Well, it's finally here! The greatest tournament in the world has reached its final destination... South Williamsport, Pennsylvania. Everyone always says Williamsport instead of South Williamsport including myself. The entire area is part of Williamsport's metro area, Little League began in Williamsport. Apparently the bridge over the Susquehanna River is a big difference. The folks that call South Williamsport home take it seriously. Someone even compared it to West and East Germany. Sooo.. we'll try and say South Williamsport as often as possible.
All 16 teams are safely at Little League Headquarters and despite having nearly a week off from playing, they're extra busy. Between photo shoots, ESPN shoots, interviews for TV, workouts for Baseball Factory, and everything else under the sun including practices, it's safe to say that everyone is busy.
I tweeted earlier today that there are some MUST-DO's in Williamsport AND South Williamsport this week if you're visiting especially if you're a first-timer, but I think they're all worth seeing every time.
1. Original League located at 1473 West Fourth Street is the actual birthplace of Little League Baseball. At Original League's Carl E. Stotz Field you can see some of the original uniforms, statistics, and other memorabilia. They even host friendly games for teams from around the country to play on the original field. The best part about Original League is that some of the players who first played there, even during the first season, run the museum and will talk to you about their experiences. It's incredible.
2. World of Little League Museum is located on Route 15 at the top of the Little League complex. I haven't been here in 2-3 years (when it was the Peter J. McGovern Museum) and I'm really excited for it. It was completely renovated and redone and sounds spectacular. It's much more interactive, has hundreds of new artifacts, and truly tells the history of Little League Baseball and Softball.
3. The Gallery at Penn College of Technology has a limited showing of an awesome exhibit of photos taken from the Little League World Series between 1947 and 1990 all by legendary photographer Putsy Vannucci. Here's the description straight from the website at Penn College:
This photographic exhibition commemorates legendary Williamsport photographer Putsee Vannucci and celebrates his contributions to the visual history of the Little League Baseball® World Series. Vannucci shot thousands of remarkable images and witnessed the expansion of the event from a national to an international focus. A wide range of fascinating images in the exhibition include behind-the-scenes and on-the-field images of the players, the icons, the visitors, and the historic moments. The images in the exhibition were selected from the archives of the Little League Museum and date from 1947-1990. These captivating photos will appeal to baseball, photography, and history fans of all ages!
Finally, the event I'm looking forward to the most outside of the games and happenings around the Little League World Series itself is the Grand Slam Parade on Wednesday August 14 at 6 p.m. I've never experienced the parade before, but it continues to grow and grow. Upwards of 25,000 people are expected to line the streets in downtown Williamsport to see the 16 floats full of all the players. It's quite a scene and I can't wait to be a part of it.
Starting Tuesday night, I'll have full and complete previews of each team, and then Wednesday I'll have a recap of my day including the parade and anything else going on. On Thursday night through Sunday night, I'll have my usual in-depth recaps, reviews, rankings, and predictions for every game plus first-hand news and notes. I'll be back home Monday, but will continue to give the best information you can find on the Little League World Series.
None of this will be possible without your help though. I'm running a fundraising campaign to get to the Little League World Series so I can bring the best possible coverage to you. Every little bit helps and I really appreciate all the support that the blog and radio show are getting this year. It's been my favorite summer in a long time.
CLICK HERE: Help Little League Insider Get to Williamsport
You can listen to Little League Insider Radio from Sunday for a bit of an initial LLWS preview. I also did an interview on WRAK radio in Williamsport and discussed all the teams and their chances at winning some first round games. That interview isn't available for replay, but will be on WRAK a few times during the week. I'm hoping to get a schedule.
Listen to previous episodes of Little League Insider Radio
Episode 1
Episode 2
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