Carl Stotz organized the first Little League for baseball in 1938 in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. The league had its first season in 1939. The absence of many Little League fathers during World War II slowed the growth of the league during the 1940s, but Little League's board of directors bounced back in 1947 by organizing the first National Little League Tournament, later known as the Little League Baseball World Series.
First Tournament
The board of directors of Little League invited all 17 Little League programs that existed at the time to participate in the first National Little League Tournament, held in 1947. Eleven teams competed, including the original Little League team from Williamsport, as well as the Williamsport Sunday School League, the Maynard Midget League, the Lincoln League Stars, the Brandon Boys League, the Milton Midget League, the Montour Little League, the Montgomery Little League, the Jersey Shore All Stars, the Lock Haven All Stars and the Hammonton All Stars. All of these teams were from Pennsylvania except the Hammonton All Stars, who were from New Jersey. The Maynard Midget League beat the Lock Haven All Stars 16-7 in the final game to win the tournament.
Growing Enthusiasm
More than 2,500 fans watched the championship game of the 1947 tournament, according to Little League Online. Many national newspapers printed the results of the tournament, spreading knowledge of Little League across the country. Soon every state had its own Little League programs.
Geographic Expansion
The 1948 Little League World Series featured eight teams from six states, including Connecticut, Florida, New York, New Jersey, Virginia and Pennsylvania. The Lock Haven All Stars beat the team from St. Petersburg, Florida in the final game. The 1949 World Series featured eight teams from eight states, including Connecticut, Indiana, Ohio, New York, New Jersey, South Carolina, Pennsylvania and Florida. New Jersey beat Florida in the final. Teams from Maryland, Illinois and Texas made their first appearance in the 1950 World Series, and teams from West Virginia, Maine and California first appeared in the 1951 World Series. The next year saw the first teams from Arkansas, North Carolina and Canada, and 1953 saw the first teams from Massachusetts and Alabama. Teams from Michigan and Louisiana first participated in 1955, and a team from New Mexico first entered in 1956.
New Structure
In 1957, instead of admitting eight teams into the World Series, Little League chose one team each from the North, East and West of the United States and one team from Latin America. The four teams came from Michigan, Connecticut, California and Monterrey, Mexico. In 1958, Little League selected teams from the North, West, South and East of the United States as well as from Canada, the Pacific and Latin America. The seven teams came from Illinois, Oregon, Alabama, Connecticut, Quebec, Hawaii and Monterrey, Mexico. Little League followed this same organizational structure in 1959, and then added a team from Europe in 1960. Little League maintained this basic organization until the 1990s. Now the World Series includes teams from more regions, including the Mid-Atlantic, the West, the Southeast, the Great Lakes, New England, the Midwest, the Southwest, the Northwest, the Caribbean, Japan, Mexico, Europe, the Middle East, Latin America, Canada and Asia-Pacific.
Contemporary World Series Events
Since its establishment in the 1930s, Little League has grown immensely, adding new programs such as Senior League Baseball, Big League Baseball, Junior League Baseball and equivalent softball programs. Each Little League division has its own World Series tournament. Little League organizes 11 World Series tournaments each year.
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