SOD INSTALLED AT NEW  LITTLE LEAGUE WORLD SERIES STADIUM

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About 40,000 square feet of Kentucky bluegrass now covers the field where 12 games of the 2001 Little League Baseball World Series will be played.

The construction of a second stadium was needed to accommodate the expansion of the tournament from eight teams to 16, starting in 2001. Under the pool play format, 15 games have been played each year since 1992 to determine the world champion in the Little League Division for 11-12-year-olds. With the extra teams, the format stays the same, but the number of games increases to 31.

Expansion means more than 200 children will have the opportunity to reach the pinnacle of youth sports competition each year. A maximum of 112 players have participated in the World Series each year since the first was played in 1947.

Construction began in March 2000 and is expected to be complete by summer of next year. New facilities include a concession area serving both stadiums, a picnic area, permanent rest rooms and service road improvements. The new stadium, just north of Howard J. Lamade Stadium, will accommodate about 5,000 spectators.

Lamade Stadium has seating for about 10,000, with room for another 35,000 on the terraced hills beyond the outfield fence. As part of the expansion, some areas beneath Lamade Stadium, previously used for concessions, are being converted to enclosed rooms for World Series functions.

	Jim Scott, facility manager for Little League Baseball, adjusts a piece of sod at the new Little League Baseball World Series stadium. The sod was installed on Nov. 8, 2000.
	Kris Kirby, an employee in the maintenance department of Little League Baseball, carries a piece of sod at the new Little League Baseball World Series Stadium. The sod was installed on Nov. 8, 2000.
	The left-field wall of the new Little League Baseball World Series stadium nears completion. Sod was installed on Nov. 8, 2000, and work has already begun on erecting the seating areas.
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