LLB Timeline

Capsule History of Little League

1939: Little League Baseball is founded in Williamsport, Pa., by Carl Stotz, with help from others in the community. Stotz, George Bebble and Bert Bebble, are the first three managers. ... A $30 donation is sufficient to purchase uniforms for each of the first three teams.
1940: Little League expands to include a second league.
1941-46: Little League Baseball expands to 12 leagues, all in Pennsylvania.
1947: The Hammonton, N.J., Little League becomes the first league established outside Pennsylvania. ... The first Little League World Series is won by the Maynard Midgets of Williamsport.
1948: Little League grows to ninety-four leagues. ... Lock Haven, Pa., wins the second Little League World Series, defeating a team from St. Petersburg, Fla.
1949: Little League expands to 307 leagues in the United States.
1950: The shortest World Series game ever lasting exactly one hour, is played between Hagerstown, Md., and Kankakee, Ill. .. The first leagues outside the U.S. are formed at each end of the Panama Canal.
1951: The first permanent Little League outside the United States is formed in British Columbia, Canada. ... Little League grows 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, with rookie announcer Jim McKay behind the mike. Howard Cosell handles the play-by-play for ABC radio. ... Birmingham, Ala., defeats Schenectady, N.Y., 1-0, in one of only two 1-0 finals in World Series history.
1954: Boog Powell, who would later play for the Baltimore Orioles, participates for Lakeland, Fla., in the World Series. ... The first Little League Congress is held in Chicago, Ill. ... Ken Hubbs, who would win the 1962 National League Rookie of the Year Award with the Chicago Cubs, plays in the Little League World Series for Colton, Calif. ... Little League Baseball expands to more than 3,300 leagues.
1955: Cy Young makes his last visit to the Little League World Series before his death in September. ... Morrisville, Pa., defeats Delaware, N.J., 4-3, in seven innings (the first extra-inning Little League World Series championship game). ... Little League is now played in all forty-eight states. … Near the end of the year, founder Carl Stotz initiates court action to gain control of Little League from the Board of Directors.
1956: An out-of-court settlement ends with Carl Stotz leaving Little League. … The Little League Foundation is created. ... The first Little League World Series perfect game is pitched by Fred Shapiro of Delaware Township, N.J. ... Little League grows to more than 4,000 leagues. ... The first Little League Congress takes place in Chicago.
1957: Monterrey, Mexico, becomes the first non-U.S. team to win the Little League World Series as Angel Macias pitches the first perfect game in a championship final.
1958: Monterrey, Mexico, becomes the first Little League to win consecutive World Series championships. ... Hector Torres, who would later play in the Major Leagues, plays for Monterrey. ... Rick Wise, who would also play in the Major Leagues, plays for Portland, Ore., in the World Series.
1959: The modern protective helmet is developed by Dr. Creighton J. Hale, then Director of Research for Little League Baseball. ... The World Series is played for the first time at its present site in the borough of South Williamsport. ... Little League Baseball now has more than 5,000 leagues. ... The second week of June is proclaimed National Little League Week by President Dwight D. Eisenhower.
1960: The first European entry in the Little League World Series is Berlin, Germany. ... The World Series final is broadcast live, by ABC, for the first time. ... More than 27,400 teams participate in more than 5,500 Little Leagues.
1961: Senior League Baseball is created for players thirteen to fiftee years old. ... Brian Sipe, who would later play quarterback for the Cleveland Browns, plays for the World Series champions from El Cajon, Calif. ... More than 5,500 teams participate 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 and its "Wide World of Sports" show televises the Little League World Series championship game for the first time, with Chris Schenkel calling the play-by-play.
1964: Little League Baseball is granted a Charter of Federal Incorporation by the U.S. Congress. ... Danny Yacarino pitches a no-hitter and hits a home run to lead Mid Island Little League of Staten Island, N.Y., against Monterrey, Mexico, 4-0, for the Series title.
1965: Venezuela and Spain are represented in the Little League World Series for the first time.
1966: Little League Baseball's first regional headquarters, the Southern Region Headquarters, opens in St. Petersburg, Fla. ... A rain delay during a World Series game holds up the contest for one hour and thirty-three minutes. ... The game is broadcast in color for the first time, on ABC Wide World of Sports.
1967: West Tokyo, Japan, becomes the first Far East team to win the Little League World Series title.
