Interleague play in Major League Baseball refers to regular-season baseball games played between an American League (AL) team and a National League (NL) team. Interleague play was first introduced during the 1997 Major League Baseball season. Prior to that, matchups between AL teams and NL teams occurred only during spring training, the All-Star Game, other exhibition games, and the World Series. Unlike modern interleague play, none of these contests, except for the World Series, counted toward official team or league records.
Little League Baseball and Softball is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization based in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania, United States, that organizes local youth baseball and softball leagues throughout the United States and the rest of the world.
Kevin Charles Millar is an American former professional baseball first baseman and outfielder who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) and is a current analyst for MLB Network and NESN. He played in MLB for the Florida Marlins, Boston Red Sox, Baltimore Orioles, and Toronto Blue Jays from 1998 through 2009. He is currently a host along with Siera Santos and Ryan Dempster on the MLB Network show Intentional Talk, and the show's companion audio podcast Intentional Talk: Caught Listening.
The Little League World Series is an annual baseball tournament for children—typically boys—aged 10 to 12 years old, held in the Eastern United States. Originally called the National Little League Tournament, it was later renamed for the World Series in Major League Baseball. The Series was first held in 1947 and is held every August in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania; while the postal address of the organization is in Williamsport, the Series itself is played at Howard J. Lamade Stadium and Volunteer Stadium at the Little League headquarters complex in South Williamsport.
Adam LaMarque Jones is an American former professional baseball outfielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Seattle Mariners, Baltimore Orioles and Arizona Diamondbacks and in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) for the Orix Buffaloes.
In Major League Baseball (MLB), the wild card teams are the three teams in each of the two leagues that have qualified for the postseason despite failing to win their division. Those teams in each league possess the three best winning percentages in their league after the three division winners. The wild card was first instituted in MLB in 1994, with one wild card team per league advancing to the Division Series in the postseason to face a division winner.
Steven Wayne Pearce is an American former professional baseball left fielder and first baseman. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Pittsburgh Pirates, Baltimore Orioles, Houston Astros, New York Yankees, Tampa Bay Rays, Toronto Blue Jays and Boston Red Sox. Pearce is only the second player in MLB history to have played for every team in the American League East, the first being Kelly Johnson. He is also the first and only player to have hit two walk-off grand slams in the span of a single week.
Rubén Darío Tejada is a Panamanian professional baseball shortstop for the Long Island Ducks of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball. He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Mets, St. Louis Cardinals, San Francisco Giants, and Baltimore Orioles.
Qualification for the Little League World Series in Mexico, whereby teams based in Mexico compete to select a champion to participate in the Little League World Series (LLWS), has occurred since 2001. In 2001, when the LLWS expanded to 16 teams, the Mexico Region was created as one of eight international regions, resulting in Mexico's Little League champion receiving an automatic berth in the LLWS. Mexico previously competed as part of the Latin America Region, from 1958 to 2001, whereby the champion from Mexico had to compete against teams from other countries in order to secure a berth in the LLWS.
The 2013 Little League World Series was held in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania, from August 15 until August 25. Eight teams from the United States and eight from throughout the world competed in the 67th edition of this tournament. The Musashi-Fuchū Little League of Tokyo, Japan, defeated the Eastlake Little League of Chula Vista, California, 6–4 in the championship game. For the country of Japan, this was their ninth LLWS championship overall, second consecutive, and the third in four years. This was the last World Series to feature players born in the 20th century.
The 2017 Little League World Series was held from August 17 to 27. Eight teams from the United States and eight teams from around the world competed in the 71st edition of the tournament. Tokyo Kitasuna Little League of Tokyo, Japan, defeated Lufkin Little League of Lufkin, Texas, in the championship game by a 12–2 score. It was the 11th time that a team from Japan won the tournament. Tokyo Kitasuna became the first league to win the tournament four times.
The 2018 Major League Baseball season began on March 29. The regular season ended on October 1, extended a day for tiebreaker games to decide the winners of the National League Central and National League West. The postseason began on October 2. The World Series began on October 23, and ended on October 28 with the Boston Red Sox defeating the Los Angeles Dodgers in five games to win their ninth World Series championship.
The MLB Little League Classic is an annual Major League Baseball (MLB) game held in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, during the Little League World Series, first contested during the 2017 edition of that event. The series is part of MLB's effort to get more children interested in and involved with baseball at a younger age.
The 2018 Little League World Series was held from August 16 to August 26 at the Little League headquarters complex in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania. Eight teams from the United States and eight teams from around the world competed in the 72nd edition of the tournament. Honolulu Little League of Honolulu, Hawaii defeated South Seoul Little League of Seoul, South Korea in the championship by a 3–0 score. It was the third championship for a team from Hawaii, having won previously in 2005 and 2008.
The 2019 Little League World Series was held from August 15 to August 25 at the Little League headquarters complex in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania. Eight teams from the United States and eight teams from around the world competed in the 73rd edition of the Little League World Series. Eastbank Little League of River Ridge, Louisiana defeated Pabao Little League of Willemstad, Curaçao in the championship by a 8–0 score.
The 2020 Little League World Series was scheduled to take place during August 20–30, 2020, at the Little League headquarters complex in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania. It was canceled on April 30, 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The 2021 Little League World Series was held from August 19 to August 29 at the Little League headquarters complex in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the event was limited to US-based teams only. The most recent prior edition of the tournament contested without international teams had been 1975. Taylor North Little League of Taylor, Michigan, defeated West Side Little League of Hamilton, Ohio, in the championship by a 5–2 score. It was the first championship for a team from Michigan since 1959.
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused disruption to baseball across the world, mirroring its impact across all sports. Leagues across the world experienced delayed starts, cancelled seasons, limited or no fan attendance, game postponements, and other restrictions in 2020 and 2021. Most leagues, including Major League Baseball, began to transition back to a normal schedule with fan attendance in 2021. Since then, few leagues have widespread restrictions in place, but players may still miss time if they contract the virus.
The 2023 Little League World Series was a youth baseball tournament taking place from August 16 to August 27 at the Little League headquarters complex in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania. Ten teams from the United States and ten teams from other countries are competing in the 76th edition of the Little League World Series (LLWS). El Segundo Little League of El Segundo, California, defeated Pabao Little League of Willemstad, Curaçao, in the championship game by a 6–5 score on a walk-off home run by Louis Lappe. It was the first championship for a team from California since 2011, and 8th overall, the most of any US state.
Honolulu Little League, Honolulu, Hawaii 
Pabao Little League, Willemstad, Curacao 
