LITTLE LEAGUE BASEBALL

Youth Basesball

Little League Baseball was begun in 1939 in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. Each year the World Series of Little League Baseball is played in that town, which is still the headquarters.

The Little League organization grew slowly at first, but soon began expanding rapidly. In 1947, the first little league team outside Pennsylvania was formed in New Jersey. Also that year the first World Series was played. British Columbia in Canada was the first league formed outside of the United States, in 1951. By that year there were 776 leagues in existence.

In 1956, the number of leagues reached the 4,000 mark. In 1957, the Monterrey, Mexico team became the first foreign team to win the Series. They won it again the following year. In 1959, the Director of Safety Research for the Little League, Dr. Creighton J. Hale, developed the modern protective helmet.

The aluminum bat was developed in 1971, in cooperation with Little League Baseball, and in 1974 girls were welcomed to participate in the program. 1990 brought the Challenger Division for physically and mentally disabled children.

Today, the Little League organization has several regional headquarters, is a non-profit organization run by a board of directors, and is located in more than 3 dozen countries.