Why is the Little League World Series held in Williamsport?

WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. (WTAJ) — “Play Ball” is a common phrase heard all summer long by kids across the globe. Each year, they competed in countless games to make it to Williamsport, PA. to play in the Little League World Series (LLWS).

So how did Williamsport get to hold the biggest baseball tournament in the world? A local man got it all started 85 years ago.

That’s right, in 1939, the Little League program was founded by Carl E. Stotz, an oil company clerk in Williamsport.

Growth was slow at first due to World War II , with just 12 leagues taking part. But in 1947, the board of directors for the original Little League decided to organize the tournament for all known programs, which at the time was 17 leagues. The tournament was originally called the National Little League Tournament and was later renamed the Little League Baseball World Series.

At first, the LLWS just included teams from Pennsylvania and one from New Jersey. The local team, the Maynard Midgets even won the first Series 16-7 over the Lock Haven All-Stars in 1947 at Original Field at Memorial Park in Williamsport.

More than 2,500 fans watched the game and the results were even printed in newspapers across the country. The publicity sparked the growth of Little League nationwide and within a few years, every state had a team. The league also added other programs including Senior League Baseball and softball divisions.

In 1950, Canada and Panama created Little League programs and by 1952, Canada joined the tournament, becoming the first non-United States member to join. In 1957, regions were introduced and the league saw the first non-U.S. champion, Monterrey Mexico, win the tournament. The next season, international regions were added.

To accommodate for the growth, the LLWS moved to its current home at Howard J. Lamade Stadium , which is technically located in South Williamsport, in 1959.

From 1962 through 2000, not much changed for the LLWS. Eight teams made their way to Williamsport with four from the U.S. and four international regions. The biggest change was creating a domestic and international bracket that would lead up to the championship, which is still in place today.

In 2001, things got bigger. The qualifying teams doubled to 16 and with that, there was a need for another field. Volunteer Stadium was opened in 2001 and is still used, along with Howard J. Lamade Stadium today.

In 2010, double-elimination brackets were introduced and run through the U.S. championship and international championship games, which remained single-elimination. The latest expansion came in 2019 when the LLWS planned to add four more teams. The expansion was delayed however due to the COVID-19 pandemic and was implemented in 2022.

To date, there are approximately two million boys and girls across the U.S. and more than 80 counties that participate in Little League Baseball and Softball. The Little League Baseball World Series has even seen 22 girls play in the tournament .

This includes more than 6,500 teams participating in Little League baseball hoping to make it to Williamsport. To tie this all up, on the International side, there are approximately 16,000 games played across 45 days in a dozen countries that lead up to the LLWS in August. More games are played in those 45 days annually than six full seasons of Major League Baseball!

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The 2024 tournament kicks off Wednesday, Aug. 14.

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