| The History of Little League
1939--Little League Baseball is founded in Williamsport,
Pennsylvania by Carl Stotz, George and Bert Bebble...A $35 donation is sufficient to
purchase uniforms for the first three teams.
1940 --Little League Baseball expands to include a second league.
1941-46--During World War II years, Little League Baseball expands to 12
leagues, all in Pennsylvania.
1947--The Hammonton, New Jersey Little League becomes the first league established
outside Pennsylvania...The first Little League World Series is won by the Maynard Little
League of Williamsport.
1948--Little League grows to 94 leagues...Lock Haven, Pennsylvania wins the second
Little League World Series.
1949-50--Little League expands to 307 leagues in the United States...The shortest
World Series game ever lasting exactly one hour, is played between Hagerstown, Maryland
and Kankakee, Illinois.
1951--The first Little League is formed outside the United States in British
Columbia, Canada...Little League has grown to 776 programs.
1952--Peter J. McGovern becomes the first full-time President of Little
League Baseball...Baseball immortal Connie Mack is a visitor to the World
Series...Little League expands to more than 1,500 programs.
1953--The Little League World Series is televised for the first time by CBS, while
Howard Cosell announced the play-by-play for ABC radio... Birmingham, Alabama defeated
Schenectady, New York in the lowest scoring championship game in World Series history,
1-0.
1954 --Boog Powell, who later became a member of the Baltimore Orioles,
participated for Lakeland, Florida in the World Series...The first Little
League Congress is held in Chicago, Illinois...Ken Hubbs, who went on to win the 1962
National League Rookie of the Year Award with the Chicago Cubs, played in the Little
League World Series for Colton, California...Little League Baseball expands to more than
3,300 leagues.
1955 --Cy Young made his last visit to the Little League World Series before his
death in September...Morrisville, Pennsylvania defeated Delaware, New Jersey, 4-3, in the
first extra inning Little League World Series championship game (7 innings)...Little
League was played in all 48 states.
1956--The Little League Foundation is created...The first Little League World
Series perfect game is pitched by Fred Shapiro of Delaware Township, New Jersey...Little
League grows to over 4,000 leagues.
1957 --Monterrey, Mexico becomes the first foreign team to win the Little
League World Series...Angel Macias pitches the first perfect game in a World Series
championship contest.
1958--Monterrey, Mexico becomes the first Little League to win consecutive World
Series championships...Hector Torres, who later played in the major leagues, played for
Monterrey...Rick Wise, who also played in the major leagues, played for Portland, Oregon
in the World Series.
1959--The modern protective helmet is developed by Dr. Creighton J. Hale, then
Director of Safety Research for Little League Baseball...Construction begins on the Little
League Complex...The World Series is played for the first time at its present
site...Little League Baseball now has over 5,000 leagues...National Little League Week
proclaimed second week of June by President Dwight D. Eisenhower.
1960--The first European entry in the Little League World Series is Berlin,
Germany...More than 27,400 teams participated in over 5,500 Little Leagues.
1961--Senior League Baseball is created for players 13-15 years old...Former
Cleveland Browns quarterback, Brian Sipe, played for the World Series champions from El
Cajon, California, over 5,500.teams participated in Little Leagues.
1962--Little League Summer Camp opens in Williamsport...Jackie Robinson is inducted
into the Baseball Hall of Fame and is a guest at the Little League World Series...National
Little League Week is proclaimed by President John F. Kennedy.
1963--ABC Television and its "Wide World of Sports" show televises the
Little League World Series championship game for the first time with Chris
Schenkel doing the play-by-play.
1964 --Little League Baseball is granted a Charter of Federal Incorporation
by the United States Congress...Danny Yacarino pitched a no-hitter and hit a home run to
lead Mid Island Little League of Staten Island, New York over Monterrey, Mexico, 4-0, for
the World Series championship.
1965--Venezuela and Spain are represented in the Little League World Series for the
first time.
1966 --Little League Baseball's Southern Region Headquarters opens in St.
Petersburg, Florida...The longest rain delay during a World Series game
delays the contest for one hour and 33 minutes.
1967--West Tokyo, Japan becomes the first Far East team to win the Little League
World Series championship.
1968--Big League Baseball for players 16-18 years old is started...Darrell
Garretson, head of the NBA's Officials Association, is a manager of the
Garden Grove, California team in the Little League World Series...Turk
Schonert, who became an NFL quarterback, was a member of Garretson's
team...Little League Baseball has grown to more than 6,000 programs.
1969--The Western Regional Headquarters of Little League Baseball in San
Bernardino, California is opened.. The Newberry Little League participates in the World
Series, becoming the first league from the Williamsport area in the modern era of World
Series play to be represented.
1970--The Canadian Headquarters of Little League Baseball opens in Ottawa.
1971--Lloyd McClendon, now a member of the Chicago Cubs, hit five home runs in five
at bats during the World Series for Gary, Indiana...The longest game in World Series
history was played over two hours and 51 minutes as Gary, Indiana and Tainan, Taiwan
battled for nine innings...Little League State Center opens in Waco, Texas...The Little
League World Series stadium is expanded to increase the seating capacity to 9,000...The
aluminum bat, developed in cooperation with Little League, is first used.
