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Things will be different Little League faces tests, changes next year
WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. (CNN/SI) -- Actor and former Little Leaguer Kevin Costner said he never has played at Williamsport. But he said he's dreamt about it. Costner's dream is shared with every Little Leaguer with a glove and a baseball uniform. After 54 years, Little Leaguers still lay in bed in wonder of making it to Howard J. Lamade Stadium in August. The world has changed, but Williamsport maintains a sense of innocence. Consider, this is place where a hot dog and a soda costs $1, and kids still whoop and holler and cry when the final out is made. How Little League can preserve its history and protect its relevance becomes the challenge. Starting next year, the World Series will change dramatically. A new stadium is under construction, allowing the Series to double to 16 teams. With that come concerns that the corporate world eventually will force itself into the picture. "That's a fair concern," Little League president and CEO Stephen Keener said. "I think it's incumbent upon us to keep the proper perspective. We've worked very hard to try to keep the focus on kids playing the game on the field." Even as officials dealt with controversy on two fronts this past week, it was the kids who stole the show. There was the team from Vancouver, Wash., which drew its inspiration from Tyler "TJ" Jacobs, a 6-year-old recovering from brain surgery. Vancouver also earned praise for not lying down in its preliminary round finale, something that -- because of the Series' complex tiebreaking formula -- would have clinched it a berth in the U.S. Pool final. Then there were the Little Leaguers from Maracaibo, Venezuela, who arrived with one bat but wound up winning the title, beating Bellaire, Texas, 3-2 Saturday. "This is a team that has a bunch of fighters," Maracaibo manager Eduvino Quevedo said. "They're from a very poor neighborhood in Maracaibo and they don't give up very easily." It was Quevedo, following Maracaibo's 5-4 win over Tokyo in the International Pool final, who celebrated by hugging every player on the field --including Tokyo's. Ruben Mavarez, who pitched a four-hitter and struck out Bellaire's Hunter Johnson for the final out with runners at the corners, called it a big step in his baseball career because not many kids have an opportunity to pitch on such a grand stage. It was a challenging two weeks for Little League Baseball. Along with sidestepping criticism over its tiebreaking rule, the Little League board took steps to return to girls-only softball after the Philippines forfeited the championship game of the Little League Softball World Series over boys competing for the first time. Keener acknowledged the tests Little League faces. "Any time you are a program with the magnitude of Little League Baseball, our program is going to be challenged by the same social and economic challenges that many other organizations and countries feel," he said. "Our challenge is to adapt to those." Costner, one of three enshrined in Little League's Hall of Excellence this past weekend, was left awestruck. "I like the idea that it stays here, and it's something that one anticipates to come to," Costner said. "The birthplace, it's all very appropriate. You should hold on to it." Perhaps Bellaire pitcher Ross Haggard said it best, when asked what it took to get to Williamsport. "Don't think it's impossible to get here," Haggard said. "Because that's what we thought, and we got here."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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