Did any of you make the time to watch the Little League World Series (LLWS) this year? For those of you who have been keeping up with it, good for you. In this baseball history blog, I will be blogging about some prominent ballplayers in the history of the game who played in the Little League World Series. As a kid blogger, I am very interested in what these guys did as kids. Here it is:
In the 1979 LLWS in Tampa, Florida, famous Mets pitcher Dwight Gooden played in the LLWS. Two years prior, it was the person who caught the last out of the 1996 World Series for the New York Yankees, Charlie Hayes, who played in the 1977 LLWS. Jason Marquis, the right-hander who currently plays for the San Diego Padres, took part in the LLWS in 1991. Jason Bay, the 3-time All-Star outfielder for the Mets, played in the 1990 LLWS. The recently retired outfielder Gary Sheffield played in a Little League World Series. Sheffield, the owner of 509 career homers, played in the 1980 LLWS. Last, but not least, we have Jason Varitek (see pictures), one of only two ballplayers in baseball history to compete in the LLWS (1984 Altamonte Springs, Florida), the College World Series (1994 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets), and the World Series (2004 and 2007 Boston Red Sox). The other player was Ed Vosberg, by the way. So far, no player who has played in the LLWS and in the majors has made the Hall of Fame, but maybe Sheffield will end the streak!
There have been hundreds of major leaguers who played little league baseball, but not in the Little League World Series, including some that I have blogged about on my blog, Baseball with Matt, like Derek Jeter and Nolan Ryan. Also, little league is becoming popular all over the world with teams now in places as far away as Uganda and Serbia. Lots of the leagues in these other countries need money and equipment to properly put out teams, so if you ever want to help, you should speak to your local little league office.
Let's also not forget that the great Cal Ripken, Jr. runs his own very well respected little league with his brother Billy Ripken.
Well, that was my tribute to the Little League World Series folks. Please leave a comment or a suggestion for a future blog topic. I hope you all enjoyed my post today!
