1  Canada Stoney Creek 1966  South Houston 8-2  East West New York 1967  Far East Tokyo 4–1  North Chicago 1968  Far east Wakayama 1–0  South Richmond 1969  Far east Taichung 5–0  West Santa Clara 1970  East Wayne 2–0  West Campbell

1970s year winner Result loser 1971  Far East Tainan 12–3 (9)  North Gary 1972  Far east Taipei 6-0  North Hammond 1973  Far East Tainan 12-0  West Tucson 1974  Far East Kaohsiung 12-1  West Red Bluff 1975 2  East Lakewood 4-3  South Tampa 1976  Far East Chofu 10-3  West Campbell 1977  Far East Kaohsiung 7-2  West El Cajon 1978  Far East Pingdong 11-1  West Danville 1979  Far east Taipei 2–1  West Campbell 1980  Far east Hualian 4-3  South Tampa

1980s year winner Result loser 1981  Far east Taichung 4-2  South Tampa 1982  West Kirkland 6-0  Far East Jiayi County 1983 South Marietta 3–1  Latin America Barahona 1984  Far East Seoul 6–2  South Altamonte Springs 1985  Far East Seoul 7-1  West Mexicali 3   1986  Far East Tainan 12-0  West Tucson 1987  Far east Hualian 21-1  West Irvine 1988  Far east Taichung 10-0  West Pearl City 1989  East Trumbull 5–2  Far East Kaohsiung 1990  Far East Tainan 9-0  East Shippensburg

1990s year winner Result loser 1991  Far east Taichung 11-0  West San Ramon Valley 1992  West Long Beach 6–0 4  Far East Zamboanga City 1993  West Long Beach 3–2  Latin America David 1994  Latin America Maracaibo 4-3  West Northridge 1995  Far East Tainan 17–3 (5)  South Spring 1996  Far East Kaohsiung 13–3 (5)  East Cranston 1997  Latin America Guadalupe 5-4  West Mission Viejo 1998  East Toms River 12-9  Far East Kashima 1999  Far East Hirakata 5–0  South Phenix City 2000  Latin America Maracaibo 3–2  South Bellaire

2000s year winner Result loser 2001  Asia Kōtō 2–1  Southeast Apopka 2002  Great Lakes Louisville 1–0  Asia Sendai 2003  Asia Musashi-fuchu 10-1  Southeast East Boynton Beach 2004  Caribbean Willemstad 5–2  West Thousand Oaks 2005  Northwest Ewa Beach 7–6 (7)  Caribbean Willemstad 2006  Southeast Columbus 2–1  Asia Kawaguchi 2007  Southeast Warner Robins 3–2 (8)  Japan Tokyo 2008  West Waipahu 12-3  Mexico Matamoros 2009  West Chula Vista 6–3  Asia Pacific Taoyuan 2010  Japan Edogawa 4–1  West Waipahu

2010s

year	winner	Result	loser
2011	West Huntington Beach	2–1	Japan Hamamatsu
2012	Japan Kōtō	12–2 (5)	Southeast Goodlettsville
2013	Japan Chofu	6-4	West Chula Vista
2014	Asia Pacific Seoul	8-4	Great Lakes Chicago
2015	Japan Tokyo	18-11	Mid-Atlantic Lewisberry
2016	Central Atlantic Maine - Endwell	2–1	Asia Pacific Seoul
2017	Japan Tokyo	12–2 (5)	South Lufkin
2018	West Honolulu	3-0	Asia Pacific Seoul

Remarks

¹ Monterrey was assigned to Texas in 1957.

^{2 In} 1975 all international participants were excluded from the tournament. After massive protests, they were re-admitted in 1976.

³ Mexicali was assigned to California until 1985.

⁴ Zamboanga City won the LLWS in 1992 and was subsequently disqualified because of being too old.

• In April 1997, Taiwan's national organizers announced that they were not sending any more teams to the Little League World Series because they believed the tournament was no longer compatible with national sports funding. Furthermore, they were no longer able to comply with the LLWS regulations. Only in 2003 was a team sent again.

Championships by state

team	Number of championships	Last won
Taiwan / Chinese Taipei	17th	1996
Japan	11	2017
California	7th	2011
Pennsylvania	4th	1960
Connecticut	4th	1989
New Jersey	4th	1998
Mexico	3	1997
Georgia	3	2007
South Korea	3	2014
new York	3	2016
Texas	2	1966
Venezuela	2	2000
Hawaii	2	2008
Alabama	1	1953
New Mexico	1	1956
Michigan	1	1959
Washington	1	1982
Kentucky	1	2002
/ Curacao	1	2004

Well-known participants in the Little League World Series

The following list shows some of the participants of the LLWS who later celebrated further successes. The list is not exhaustive.

• Danny Almonte ( LLWS 2001 ) - Inserted as an old player in 2001. Therefore, the team from New York was disqualified.
• Jason Bay ( LLWS 1990 ) - MLB player in the New York Mets (2013): 3 × All-Star (2005, 2006, 2009 ), NL Rookie of the Year 2004, Silver Slugger Award 2009
• Matt Cassel ( LLWS 1994 ) - NFL Quarterback : 2 × AFC Offensive Player of the Week (2008)
• Chris Drury ( LLWS 1989 World Champion) - Former NHL player: Stanley Cup winner 2001, Hobey Baker Award winner 1998, Calder Memorial Trophy winner 1999
• Ray Ferraro ( LLWS 1976 ) - Former NHL Player: All-Star Player ( 1992 )
• Stéphane Matteau ( LLWS 1982 ) - Former NHL player: 1994 Stanley Cup winner
• Pierre Turgeon ( LLWS 1982 ) - Former NHL player: 4-time NHL All-Star player ( 1990 , 1993 , 1994 , 1996 ), 2 × Trophée Michel Bergeron (1986, 1987), 1 × Lady Byng Memorial Trophy (1993)

Web links

Commons : Little League World Series  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ^ World Series History. (No longer available online.) Littleleague.org, archived from the original on August 17, 2010 ; accessed on February 8, 2013 . 
2. ↑ Little League Baseball State Champions. (No longer available online.) Littleleague.org, archived from the original on May 15, 2013 ; accessed on February 20, 2013 . 
3. ↑ Regions Realigned for 2013: Australia to play in Little League World Series. (No longer available online.) Littleleague.org, archived from the original on March 25, 2014 ; accessed on February 20, 2013 . 
4. ↑ Little League Tickets, Travel & Accessibility. (No longer available online.) Littleleague.org, archived from the original on June 23, 2013 ; accessed on June 28, 2013 . 
5. ↑ LLWS 2011 Game 7 Boxscore. pointstreak.com, accessed February 19, 2013 . 
6. ^ World Series History. (No longer available online.) Littleleague.org, archived from the original on August 17, 2010 ; accessed on February 8, 2013 .  Mexico region
7. ↑ Little League World Series - History. rauzulusstreet.com, accessed on February 20, 2013 (English).