The first-ever T-Mobile Little League Home Run Derby, stadium upgrades to venerable Howard J. Lamade Stadium, the third MLB Little League Classic at Historic Bowman Field, an exhibit featuring Major League Baseball and the former Little Leaguers who have played it, are among the notable things that will be happening at this year’s 73rd Annual Little League Baseball World Series.

Just as their big brothers in the major leagues have done in connection with the annual Major League All-Star, outstanding Little Leaguers from all over the country will be swinging for the fences in the T-Mobile Little League Home Run Derby.

Throughout the summer, Little Leagues around the country were given the opportunity to conduct local qualifying competitions to see who the best home run hitters were, with the top performers moving on to the regional finals at select MLB parks. From there, the top softball and baseball hitters will travel to Williamsport to compete in the inaugural T-Mobile Little League Home Run Derby Championship during the opening weekend of the Little League World Series.

For the third year in a row, major league ballplayers will be rubbing elbows with Little Leaguers competing in the LLWS in conjunction with the third MLB Little League Classic.

The Pittsburgh Pirates and the Chicago Cubs will face off on August 18 at the Historic Bowman Field in the Classic presented by GEICO. Major Leaguers on the Pirates and Cubs will once again attend Little League Baseball World Series games earlier in the day on August 18, demonstrating their commitment to helping grow the game at the youth level.

In the same vein, since the last LLBWS, visitors to the World of Little League® Museum and Official Store have had the opportunity to experience a brand-new exhibit featuring Major League Baseball. The exhibit highlights Little League’s connection to MLB throughout history, offering fans a memorable look at game-used memorabilia, personal items from Little League alumni who went on to play in the MLB, and an inaugural ticket from the MLB Little League Classic. In addition to the new MLB exhibit, there are a number of new exhibits and improvements made to the Museum this summer to come explore.

The playing surface at Howard J. Lamade Stadium will have been upgraded and improved.

This past fall, the field at Lamade Stadium received a full resurfacing for the first time in 10 years. The process began after the conclusion of the 2018 LLBWS. The field was stripped of its original layer after safely removing the old grass, then leveled out. From there, new sod was placed on the field along with a new irrigation system. This upcoming World Series will be the first time games will be played on the new fields.

As usual, there will be a lot of great action and fun to see at this year’s 73rd Little League World Series which begins, Thursday, August 15.