Team Hosts Play A Major Role In Players’ Experience

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WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. (June 14, 2002) – Team hosts, or “uncles” as they are commonly called, play a major role in every player’s Little League World Series experience.

These dedicated individuals volunteer their time to be ambassadors of good will for Little League Baseball. Each team is assigned two uncles who take on various responsibilities, from arranging uniform fittings to helping in the coordination of the many media activities involving the teams. These volunteers spend every day of World Series week with their assigned team from breakfast well into the night, providing guidance and assistance to the players, coaches and managers.

Many of the team hosts are so well remembered by their charges that they maintain contact for many years after the players have gone back home. The 56th Little League Baseball World Series is set for Aug. 16-25.

This year, Little League honors an uncle who has reached a milestone. The 2002 Little League Baseball World Series will be the 50th for Edward Claudius. He will serve as “uncle emeritus,” helping to coordinate the corps of volunteers with chairman John Shaible (17 years of service) and Jim Loftus (three years of service.

 “I am not sure if Ed Claudius thought in 1953, when he was a rookie uncle in the Little League Baseball World Series, that he would be doing the same thing a half-century later,” Stephen D. Keener, president and chief executive officer of Little League Baseball, said. “But we’re glad he did, and we’re grateful for his service.”

The 2002 team hosts, announced today, are: