Little League World Series

Factual Questions
1

Does anyone out there know how the Little League World Series works? Specifically, how do the teams that participate in them get to play? When I was a kid, I played in the little league, but there was never a team that went to any regional tournament. Are these teams made up of all stars from the town? Are they hand picked from a region? Do they play all season together and enter special tournaments specifically designed for them? I was watching some highlights from the Toms River, NJ team the other day, and that team would have beaten any little league team I ever saw, so I can’t imaging that they would play other teams from Toms River all the time. If I wanted to field a team from my town every year and compete in the LLWS, could I do it, or is it by invite only?
Thanks for any and all help…

Foghorn

2

You can find out all the details at www.littleleague.org/series/. I was going to copy them, but it’s rather long.

Basically, there are regional competitions among local teams. I’m guessing either (a) your team didn’t qualify, or (b) your coach didn’t apply.

The kids from Toms River have been playing together all year. They are the returning champions (excluding a few players who are now too old to play).

3

You also may not have been playing in a Little League ™ youth league. Not all 11-12 year olds play in leagues affiliated with Little League.

4

Bob’s right. Little League Baseball is an organization. There are other baseball organizations for youngsters, like Dixie Youth, Babe Ruth, and Pony League. There are also independant teams and leagues. The structures and rules differ between organizations and even locally within organizations. But the kids just play ball.

The overwhelming majority of people have more than the average (mean) number of legs. – E. Grebenik

5

To amplify my previous post, as I was watching a game of the Little League World Series, there was a commercial by Little League ™ with Derek Jeter and Michelle Smith (Olympic gold medalist in softball) telling kids that if they’re going to play baseball (or softball), they should play Little League baseball.
The people who run Little League are acutely aware of competition and are inviting 16 teams to Williamsport next year instead of the usual 8.

6

Guy, thanks for that excellent link. It was very informative, and after reading through it, I am even more impressed that Toms River, NJ has a chance to repeat. The odds seem astronomical.

Now for the other comments… are you saying I could have played in a bogus Little League? Oh the shame! The balls said “Official Little League” on them… Plus, my town had Pony League and Colt League to boot. From what you are saying, it is the same as telling everyone you are using a band-aid when mom actually stuck a Curad on you. If I indeed played in a bogus L.L., no one from my town would have ever been able to compete for the W.S. Interesting…

7

Repeat appearances in the final game are not unheard of, despite the seemingly astronomical odds. Trumbull, Connecticut did it in the early 1990’s (a team that produced a future National Hockey League Rookie of the Year) and IIRC Toms River, NJ has made more than just 2 trips to the final 8 in williamsport in recent years

Jason R Remy

“No amount of legislation can solve America’s problems.”
– Jimmy Carter (1980)