Big League World Series
The Big League World Series is a baseball tournament for children aged 15 to 18 years old that began in 1968.[1] It is patterned after the Little League World Series, which was named for the World Series in Major League Baseball. Charlotte, North Carolina was the host city for the first two years of the tournament. The tournament was then moved to Fort Lauderdale, Florida until 1998.[2] Currently the tournament is held in Easley, South Carolina.
The Big League World Series is one of nine tournaments sponsored by Little League International. Each of them brings baseball or softball teams from around the world together in one of four age divisions. The tournament structure for each division's World Series is similar to that used for the Little League Baseball World Series.
Tournament format
Unlike the Little League World Series — which has sixteen regions (eight in the U.S. and eight international) — the Big League World Series has only ten regions.[3]
Also unlike the Little League World Series, there is a host team, which plays in the U.S. pool. The ten regional champions are divided into Pool A (U.S.) and Pool B (International). The two best teams from each pool advance to the semi-finals, to determine the U.S. champion and the International champion. The semi-final winners play for the championship. All matches are single-elimination games. The losing teams face off in classification games.
Pool A (U.S.) consists of the host team and the regional champions from the Central, East, Southeast, Southwest, and West regions. Pool B (International) consists of the regional champions from Mexico, Latin America, Canada, Asia-Pacific, and EMEA (Europe, Middle East, and Africa).
Champions
| Year |
Winner |
Region |
Score |
Runner-Up |
Region |
| 1968 |
 Charleston, West Virginia |
East |
|
|
|
| 1969 |
 Barstow, California |
West |
|
|
|
| 1970 |
 Lincolnwood, Illinois |
North |
|
|
|
| 1971 |
San Jose, California |
West |
|
|
|
| 1972 |
 Orlando, Florida |
South |
|
|
|
| 1973 [4] |
Lincolnwood, Illinois |
North |
|
West Orange County, California |
West |
| 1974 |
 Pingtung, Taiwan |
Far East |
|
|
|
| 1975 [5] |
Taipei, Taiwan |
Far East |
2–1 |
 San Antonio, Texas |
South |
| 1976 [6] |
Pingtung, Taiwan |
Far East |
4–0 |
Broward County, Florida |
Host |
| 1977 [7] |
Ping Dong, Taiwan |
Far East |
|
Broward County, Florida |
Host |
| 1978 [8] |
Taichung, Taiwan |
Far East |
4–1 (F/13) |
Tampa, Florida |
South |
| 1979 [9][10] |
 West Hempstead, New York |
East |
5–1 |
Orlando, Florida |
South |
| 1980 |
Buena Park, California |
West |
|
|
|
| 1981 |
Pingtung, Taiwan |
Far East |
|
|
|
| 1982 |
 San Juan, Puerto Rico |
Puerto Rico |
|
|
|
| 1983 |
Taipei, Taiwan |
Far East |
|
|
|
| 1984 [11] |
Pingtung, Taiwan |
Far East |
6–4 |
 Maracaibo, Venezuela |
Venezuela |
| 1985 [12] |
Broward County, Florida |
Host |
8–1 |
San Juan, Puerto Rico |
Puerto Rico |
| 1986 [13] |
Maracaibo, Venezuela |
Venezuela |
6–2 & 6–4 |
Broward County, Florida |
Host |
| 1987 |
Taipei, Taiwan |
Far East |
9–1 |
Broward County, Florida |
Host |
| 1988 |
Taipei, Taiwan |
Far East |
6–0 |
Broward County, Florida |
Host |
| 1989 |
Taipei, Taiwan |
