Williamsport: the small town that became baseball’s biggest stage for kids

Approximately two million boys and girls (ages 4 to 16) in all 50 U.S. states and more than 80 countries play Little League

What is the Little League Baseball World Series?

The Little League Baseball World Series is an annual baseball tournament for children - typically boys, but some girls have also participated, between the ages of 10 and 12 years old - held in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania. Though it was originally called the National Little League Tournament, it was later renamed in keeping with the World Series of Major League Baseball.

The Series was first held in 1947 and continues to be played every August to this very day. The tournament is one of seven that are sponsored and organized by Little League International in different locations.

Each one of the tournaments consists of community teams from the different Little League international regions around the world in four age divisions and girl’s softball, which has three divisions.

Where is the Little League Baseball World Series held?

Though the Little League itself was founded in 1939 by Carl E. Stotz, the first Little League Baseball World Series was played - as mentioned above - in 1947 and it was played in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, at the “Original Field”, however, in 1959 the series was moved to the Howard J. Lamade Stadium in South Williamsport, where it continues to be staged to this very day.

The Little League Baseball World Series: Fun Facts

Who doesn’t love a bit of sports trivia? Given how close we are to the start of the tournament, we thought it might add context to know a little bit more about this famous tournament. Take for example the idea that in 1948, just one year after the first edition of the series was played, U.S. Rubber - the maker of Keds - became the Little League’s first national sponsor.

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That relationship resulted in the development of rubber-molded cleats which as you know are used across the world in many outdoor sports today. There’s also the Little League’s mascot, Dugout, who was created by Disney “Imagineers” and made his debut at the 1985 Little League World Series. More recently, Mo’ne Davis become the first female player in a Little League World Series to win a game as a pitcher (2014).

In case you’re wondering, there have been 23 girls who played in the Little League Baseball World Series. Incidentally, the attendance record for the tournament was broken in 2015 with 469,964 fans in total taking in the action. With that, we hope you enjoyed our exploration of the Little League Baseball World Series.