With nearly 165,000 teams in all 50 states and over 80 other countries across the globe, Little League Baseball® is the world’s largest organized youth sports program! Many of today’s Major League players started their baseball careers in Little League Baseball, including Derek Jeter, David Wright, Justin Verlander, and Adrian Gonzalez.
Little League® is a nonprofit organization that works to teach the principles of sportsmanship, fair play, and teamwork. Concentrating on discipline, character, and courage, Little League is focused on more than just developing athletes: It helps to create upstanding citizens.
Carl Stotz established Little League in 1939 in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. The first league only had three teams and played six innings, but by 1946, there were already twelve leagues throughout the state of Pennsylvania. The following year, 1947, was the first year that the Little League Baseball® World Series was played, and it has continued to be played every August since then.
In 1951, Little League Baseball expanded internationally, and the first permanent leagues to form outside of the United States were on either end of the Panama Canal. Little League Baseball later moved to nearby South Williamsport, Pennsylvania, and a second stadium, the Little League Volunteer Stadium, was opened in 2001.
Some key moments in Little League history:
• 1957 The Monterrey, Mexico, team became the first international team to win the World Series.
• 1964 Little League was granted a federal charter.
• 1974 The federal charter was amended to allow girls to join Little League.
• 1982 The Peter J. McGovern Little League Museum opened.
• 1989 Little League introduced the Challenger Division.
• 2001 The World Series expanded from eight to sixteen teams to provide a greater opportunity for children to participate in the World Series.
• 2014 Little League celebrates its 75th anniversary.