1968: Big League Baseball for players sixteen to eighteen years old is started. ... Darrell Garretson, now head of the NBA Officials Association, is manager of the Garden Grove, Calif., team in World Series. ... Turk Schonert, future NFL quarterback, is a member of Garretson's team. ... Little League grows to more than 6,000 programs.
1969: The Western Regional Headquarters of Little League Baseball in San Bernardino, Calif., is opened. ... Newberry Little League participates in the World Series, becoming the first Williamsport-area team to play in the World Series since 1948. … Taiwan wins the first of its seventeen Little League World Series.
1970: The Canadian Headquarters of Little League Baseball opens in Ottawa.
1971: Lloyd McClendon, now a hitting instructor for the Pittsburgh Pirates, hits five home runs in five at bats during the World Series for Gary, Ind. ... One of the longest games in World Series history is played over two hours and fifty-one minutes as Gary and Tainan, Taiwan battle for nine innings. ... A Little League State Center opens in Waco, Texas. ... Howard J. Lamade Stadium is expanded to increase seating capacity to 10,000. ... The aluminum bat, developed in cooperation with Little League, is first used.
1972: Taiwan wins a second consecutive World Series championship for the Far East Region. ... Title IX, giving women and girls greater opportunities at higher levels of athletics, is signed into law by President Richard M. Nixon.
1973: Dr. Creighton J. Hale is elected president of Little League Baseball, only the second full-time president in thirty-five years. ... Future Major Leaguer Ed Vosberg (now pitching for the Phillies) plays in the Little League World Series for the runner-up team from Tucson, Ariz., and goes on to become the only person to participate in the Little League World Series, College World Series (University of Arizona, champions, 1980) and Major League World Series (Florida Marlins, champions, 1997).
1974: Little League rules are revised to allow participation by girls ... Little League Softball and Senior League Softball programs are created.
1975: Non U.S. teams are barred from advancing beyond regional play. ... Lakewood, N.J., defeats Belmont Heights, of Tampa, Fla., 4-3, in the World Series final.
1976: Baseball Hall of Famers Joe DiMaggio, Ernie Banks and Bob Gibson are Series guests as Chofu, Japan, wins that country's third championship.
1977-78: Future Major Leaguer Charlie Hayes (now playing for the Brewers) plays in the 1977 Series for Hattiesburg, Miss. ... Little League grows to include more than 6,500 Little Leagues for nine-to-twelve-year-olds, 2,850 Senior Leagues for thirteen-to-fifteen-year-olds, and 1,300 Big League programs for sixteen-to-eighteen-year-olds. ... Little League and Senior League Softball teams total more than 7,400.
1979: Junior League Baseball is created for thirteen-year-olds.
1980: George Bush, a former Little League coach who is elected vice president three months later, throws out the first pitch for the World Series championship game. ... Big League Softball is started for players sixteen to eighteen years old. ... Belmont Heights reaches the finals again, falling 4-3 to Taiwan. Gary Sheffield and Derek Bell, now playing for the Dodgers and Mets, respectively, are teammates for Belmont Heights.
1981: Dan Wilson, now catching for the Seattle Mariners, plays for Barrington (Ill.) Little League in the Little League World Series.
1982: The Peter J. McGovern Little League Museum opens at the Little League International Headquarters complex. ... Future Major Leaguer Wilson Alvarez (now pitching for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays) plays for the Maracaibo, Venezuela, team in the Series. ... Kirkland, Wash., defeats Taiwan, 6-0, before a then-World Series record crowd of 40,000 as Cody Webster tosses a two-hitter in the final game.
1983: Baseball Commissioner Bowie Kuhn throws the ceremonial first pitch for the Little League World Series championship game and musical star Chuck Mangione plays the Dominican Republic National Anthem. ... East Marietta (Ga.) National Little League wins the World Series with future Major Leaguer Marc Pisciotta (now pitching in the Indians organization) on the mound.
1984: Seoul, Korea, wins that country's first Little League World Series championship, defeating Altamonte Springs, Fla., 6-2. One Altamonte Springs player is Jason Varitek (now catching for the Red Sox). ... Peter J. McGovern, Little League Board of Directors Chairman for more than thirty years, dies June 30.
1985: For the first time, ABC-TV carries the Little League World Series championship game live on Wide World of Sports ... For the first time in baseball history, ABC mounts a micro-miniature camera on the mask of the home plate umpire.
