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Little League International Biography & Facts

Little League Baseball and Softball (officially, Little League Baseball Inc) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization based in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania, United States, that organizes local youth baseball and softball leagues throughout the United States and the rest of the world. Founded by Carl Stotz in 1939 as a three-team league in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, and formally incorporated on October 10, 1950, Little League Baseball encourages local volunteers to organize and operate Little League programs that are annually chartered through Little League International. Each league can structure itself to best serve the children in the area in which the league operates. Several specific divisions of Little League baseball and softball are available to children and adolescents ages 4 to 16. The organization holds a congressional charter under Title 36 of the United States Code. The organization's administrative office is located in South Williamsport. The first Little League Baseball World Series was played in Williamsport in 1947. The Little League International Complex hosts the annual Little League Baseball World Series at Howard J. Lamade Stadium and Little League Volunteer Stadium, and is also the site of the Peter J. McGovern Little League Museum, which provides a history of Little League Baseball and Softball through interactive exhibits for children. Many Major League Baseball (MLB) players played in Little League. History Carl Stotz, a resident of Williamsport, Pennsylvania, founded Little League Baseball in 1939. He began experimenting with his idea in the summer of 1938 when he gathered his nephews, Jimmy and Major Gehron, and their neighborhood friends. They tried different field dimensions over the course of the summer and played several informal games. The following summer, they felt that they were ready to establish what later became Little League Baseball. The first league in Williamsport had just three teams, each sponsored by a different business. The first teams, Jumbo Pretzel, Lycoming Dairy, and Lundy Lumber, were managed by Stotz and brothers George and Bert Bebble. The men, joined by their wives and another couple, formed the first-ever Little League board of directors. The first league game took place on June 6, 1939, when Lundy Lumber defeated Lycoming Dairy, 23–8. Lycoming Dairy became the champions of the first half of the season and then defeated Lundy Lumber, the second-half champions, in a best-of-three championship series. The following year, a second league was formed in Williamsport, and from there Little League Baseball grew to become an international organization of nearly 200,000 teams in every U.S. state and in more than 80 countries. From 1951 through 1973, Little League was restricted to boys only. In 1974, Little League rules were revised to allow participation by girls in the baseball program following the result of a lawsuit filed by the National Organization for Women on behalf of Maria Pepe. According to the Little League Baseball and Softball participation statistics following the 2008 season, there were nearly 2.6 million boys and girls in Little League Baseball worldwide. Of these, approximately 400,000 are registered in softball leagues (including both boys and girls). Starting in 2022, For tournament purposes, Little League Baseball is divided into 20 geographic regions: ten national and ten international. Each summer, Little League operates seven World Series tournaments at various locations throughout the U.S. (Little League softball and Junior, Senior, and Big League baseball and softball). Timeline Early years 1939: Little League is established by Carl E. Stotz, George Bebble, and Bert Bebble. The first season is played in a lot close to Bowman Field. Lycoming Dairy is the first season champion. 1946: Little League expands to 12 leagues, all in Pennsylvania. 1947: The first league outside of Pennsylvania is founded in Hammonton, New Jersey. Maynard League of Williamsport defeats a team from Lock Haven, Pennsylvania to win the first Little League World Series. Allen Yearick is the first Little League graduate to play professional baseball when he is signed by the Boston Braves. 1948: Little League has grown to include 94 leagues. Lock Haven returns to the Little League World Series and defeats a team from St. Petersburg, Florida. The first corporate sponsor, U.S. Rubber, donates Pro-Keds shoes to teams at the series. 1949: Little League is featured in the Saturday Evening Post and on newsreels. Stotz receives hundreds of requests for information on forming local leagues from all over the country. Little League incorporates in New York. 1950 or 1951 (sources contradict) Kay Johnston becomes the first girl to play Little League baseball. She cuts her hair, dresses as a boy and adopts the nickname "Tubby" to assimilate into the Kings Dairy Little League team in Corning, New York, as a boy. After earning her way onto the team and being assigned first base, she tells her coach that she is a girl, but he keeps her on the team. She is forced to quit after just one season because a new rule, known as the Tubby Rule, is created to bar girls from participation. The rule remains in force until 1974. 1951: Leagues are formed in British Columbia, Canada and near the Panama Canal, making them the first leagues outside the United States. 1953: The Little League World Series is televised for the first time. Jim McKay provides the play-by-play for CBS, and Howard Cosell does so for ABC Radio. Joey Jay of Middletown, Connecticut, and the Milwaukee Braves is the first Little League graduate to play in Major League Baseball. In 1953, Robert Francis Morrison filed an official charter with Little League Baseball to admit the Cannon Street Y.M.C.A. as its first all-black team. The league consisted of four teams, sponsored by prominent black businesses in Charleston, South Carolina. In 1955, when Morrison entered the Cannon Street All-Stars into the city tournament, white leagues reacted by drafting a resolution requesting a whites-only tournament. All 55 white teams eventually withdrew from the city and state tournament. The Cannon Street All-Stars became the 1955 South Carolina state champions by forfeit. However, they were informed by Little League president Peter J. McGovern that they would not be permitted to represent the state at the regional championships in Williamsport. Little League executives invited the Cannon Street All-Stars as guests to attend the tournament in which they were barred from playing. 1954: Boog Powell, later of the Baltimore Orioles and two other MLB teams, plays in the Little League World Series for Lakeland, Florida, and Ken Hubbs, later of the Chicago Cubs, plays for Colton, California. Little League has expanded to more than 3,300 leagues. Jim Barberi, later of the MLB champion 1966 Los Angeles Dodgers, is a member of the Schenectady, New York, team that wins the 1954 Series. 1955: There is a Little .... Discover the Little League International popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Little League International books.