The "One More Look At Baseball and Williamsport" Story

The Little League Museum in Williamsport, PA

It was an ordinary day.  Heading home after a trip to the World of Little League in William- sport, PA.  Home today is on Clearview Ave. in State College where our friends Jerry and Just Sue live, since Carol and I have been guests in their home this weekend.  This morning we traveled to Williamsport to see a St. Patrick's Day parade and after the parade Jerry asked what else I wanted to do while in the area.  

Carl E. Stotz, the founder of Little
League Baseball in 1939.

 Told him I wanted to see where the Little League World Series is played and if we had time could we take a walk through the Little League Museum.  Well, we spent some time at the World Series complex and have now taken a tour of the Little League Museum.  For those who have no idea what I talking about, Little League Baseball was founded in 1939 by Carl E. Stotz who lived in Williamsport and began a three-team league.  The year before, he gathered a few of his relatives and some of the neighborhood kids and tried to set up a field where they could play baseball.  Couldn't use the same size field as the adults, since they were much smaller in size so after a few different tries he began a league with the three teams and called it Little League.  The teams, Jumbo Pretzel, Lycoming Dairy, and Lundy Lumber were managed by Carl and two of his friends, George and Bert Bebbie.  Carl's dream of forming a baseball league for boys to teach fair play and teamwork had finally come true.  

This is a display in the Museum.
It shows a glove, ball, mask
 and bat that would have been
used in the late 1900s.

 The first game took place on June 6, 1939 on a lot near Bowman Field, which is now where the Williamsport minor league team plays, when Lundy Lumber defeated Lycoming Dairy 23-8.  The following year another league was formed in Williamsport and from there Little League Baseball grew to become an international organization of nearly 200,000 teams in every U.S. State and over 80 countries around the world.  I remember when the four of us took a cruise through the Panama Canal a few years back and we made a stop in Curacao and as the ship was pulling into the dock I could see an entire Little League complex near the dock.  And, one year while in St. Martin Carol and I traveled to their Little League ballpark to watch a game.  Up until 1974 Little League was just for boys, but that year the rules were revised to allow participation by girls in the baseball program.  Eventually softball leagues were started for girls, but still allowing girls to participate with the boys in baseball.  

These are original shirts from the second year
of Little League Baseball in 1940. Teams were
(from the left) Stein's Service, Lycoming Dairy, 
Richardson Buick and Lundy Lumber. All the shirts are
on loan to the Museum from family members.

 Eventually a Challenger League was started for handi- capped children.  Little League is divided into 16 geographic regions; eight National and eight Inter- national.  All winners eventually come to Williamsport for the Little League World Series.  Why do you think it's called William….sport?  I often dreamed of playing in the Series, but never had that honor.  

Edward Younken pithed the first no-hitter in Little
League with this ball, on August 6, 1942.
It is signed by him and by manager
John Lindemuth of the Lundy Lumber team.

 I coached baseball for many years from ages nine through sixteen, but never in Little League.  Our area had Midget-Midget, Jr. Midget and Midget Baseball, but our leagues were never associated with Little League.  Often wonder if some of my really good teams could have competed successfully with Little League teams.  

The first pitch in a Little League game was made on
June 6, 1939 from this pitcher's plate (what we now
 call pitcher's rubber). It washand-made by Carl Stotz,
 being 18" long and 4" wide.  The same dimensions
that are still used today in Little League.  If he only
knew what he did for Little League when he
first started in that year!

 I hope to think we could have, but never had that chance.  Well, our trip today through the World of Little League Museum was timely, the Museum only reopened in June 2013, after a major renovation.  The original museum opened in 1982, closing in September of 2012 to prepare for this year's 75th Anniversary of Little League.  The "new" museum, housed in the same place, is fantastic.  
 The history is amazing and all the donated items from the past are so much fun to view.  I'm sure I missed half of what was presented, so another trip will have to happen in the future.  A store has also opened to sell souvenirs such as shirts and jackets.  My grandson will soon love his new red jersey proclaiming Little League Baseball.  We all had a great time during our hour or so trip through Little League Baseball history, or at least I did.  Made easy with a Senior discount ticket and a spot right in front of the Museum for Jerry's handicapped placard.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

This glove was used by Sue Enquist to play baseball in the 1960's.  She was unable to participate in Little League because of her sex.  Finally in 1974 the rules were changed to allow girls to participate.  Sue went on to win All-American softball honors at UCLA. She later coached the Bruins, with a lifetime record of 887-175-1.  During her 18 years as player and coach, UCLA won 18 national championships.  She donated her glove to the Little League Museum.

This is Maria Pepe of Hoboken, NJ who earned a spot on a Little League team there, but the rules kept her off the team. Her case was one that led to the admission of girls into Little League baseball and the creation of Little League Softball.

This panoramic shot show some of the displays in the Little League Museum.

Anyone who follows Little League baseball knows that small collectible pins are a favorite of the boys and girls who play the sport.  This hat belonged to Cliff Glier who served as public address announcer for the Little League Baseball World Series from 1968 until he died in 1993.  His hat, covered with pins, surrounds the many other pins from years past from many other countries.

This was one of my favorite displays.  Visitors to the museum could try to jump and touch the baseballs where were at varying heights against a simulated outfield wall.  Started at 5 feet and went to 10 feet high.  No, I didn't really try it, but I did enjoy it.  I could have reached 12 feet anyway!

These are autographed baseballs from players from teams that were in the Little League World Series.  From the left were: Waipio Little League, HI; Wakayama Little League, Osaka, Japan; Lugazi Little League, Laguzi Uganda; South Moravia Little League, Brno, Czech Republic; Central Little League, Mangilao-Barrigada, Guam; Jorge Rosas Little League, Mayaguez, Puerto Rico; and Ligas Peguena Mirtras, Monterrey, Mexico.  There were more in the display, but my camera could only catch these.  Click on the photo to see it better.