Little League Museum is Big League Fun By Lizzy Spano

Little League baseball and softball are part of a worldwide sports organization, played by kids in Taiwan and Trenton, New Jersey. But there’s only one official Little League museum and you could hit it with a line drive from where you’re standing.

In the lobby of the Peter J. McGovern Little League Museum in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania, is a replica of Lamade Stadium, where the 2007 Little League World Series will be played from August 17 to 26. On one wall of the museum, frozen in time, are thousands of cheering fans from the 1982 Little League Championship game, a fifteen-foot-high mural of adoration, pride, and spirit.

On another wall is a map of the world and a red button that says, “Push Me.” When it’s pushed, the familiar voice of Vin Scully, beloved Los Angeles Dodgers broadcaster, begins to tell the history of Little League baseball as twinkling lights appear across the fiber-optics map, marking Little League’s evolution as it spread across the globe.

Scully refers to this as “The World of Little League” and makes it clear that while Little League seems to be a world of its own, it is at the same time connected and threaded throughout our world in many ways. And despite Little League’s presence in so many parts of the globe, the South Williamsport facility remains its one official museum.

Named after the first Little League International CEO, the McGovern Museum is a tribute to all past and present Little League players from every country, their coaches, officials, parents, and fans, and memories from their years spent in “The World of Little League.”

The museum, which celebrates its twenty-fifth anniversary this year, is adorned with flags from all countries with Little League programs—nations as disparate as Zimbabwe and Australia—and they reflect the museum’s world involvement.
“What’s cool about museum is when you enter in, you automatically feel big,” says Christopher Downs, the museum’s Media Relations Department manager. “You get the sense that this is bigger than one person . . . you feel a part of it.”

More than 100 countries are represented in Little League, with approximately 3 million children involved, and the numbers seem to grow every year.

“We are constantly expanding in areas we’ve never been before,” says Downs. “We are the only true world series because we incorporate all different (international) programs.”

At one of the many interactive displays, an older man standing on home plate of a downsized baseball diamond, poses in front of the crowd of adoring spectators on the wall, and takes a swing with an invisible bat. Although Little League is for ages nine to twelve, it seems that many never really outgrow it, and a way to relive Little League is through the museum.

“We have something for everyone,” says Museum Director Jan Ogurcak. In fact, during the Little League World Series, up to 1,000 people may visit the museum daily.
“We have children from anywhere in the United States and overseas come in,” says Ogurcak. “They don’t know each other, but they pretend on the baseball diamonds together. They get really into running bases and pretending they’re having a game. They never even say, ‘Hi,’ and then there’s suddenly a whole team on the floor.”
A popular attraction is the Hall of Excellence and Gallery of Achievement. Sure, President of the United States is a great title, but where would George W. Bush be without his past Little League experience? The hall honors people such as Bush, who played Little League as a child but also achieved success and are now “outstanding citizens and role models.”

Other hall members include Rudolph Giuliani, Bruce Springsteen, Kevin Costner, and Tom Seaver, to name just a few. In the Founders Room, the history of Little League from its beginning to its fiftieth anniversary is displayed through artifacts, photographs, and even a video presentation in the Mary C. McGovern Theater.

The Play It Safe Room encourages morals and healthy habits to “improve your game” while discouraging children, who may be easily influenced, from taking the wrong path. Information on “Food and Nutrition, Drugs and Alcohol,” and a warm-up and stretching display entertain and educate visitors.

From there the tour leads to the Basics Room, where you can learn how a baseball is made and take quizzes to test your Little League knowledge. The Play Ball Room is one of the most popular attractions, and its interactive displays entertain baseball fans of all ages. Visitors can practice their swings and pitches in batting cages and time themselves on a sixty-foot running track, the distance between two bases on a Little League diamond.

The Showcase Room displays memorabilia from past Little League players, and also history of Little League’s divisions, including those in softball. Finally, the World Series Room contains highlights of Little League games, which can be selected and displayed on a video screen.

“The museum resonates a common theme,” says Downs, “and that’s Little League.”