What began as a fun-filled parade traversing Fourth Street with Little League players both throwing and catching candy and rubber baseballs from their flatbed trailer chariots ended its 75th celebration thirteen days later as the newly crowned Honolulu, Hawaii champions completed their Lamade Stadium victory lap by tossing baseballs to the cheering fans on the outfield hillside.
Referenced by my radio broadcast partner, Ken Sawyer, as the ‘Hawaiian invitational,’ the island kids dominated the competition perhaps like no other United States team has ever done.
Managed by Gerald Oda, who led the same league to the LLBWS title in 2018, this year’s juggernaut steamrolled its six opponents, outscoring them 60-5, tossing three shutouts along the way, and blasting towering home runs. In his two Williamsport appearances, Oda’s teams have gone 12-0, giving Hawaiian teams their fourth world title since 2005.
The 13-3 mercy rule world championship triumph over a pitcher-less Curaçao squad seemed inevitable from the outset. Curaçao was playing its eighth game after surviving five consecutive elimination games, including a dramatic 1-0 win over Taiwan in the International Bracket championship. The team’s three best pitchers had exhausted their mound eligibility after tossing three shutouts. Hawaii’s first two hitters blasted home runs and what was left of Curaçao’s pitching staff likely set a dubious championship game record by hitting five batters in one inning and seven in the game.
Nevertheless, the 75th unveiling of this late summer tradition was a welcomed sight. The fans were back and seemingly glad to see one another again. Most games were competitive, and once again, memories made were the most important statistics produced from the expanded 20-team event.
Throughout its long history, the Little League program has adapted to several eligibility challenges along the way. Included were the inclusion of minority players, the formation of the softball program, and the emotionally uplifting Challenger Division, which was on full display before last month’s championship Saturday.
Little League’s Challenger Division was founded in 1989 as an adaptive baseball program for individuals with physical and intellectual challenges. It accommodates players ages 4 to 18 or up to age 22 if still enrolled in school. There are 950 challenger programs in 10 countries around the world with approximately 30,000 participants.
Challenger Division teams from Mason, Ohio and San Jose, California, had been invited to play in the annual World Series game two years ago but were benched by the COVID outbreak. After the long wait, the two leagues had an opportunity to compete in their own Field of Dreams on the Volunteer Stadium diamond.
Ever since 1971, I have been fortunate to have had some involvement with every World Series. Those duties have varied, but this year a rare circumstance occurred that provided a glimpse I had not seen previously. While grabbing some breakfast before departing for the stadium and my broadcasting duties, I turned on the TV just in time to see the introduction of players for the Challenger game.
As the teams were lined up on the baselines, Rickey Henderson, MLB’s all-time stolen base leader and Hall of Fame member, was poised to present each player with medals. As I watched, I thought how ironic it was to see Henderson in this role. Throughout his 24 Major League seasons, he was best known for his brashness and flamboyant style. Now this father of three was about to present medals to challenged youngsters who had no idea who he was or what he had done on the baseball field.
I was never a Rickey Henderson fan; he was just too cocky for me to embrace. But in the next few minutes, he won me over. As the public address announcer called each player’s name, Henderson approached each one, carefully removing their cap and placing the medal around their necks. Gently patting their shoulders, he respectfully bowed and moved on to the next player.
That did it for me. Unashamedly, tears welled in my eyes and ran down my cheeks. I was well aware of the Challenger Division but had never witnessed the medal ceremony and certainly never expected to see Rickey Henderson in this caring light.
Then irony struck me. During my many years as a Little League manager, I sometimes took my team to a local challenger game so my players could serve as challenger buddies and see how important the game was to those children they were helping. One of the players I once coached was Sam Ranck, now an LLB employee who is in charge of the Challenger Division.
I can’t recall if Sam experienced one of those moments as a member of my teams but what he is helping these young people accomplish is every bit as important as that world championship banner the Hawaiian kids have taken home.