Far East |
|
|
|
| 1990 |
Taipei, Taiwan |
Far East |
|
|
|
| 1991 |
Taipei, Taiwan |
Far East |
|
|
|
| 1992 |
Broward County, Florida |
Host |
5–4 |
Maracaibo, Venezuela |
Venezuela |
| 1993 |
Taipei, Taiwan |
Far East |
|
|
|
| 1994 [14] |
Taipei, Taiwan |
Far East |
|
Broward County, Florida |
Host |
| 1995 |
Tainan, Taiwan |
Far East |
|
|
|
| 1996 |
Kaohsiung, Taiwan |
Far East |
|
|
|
| 1997 [15] |
Broward County, Florida |
Host |
|
Maracaibo, Venezuela |
Venezuela |
| 1998 |
Thousand Oaks, California |
West |
|
|
|
| 1999 |
Orlando, Florida |
South |
|
|
|
| 2000 |
 Fraser Valley, Canada |
Canada |
|
|
|
| 2001 |
Westminster, California |
West |
5–4 |
Valencia, Venezuela |
Latin America |
| 2002 |
San Juan, Puerto Rico |
Latin America |
7–2 |
 Hughesville, Maryland |
East |
| 2003 |
 Easley, South Carolina |
Host |
6–3 |
Thousand Oaks, California |
West |
| 2004 |
Easley, South Carolina |
Host |
9–1 |
 Williamsport, Pennsylvania |
East |
| 2005 |
Easley, South Carolina |
Host |
10–5 |
Thousand Oaks, California |
West |
| 2006 |
Thousand Oaks, California |
West |
10–0 |
San Juan, Puerto Rico |
Latin America |
| 2007 |
Easley, South Carolina |
Host |
11–3 |
San Juan, Puerto Rico |
Puerto Rico |
| 2008 |
Taylors, South Carolina |
South |
5–4 |
San Juan, Puerto Rico |
Puerto Rico |
| 2009 |
 Santiago, Dominican Republic |
Latin America |
12–0 |
Thousand Oaks, California |
West |
| 2010 |
San Juan, Puerto Rico |
Latin America |
3–2 |
Thousand Oaks, California |
West |
| 2011 |
Taylors, South Carolina |
Southeast |
9–7 |
San Juan, Puerto Rico |
Latin America |
| 2012 |
San Juan, Puerto Rico |
Puerto Rico |
7–3 |
Easley, South Carolina |
Host |
| 2013 |
Greenville County, South Carolina |
Southeast |
6–1 |
Maracaibo, Venezuela |
Latin America |
| 2014 |
Clearwater, Florida |
Southeast |
2–1 |
San Juan, Puerto Rico |
Puerto Rico |
Championships won by country/state
See also
References
- ↑ Big League Baseball. Little League Baseball Incorporated. Retrieved 2009-11-24.
- ↑ Big League Series To Leave Fort Lauderdale After 29 Years - Sun Sentinel
- ↑ 2009 Big League Baseball World Series pools and results. Little League Baseball Incorporated. Retrieved 2010-01-15.
- ↑ Broward out of Tournament. . The Miami News. Retrieved August 4, 2014.
- ↑ Taiwan Retains Big League Title. . The Evening Independent. Retrieved August 4, 2014.
- ↑ Taiwan Again. . Reading Eagle. Retrieved August 4, 2014.
- ↑ Broward in Big League Finals. . Boca Raton News. Retrieved August 4, 2014.
- ↑ Taiwan Wins Fifth Straight. . Star-News. Retrieved August 4, 2014.
- ↑ Orlando Loses in LL Series. . Sarasota Herald-Tribune. Retrieved August 4, 2014.
- ↑ Taiwan Forfeits, Loses Tourney. . Sarasota Herald-Tribune. Retrieved August 4, 2014.
- ↑ Taiwan Claims Big League World Title. . Mohave Daily Miner. Retrieved August 4, 2014.
- ↑ Broward All-stars Try Their Luck In Big League World Series - Sun Sentinel
- ↑ Venezuela Beats Broward, Wins Big League Series. . The Palm Beach Post. Retrieved August 4, 2014.
- ↑ Baseball the right call for this soldier. . The Free Lance-Star. Retrieved August 4, 2014.
- ↑ Broward's Plan: Win Big League Championship - Sun Sentinel
External links
