When was the first little league world series

On August 23, 1947, the first Little League World Series championship game—the culmination of a three-day tournament in Williamsport, Pa.—features teams from Pennsylvania. Before roughly 2,500 fans, Maynard, a team from Williamsport, defeats Lock Haven, 16-7, to win the title at Original Field. Although it is called the "World Series," 11 of the 12 teams in the tournament are from Pennsylvania; the outlier is a team from Atlantic City, N.J..

One of Maynard's stars was outfielder Jack Losch, who became a standout halfback at the University of Miami. Losch was the eighth overall selection in the 1956 NFL draft and played a season for the pre-Vince Lombardi Green Bay Packers before joining the U.S. Air Force. After Losch died in 2004, Little League Baseball named the World Series Team Sportsmanship Award in his honor.

Maynard's run total in the six-inning championship game stood as a record for 40 years. When reflecting on that game for Sports Illustrated in 1997, Charlie Scudder, who co-managed the Marynard team with Harry Berry, said, "I picked 14 kids who could hit."

Nearly the entire Maynard team went on to college, most of them the first in their families to do so, Sports Illustrated reported in 1997. Added the magazine: "...all [the players] seemed to grow from that hot, sweaty August day."

"After winning the semifinal, we went across the street to Bowman Field, where the Williamsport minor league team played," Maynard outfielder Ed Jones told Sports Illustrated. "We were able to have chocolate milk and peanut butter sandwiches in the clubhouse. I said it couldn't get any better than this."

Within 15 years, the Little League World Series featured teams from Canada, Mexico, Europe and Asia. The first non-U.S. team to win the title was a team from Mexico in 1957. The World Series has become a summer staple on national TV.

Little League Baseball Historical Timeline

1939:  Little League Baseball is founded by Carol Stotz in Williamsport, PA.  A $30 donation is sufficient to purchase uniforms for each of the first three teams, named for their sponsors: Lycoming Dairy, Lundy Lumber and Jumbo Pretzel.

1946:  Little League Baseball expands to 12 leagues, all in Pennsylvania

1947:  Hammonton, New Jersey boasts having the first Little League outside Pennsylvania.  The first Little League World Series (known then as the National Little League Tournament) is won by the Maynard Midgets of Williamsport.  Allen “Sonny” Yearick, who played in the first Little League game for Lycoming Dairy in 1939 is the first Little League graduate to play professional ball, in the Boston Braves organization.

1950:   The first leagues outside the U.S. are formed at each end of the Panama Canal.

1953:  The Little League World Series is televised for the first time, by CBS.  Joey Jay, who played Little League in Middletown, Conn., becomes the first former Little Leaguer t reach the Major Leagues (Milwaukee Braves).

1954:  Little League now expands to more than 3,300 leagues.

1955:  Little League is now played in all 48 states.  Nine year old George W. Bush plays his first of four years at Central Little Leage of Midland, Teas, where he is a catcher on the Cubs.  He later becomes the first Little League graduate to be elected President of the U. S. 

1957:  Monterrey, Mexico becomes the first non-U.S. team to win the Little League World Series.

1958:  Monterrey, Mexico becomes the first Little League to win consecutive World Series championships.

1960:  The first European entry in the Little League World Series is Berlin, Germany.

1961:  Senior League Baseball is created for players 13-15 years of age.

1963:  ABC and its Wide World of Sports program televise the Little League World Series championship game for the first time. 

1965:  Venezuela and Spain are represented in the Little League World Series for the first time.

1967:  West Tokyo, Japan becomes the first Far East team to win the Little League World Series title.

1969:  Taiwan wins the first of its 17 Little League World Series.

1971:  Lloyd McClendon, who would become a Major League and later the manager of the Pittsburgh Pirates hits five home runs in five at bats during the World Series for Gary, Indiana.

1972:  Taiwan wins a second consecutive World Series championship for the Far East Region.

1974:  Little League rules are revised to allow participation by girls.

1978:  Little League grows to include more than 6,500 Little Leagues for 9-12 year olds, 2,850 Senior Leagues for 13-15 year olds, and 1,300 Big League programs for 16-18 year olds.

1984:  Seoul, Korea wins that country’s first Little League World Series championship, defeating Altomonte Springs, Florida 6-2.

1985:  For the first time, ABC-TV carries the Little League World Series championship games live on Wide World of Sports.

1992:  Car. E. Stotz, founder, dies.

1994:  After a record 3 hour, 6 minute rain delay, Coquivaccoa Little League of Maracaibo, Venezuela becomes the first Latin American team to win the series since 1958.

1996:  Little League celebrates the 50th World Series.  Taiwan wins a 17th series title.

1999:  The number of countries with Little League programs reaches 100 as Burkina-Faso (West Africa) joins.

2003:  Our own Bill Kollmer goes to Williamsport, Pa to be the first umpire from Long Island to work the World Series there. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Background Checks:

All local leagues are now required to conduct background checks on Managers, Coaches, Board of Directors members and any other persons, volunteers or hired workers, who provide regular service t the league and/or have repetitive access to, or contact with, players or teams. 

Little League Umpires:

Often overlooked, umpiring is one of the most important aspects of the Little League program.  It is provided on a volunteer basis.  Many districts and leagues have found ways to operate volunteer umpiring programs, helping to defray to costs that might normally be passed on to the parents.  Some leagues provide equipment and uniforms to umpires in performing their service to the league.  The Little League Umpire attends a week of intense training at various Headquarter sites, they receive training material, and attend clinics and seminars on umpire education – all on a volunteer basis.

Who is responsible for the conduct of the umpires?  First and foremost, it is the umpire him/herself.  Each must take responsibility for their actions.  Umpires are appointed by the local league president and approved by the local league board of directors.  Only the local board of directors has authority to dismiss or suspend any local league umpire from regular season games.

A select group of volunteer umpires whose knowledge, experience and demeanor have received recognition at top levels of Tournament Play are invited each year to officiate at one of the World Series tournaments.  In keeping with the volunteer aspect of the local league, travel expenses for World Series umpires are solely the expense of the umpire.

The District Administrator is responsible for nominating umpires (those who volunteer their time to local Little Leagues within the district) for upper level tournaments.  Most umpires who reach this plateau of officiating have been volunteering their time to local Little League for a decade or more.