ESPN.com - MORESPORTS/LLWS00 - Historic Little League moments

 Monday, August 21
History
 
 2000 marks the 61st anniversary of the founding of Little League Baseball by Mr. Carl Stotz with a three-team league (Lycoming Dairy, Lundy Lumber, and Jumbo Pretzel) in Williamsport in 1939. The first Little League World Series was held in 1947.

 
  Little Leaguers dream of playing in Lamade Stadium.

Howard J. Lamade Stadium in Williamsport, Pa., has been the home of the Little League World Series since 1959. Lamade Stadium has seating for about 40,000, yet exact attendance figures are difficult to calculate since there's no admission charge.

Sports Illustrated ranked Lamade Stadium as the 16th best venue in the world for watching a sporting event. Among the top 20, Lamade is the only one that is exclusively reserved for a youth athletic event.

Lamade Stadium is named after Howard J. Lamade, a supporter who helped in obtaining the lands and funds necessary for its construction. This will also be the first year that Lamade Stadium will host all four divisions of girls Little League softball and baseball in the district playoffs.

Historical moments of note:
1949: Hammonton, New Jersey, wins the 3rd Little League World Series, shutting out Pensacola, Florida, 5-0. Hammonton became the first non-Pennsylvania team to win the Little League World Series championship.

1959: Hamtramck, Michigan (National) routed Auburn, California (West Auburn), 12-0 in the Little League World Series Championship Game. Hamtramck is still the only team from the states that make up the current U.S. Central Region to win the LLWS Championship.

1969: Taiwan (also known as Chinese Taipei) wins its first Little League World Series championship with a 5-0 win over Santa Clara, California (Briarwood). A member of the Santa Clara side that day was Carney Lansford, who went on to play 15 season in the major leagues with the California (now Anaheim) Angels, Boston Red Sox, and Oakland Athletics.

1979: Pu-Tzu, Chinese Taipei rallied to defeat Campbell, California, 2-1, in the Little League World Series Championship Game. The title is the third in as many years for a Taiwanese side and the eighth of the 17 championships won by teams from Taiwan all-time, the most of any nation or state in Little League World Series history.

1989: Trumbull, Connecticut (National) becomes the first U.S. team since 1983 to win the Little League World Series Championship with a 5-2 win over Kang-Tu, Chinese Taipei. Trumbull's winning pitcher, Chris Drury, is now a member of the NHL's Colorado Avalanche and won the 1998-99 Calder Trophy as the league's rookie of the year. Drury is also the first Hobey Baker Award winner (top player in college hockey, which Drury won while at Boston University) to win NHL rookie of the year honors as well.

1999: Osaka, Japan, captured the Little League World Series championship with a 5-0 win over Phenix City, Alabama. Kazuki Sumiyama was stellar on the mound, throwing a two-hit, nine-strikeout shutout. Sumiyama struck out three of the Phenix City's first four batters and had a total of 19 strikeouts in his two World Series appearances. Osaka became the fourth Japanese team to win the series. 		 



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