Little League Baseball

If you've never seen a Little League baseball game, these boys play HARD! Their biggest stage is the Little League World Series (which is what most of this post is about). Many of the players are between the ages of 6 and 13 and come from all over the world. The LLWS has been around since 1947; and the championship games are played at Howard J. Lamade Stadium in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, USA. The LLWS is usually August's biggest sporting event here in the United States. The various tournament games leading up to the Little League World Series all determine who'll play for top honors. One side of the bracket makes up the American teams, and the other side of the tournament bracket makes up the international teams. I really enjoy watching these Little League baseball games, especially when the final games come on. The coaches usually are wired for sound, so you get to hear what goes on in the huddle for the televised games. The championship games are usually aired on the ESPN/ABC networks. I think the coolest thing about the televised games is that you get a real connection of what the players are thinking and how they play.

I don't know all of the rules of Little League baseball, but here is as much as I do know. The Mercy Rule indicates that a game is over if a team is leading by 10 or more runs. Certain pitchers cannot compete for much longer once a certain pitch count has been reached. That's about as much as I know about the Little League World Series as far as rules are concerned. I do wish I knew more about Little League to properly educate my reading audience on the sport (doesn't hurt to be honest to your readers!).

(facts provided by Wikipedia)
Here's are some interesting facts... Speaking as a Houstonian- Houston won the Little League World Series twice: in 1950 and 1966. Heading into the 2012 LLWS, Taiwan (or Chinese Taipei) currently has won the Little League World Series more times than anyone. They've won the LLWS 17 times. Second to Taiwan is a tie between Japan and California, who both won the LLWS championship 7 times. Since 1976, the championship record between the United States and International teams is 34-31 in favor of the USA.


So... do you want a little sample of how hard these boys in Little League play? Well, have a look at the video below featuring highlights of the 2011 Little League World Series (click on the link if you are unable to view Flash material or embedded videos):


^ "Little League World Series Top Plays" (YouTube)

Cool, huh?





Good luck to everyone who takes part in Little League baseball as well as those who are/will play in the Little League World Series. For more information, or to start your own Little League team:

• www.littleleague.org (Official)
• Little League World Series (Official)
• Little League World Series (Wikipedia)

Thank you for reading! Play ball!

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