BASEBALL
Who won the last Little League World Series? List of winnners
The Little League World Series returns on Wednesday with 20 teams aiming to win the coveted trophy. Let’s look back at some of the milestones of the tournament.
The Little League World Series is back. The annual tournament, celebrating its 77th edition, starts on Wednesday 14 August with 10 US regional tournament winners on one side of the bracket and 10 international teams on the other side. The best young baseball players aged from 10-12 will be suiting up for the competition which will be played at at Howard J. Lamade Stadium and Volunteer Stadium, with 38 games lined up over the next 11 days.
The first LLWS champions
The first edition of the National Little League Tournament was held in August 1947 at Williamsport, Pennsylvania. The tournament was played with 12 teams competing in two preliminary rounds, semi-finals and final over three days. The first winners were local team Maynard Midgets, representing Williamsport, Pennsylvania. Maynard defeated the Lock Haven All Stars of Lock Haven, Pennsylvania, 16–7 in the final with over 2,500 spectators present.
The competition was renamed as the “World Series” two years later even though US teams featured exclusively, and would do so for the next eight editions.
Monterrey become the first international winners
The 1957 edition of the World Series was the first to invite teams from outside the United States or Canada. Mexican team Industrial from Monterrey, representing the South region, won the tournament, beating Californians Northern La Mesa 0-4 in the final to become the first non-US champions.
Little League World Series winners by year
- 1947 Williamsport, Pennsylvania
- 1948 Lock Haven, Pennsylvania
- 1949 Hammonton, New Jersey
- 1950 Houston, Texas
- 1951 Stamford, Connecticut
- 1952 Norwalk, Connecticut
- 1953 Birmingham, Alabama
- 1954 Schenectady, New York
- 1955 Morrisville, Pennsylvania
- 1956 Roswell, New Mexico
- 1957 Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico
- 1958 Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico
- 1959 Hamtramck, Michigan
- 1960 Levittown, Pennsylvania
- 1961 El Cajon, California
- 1962 San Jose, California
- 1963 Granada Hills, California
- 1964 Staten Island, New York
- 1965 Windsor Locks, Connecticut
- 1966 Houston, Texas
- 1967 West Tokyo, Japan
- 1968 Wakayama, Osaka, Japan
- 1969 Taichung, Taiwan
- 1970 Wayne, New Jersey
- 1971 Tainan, Taiwan
- 1972 Taipei, Taiwan
- 1973 Tainan, Taiwan
- 1974 Kaohsiung, Taiwan
- 1975 Lakewood, New Jersey
- 1976 Chofu, Tokyo, Japan
- 1977 Kaohsiung, Taiwan
- 1978 Pingtung, Taiwan
- 1979 Chiayi County, Taiwan
- 1980 Hua-Lien, Taiwan
- 1981 Taichung, Taiwan
- 1982 Kirkland, Washington
- 1983 Marietta, Georgia
- 1984 Seoul, South Korea
- 1985 Seoul, South Korea
- 1986 Tainan, Taiwan
- 1987 Hua-Lien, Taiwan
- 1988 Taichung, Taiwan
- 1989 Trumbull, Connecticut
- 1990 Tainan County, Taiwan
- 1991 Taichung, Taiwan
- 1992 Long Beach, California*
- 1993 Long Beach, California
- 1994 Maracaibo, Venezuela
- 1995 Tainan, Taiwan
- 1996 Kaohsiung, Taiwan
- 1997 Guadalupe, Nuevo León, Mexico
- 1998 Toms River, New Jersey
- 1999 Hirakata, Osaka, Japan
- 2000 Maracaibo, Venezuela
- 2001 Tokyo Kitasuna, Tokyo, Japan
- 2002 Pleasure Ridge Park, Kentucky
- 2003 Musashi-Fuchu, Tokyo, Japan
- 2004 Willemstad, Curaçao
- 2005 Ewa Beach, Hawaii
- 2006 Columbus, Georgia
- 2007 Warner Robins, Georgia
- 2008 Waipahu, Hawaii
- 2009 Chula Vista, California
- 2010 Edogawa Minami, Tokyo, Japan
*title forfeited
- 2011 Huntington Beach, California
- 2012 Tokyo-Kitasuna, Tokyo, Japan
- 2013 Musashi-Fuchu, Tokyo, Japan
- 2014 Seoul, South Korea
- 2015 Tokyo-Kitasuna, Tokyo, Japan
- 2016 Maine-Endwell, New York
- 2017 Tokyo-Kitasuna, Tokyo, Japan
- 2018 Honolulu, Hawaii
- 2019 River Ridge, Louisiana
- 2020 cancelled
- 2021 Taylor, Michigan
- 2022 Honolulu, Hawaii
- 2023 El Segundo, California
Monterrey won a second consecutive the following year when two Canadian teams were given an automatic qualifying berth in the last tournament to be held at Original Field. The event moved to Williamsport, Pennsylvania in 1959 and featured teams from West Germany and Puerto Rico.
Asian teams’ domination during the 70s and 80s
The first Asian team to be invited was Kunitachi representing Tokyo, the Far East Region in 1962. The Japanese were eliminated in the quarter finals but would be regulars at the event from this point on, heralding the start of an era of domination in the LLWS by international teams. West Tokyo won the 21st edition in 1967, beating Chicago’s North Roseland 4-1 in the final.
In 1975, international teams were banned from participating due to allegations of Taiwanese teams using non-district players. The ban was lifted the following year when Tokyo clinched the title.
In 1992, Filipino side Zamboanga City beat Long Beach in the final but were later stripped of their title for fielding over-age players with the Californians crowned champions in their place.
The tournament was expanded to include 16 teams in 2001 and again for the 75th Little League Baseball World Series in 2022, which took the total number of teams to 20 - 10 US teams and 10 international teams.
During the history of the LLWS, international teams have won 37 championships, while teams from the United States have won 39. The state with the most championships is California with eight.` is the country with the most titles with 17.