Friday, the 2010 Little League World Series (LLWS) continued with Hawaii and Georgia battling it out for a spot in the final four. The LLWS is currently underway in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, and will continue through Sunday, August 29 when the final championship games are played. The LLWS started with eight international and eight US teams.
The LLWS started in Williamsport, Pennsylvania in 1938, and only teams associated with the official Little League are considered authentic little league teams. The Little League includes softball and baseball games, and includes 11 and 12-year olds from around the world.
Other baseball leagues include: PONY Baseball, Babe Ruth League, Cal Ripken Baseball, American Legion Baseball, and Dizzy Dean Baseball. Many of these leagues allow players to be up to 13-years-old.
Interesting facts from PBS about the LLWS:
The distance between the pitching mound and home plate is 46 feet. The distance between bases is 60 feet. This is 14 and 30 feet, respectively, shorter than a Major League Baseball diamond.
A regulation Little League game is six innings long. Of course, extra innings are possible to break ties. If one team gets ten runs ahead of the other after four innings, a "mercy rule" is invoked, and play ends.
A base runner is not allowed to leave the base before the pitched ball crosses home plate.
Little League umpires are officially unpaid, although they must go through extensive training.
Playing in Little League does not necessarily lead to a career in pro ball. Less than 1% of all Major Leaguers ever played Little League. Ex-Little League pros include Nolan Ryan, Tom Seaver, Carl Yastrzemski, Mark McGwire and George Brett.
Danny DeVito was not small for his age when he played Little League. Other famous Little Leaguers include Tom Selleck, Bruce Springsteen, Kevin Costner, Huey Lewis, Dave Barry, Bill Bradley and George W. Bush.
The country that has won the most World Series is the US (27 championships), followed by Taiwan (17 wins). In 1997, Taiwan withdrew from Little League entirely because it disagreed with Little League recruitment rules. Non-US teams have been world champions 30 times.
An umpire can officiate only once in his lifetime at the World Series.
Because of its size, California is the only state divided into two halves, Northern and Southern, for the purposes of state tournament play. On the other hand, North Dakota and South Dakota are combined at the State level.
For the remaining schedule of games at the LLWS, click here.
For a complete recap of all games so far at the 2010 Little League World Series, including games, scores and eliminations, click here.
For the LLWS complete 2010 schedule of games, click here.
To see a slideshow of the 2009 Little League World Series games, click here.
To read article archives from the 2009 LLWS, click here.
Check back to this site for updates during the LLWS, or click on the subscribe button above to receive emails when this examiner publishes a new article.
Sources: LittleLeague.org and PBS
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