1972--Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China won a fourth consecutive World
Series championship for the Far East Region.
1973--Dr. Creighton J. Hale is elected President of Little League Baseball,
only the second full-time President in 35 years.
1974--Girls participate in Little League as Little league and Senior League
Softball programs are created...A Little League State Center is opened in
Lisle, Illinois.
1975 --Lakewood, NJ defeats Belmont Heights, of Tampa 4-3.
1976 --Baseball Hall of Famers Joe DiMaggio, Ernie Banks and Bob Gibson
are Little League World Series guests as Chofu, Japan won the that country's third
championship.
1977-78--Little League grows to include over 6,500 Little Leagues for 9-12 year
olds, 2,850 Senior Leagues for 13-15 year olds, and 1,300 Big League programs for 16-18
year olds...Little League and Senior League Softball teams total over 7,400.
1979 --Junior League Baseball is created for 13 year old participants.
1980 --Vice President George Bush throws out the first pitch for the Little
League World Series championship game...Big League Softball is started for
players 16-18 years old.
1981--For the second consecutive year, the Belmont Heights Little League of Tampa,
Florida played in the championship game of the Little League World Series.
1982--the Peter J. McGovern Little League Museum opens in South
Williamsport on the Little League Headquarters complex...Kirkland,
Washington defeats Pu-Tzu Town, Taiwan, Republic of China, 6-0, before a World Series
record crowd of 40,000.
1983--Baseball Commissioner Bowie Kuhn threw the ceremonial first pitch for the
Little League World Series championship game and musical superstar Chuck Mangione played
the Dominican Republic National Anthem.
1984--Seoul, South Korea won that countries first Little League World Series
championship, defeating Altamonte Springs, Florida 6-2...Peter J. McGovern, Little League
Board Chairman for over 30 years died June 30.
1985--For the first time, ABC Television carried the Little League World
Series championship game live on "Wide World of Sports"....For the first time in
baseball history, ABC mounted a micro-miniature camera on the mask of the homeplate
umpire.
1986--Baseball Commissioner Peter Ueberroth made his first visit to the Little
League World Series for the championship game...Bill Shea, President of the Little League
Foundation and for whom New York's Shea Stadium is named, threw the ceremonial first
pitch.
1987--The 1947 Little League World Series champions from the Maynard
Little League in Williamsport are reunited on the field before the
championship game.
1988--The press section of Howard J. Lamade Stadium was named in honor of Ray
Keyes, the only sportwriter to have covered every Little League World Series from
1947-1988...Tom Seaver, a graduate of the Spartan Little League in Fresno, California,
became the first enshrinee of the Peter J. McGovern Little League Museum's
Hall-of-Excellence.
1989--Little League Baseball celebrates its 50th Anniversary ...Poland
receives Certificates of Charter for the first four Little League programs in
Eastern-Bloc countries...Carl Yastrzemski becomes the first Little League
graduate to be inducted into Baseball's Hall of Fame...Trumbull National
Little League of Trumbull, Connecticut becomes the first team from the
United States to win the World Series since 1983.
1990--Little League Baseball launches first full season of the Challenger
Division for mentally and physically disabled children... ...Vice President Dan Quayle and
former Major League all-star Mike Schmidt are enshrined into the Peter J. McGovern Little
League Museum Hall of Excellence...Little League Baseball in now enjoyed by children in 39
countries...Chinese Taipei regains the championship of the Little League World Series with
a 9-0 victory over Shippensburg, Pennsylvania.
1991--Chinese Taipei defeats Danville, California 11-0 in the final game of the
Little League World Series.
1992 --The 46th Annual Little League World Series undergoes a series of
changes with the adoption of a "pool" format in which each team is assured a
minimum of three meaningful games in World Series play. A state-of-the-art Musco Sports
Lighting System is installed at Howard J. Lamade Stadium in order to accommodate the
increased number of games required to implement the new World Series format and the first
Little League World Series night game is played. Long Beach Little League of Long Beach,
California is named World Series Champion following the disqualification of Zamboanga City
Little League of Zamboanga, Philippines.
1993 -- Long Beach Little League of Long Beach, California becomes the first
U.S. team in history to win consecutive Little League Baseball World series Championships
with a sixth inning 3-2 win over David, Chiquiri, Panama.
1994 -- Following a record 3 hour and 6 minute rain delay, Coquivacoa Little
League of Maracaibo, Venezuela becomes the first Latin Amaerican team to win the Little
League World Series since Monterrey, Mexico in 1958. Stephen D. Keener becomes the first
Little League graduate to be named President of Little League Baseball succeeding Dr.
Creighton J. Hale.
1995--Little League Baseball dedicates the children's housing and recreation area
of the International Headquarters complex as the Dr. Creighton J. Hale International Grove
in recognition of Dr. Hale's dedicated efforts to make the Little League program available
to children of all nations. |
