Schedule Set For Downtown Little League's "Weekend In Williamsport

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Manhattan League vacated home fields for WTC cleanup

WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. (May 14, 2002) - More than 200 boys and girls from the Downtown Little League of Manhattan will have an experience dreamed about by millions of children around the world.

Without a home for the 2002 season because of the work to clear the rubble from the World Trade Center, 17 teams from the league will be making a trip to the home of Little League in Williamsport, Pa., for a weekend of games and fun this weekend - a "Weekend in Williamsport."

The teams of 9-to-14-year-olds will be housed in dormitories used each August for Little League Baseball World Series teams. Little League also is providing meals to the players, managers and coaches - a total of about 250 people. Local businesses in the New York also are stepping forward to help defray expenses for the weekend, including the New York Yankees, who are providing the transportation to and from New York City. Russell Athletic is supplying souvenir shirts at no charge to all teams. Local Little League volunteers in Pennsylvania and other states have been enlisted to help.

Teams will arrive Friday night. Games are scheduled on several fields on Saturday at 9 a.m., 1 p.m., 3:30 p.m., and 6:30 p.m.. Games on Sunday are at 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. Included are skills clinics, a tour of the Peter J. McGovern Little League Museum for the teams, and a picnic for the players and their families. All of the events are free.

Downtown Little League's fields were located in Battery Park City, just a few blocks from the World Trade Center in Lower Manhattan. After the attacks, the ball fields were taken over as a staging area for the heavy equipment used in removing the rubble. It is expected that the league will regain use of the property next year. In the meantime, the City of New York Parks and Recreation Department and other local Little League programs have teamed up to help the Downtown Little League use other facilities this year

Many of the games will be played in Howard J. Lamade Stadium and Little League Volunteer Stadium, the two venues where the annual Little League Baseball World Series is played. The public is invited to the games, and there is no admission charge.

Little League, founded in 1939 in Williamsport, is the world's largest organized youth sports program, with approximately 2.8 million children and 1 million volunteers in every U.S. state and 103 other countries.

Game Schedule

SATURDAY

9 a.m. - Minor Division: Sox vs. Pirates (Lamade Stadium); Orioles vs. Mariners (Volunteer Stadium); Expos vs. Brewers (Field 5); Blue Jays vs. Athletics (Field 4b). Junior Division: Mets vs. Blue Jays (Field 2).

1 p.m. - Major Division: Tribeca Hardware vs. Shore Printing (Lamade); Tribeca Grill vs. EAO Computing (Volunteer); Sage, Wilmer, Coombe Architects vs. Budd Larner (Field 5). Junior Division: Blue Jays vs. Brewers (Field 2).

3:30 p.m. - Minor Division: Expos vs. Athletics (Lamade); Brewers vs. Blue Jays (Volunteer); Orioles vs. Sox (Field 5); Pirates vs. Mariners (Field 4b). Junior Division: Brewers vs. Mets (Field 2).

6:30 p.m. - Major Division: Tribeca Hardware vs. EAO Computing (Lamade); Budd Larner vs. Tribeca Hardware (Volunteer); Shore Printing vs. Tribeca Grill (Field 5).

SUNDAY

9 a.m. - Major Division: Budd Larner vs. Tribeca Grill (Lamade); Sage, Wilmer, Coombe Architects vs. Shore Printing (Volunteer); Tribeca Hardware vs. EAO Computing (Field 5). Junior Division: Brewers vs. Blue Jays (Field 2).

1 p.m. - Minor Division: Orioles vs. Expos (Lamade); Mariners vs. Athletics (Volunteer); Pirates vs. Brewers (Field 5); Sox vs. Blue Jays (Field 4b). Junior Division: Mets vs. Brewers (Field 2).

NOTE: Schedule is subject to change.

The photos above show the paved-over fields formerly used by Downtown Little League at Battery Park City in New York City, near the site of the World Trade Center. The league is without “home” fields this year after they were taken over in the cleanup effort.

An aerial photo of Little League Baseball's Stadium Complex in Williamsport, PA, featuring Lamade Stadium (foreground) and the recently completed Volunteer Stadium (center-right).