1986: Baseball Commissioner Peter Ueberroth makes his first visit to the Little League World Series for the championship. ... Bill Shea, president of the Little League Foundation and the namesake of New York's Shea Stadium, throws the ceremonial first pitch.
1987: The 1947 Little League World Series champions from Maynard Little League in Williamsport are reunited on the field before the championship game.
1988: The press section of Howard J. Lamade Stadium is named in honor of Ray Keyes, the only sportswriter to cover every Little League World Series, 1947-1988. ... Tom Seaver, a graduate of the Spartan Little League in Fresno, Calif., becomes the first enshrinee of the Peter J. McGovern Little League Museum Hall of Excellence.
1989: Little League Baseball celebrates its fiftieth anniversary. ... Poland receives four Certificates of Charter for the first Little League programs in a former Eastern-Bloc country. ... Trumbull (Conn.) National Little League becomes the first U.S. team to win the World Series since 1983 before a crowd of 45,000, with future NHL star Chris Drury on the mound.
1990: Little League Baseball launches the first full season of the Challenger Division for mentally and physically disabled children. ... Little League Baseball in now enjoyed by children in thirty-nine countries. ... Taiwan regains the championship of the Little League World Series with a 9-0 victory over Shippensburg, Pa.
1991: Taiwan defeats Danville, Calif., 11-0 in the final game of the Little League World Series.
1992: Carl E. Stotz, founder of Little League, dies. ... The Little League World Series undergoes a series of changes: A "pool" format is adopted 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, and the first Little League World Series night game is played. ... Long Beach (Calif.) Little League is named World Series Champion following the disqualification of Zamboanga (Philippines) City Little League. ... Guests at the Series include Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, George Will, Tom Selleck and Vice President Dan Quayle.
1993: Long Beach becomes the first U.S. team in history to win consecutive Little League Baseball World Series championships with a thrilling 3-2 victory against a team from Panama.
1994: After a record three hour, six minute rain delay, Coquivacoa Little League of Maracaibo, Venezuela, becomes the first Latin American team to win the Little League World Series since 1958. ... Stephen D. Keener becomes the first Little League graduate to be named President of Little League Baseball, succeeding Dr. Creighton J. Hale.
1995: Hall of Famer Stan Musial throws out the ceremonial first pitch for the Little League World Series. ... After a three-year drought, Taiwan regains the world championship, defeating Spring, Texas, 17-3.
1996: Little League celebrates the fiftieth World Series. ... Little League's first full-service Regional Headquarters outside the U.S. is opened in Kutno, Poland. ... The Little League Education Program for Managers and Coaches is launched. ... The John W. Lundy Little League Conference Center is dedicated. ... Taiwan wins its seventeenth series title.
1997: Little League and Major League Baseball enter an agreement for the first time, co-producing a magazine that is mailed free of charge directly to 1.9 million Little Leaguers. ... An all-time record 2,993,760 Little Leaguers participate. ... Sharon Robinson (daughter of the late Jackie Robinson) is a guest at the Little League World Series. ... For the first time, U.S. Regional championship games in Little League Baseball are televised nationally on ESPN2. ... A Jamboree Hitting Contest and All Star Game are added to the Little League World Series, and both are televised nationally on ESPN2. ... The Little League Softball Advisory Committee is formed. ... Linda Vista Little League of Guadalupe, Mexico, wins the Little League World Series with a 4-run rally in the last inning.
1998: Little League expands to include ninety-five countries. ... Toms River (N.J.) East American Little League wins the Little League Baseball World Series, defeating Kashima (Japan) Little League 12-9 in a championship game featuring eleven home runs and 41,200 fans at Lamade Stadium. ... Late in the year, it is announced that the Little League World Series will expand from eight teams to 16 in 2001, and a second stadium will be built.
1999: The number of countries with Little League programs hits 100 as Burkina-Faso joins. ... Hirakata Little League of Osaka, Japan, wins that nation's first World Series title since 1976, defeating Phenix City, Ala., 5-0. ... Little League begins the first capital campaign in the program's history, to raise $20 million for a variety of projects.
2000: Construction begins on a yet-unnamed stadium just north of Lamade Stadium in preparation for expansion of the Little League World Series from eight to sixteen teams in 2001.