No one thought they could do it but them. And on August 25, 2002 they ruled the world.
Each spring, almost 200,000 Little League teams in more than 100 countries on six continents begin a new season. When regulation play is over, more than 37,000 tournament games are played to whittle the teams down to 16 World Series contenders. Entering the playoffs doesn’t even enter most players’ mind. Winning the series is unimaginable.
There was no way the 12 members of Valley Sports of Louisville who stepped out onto their small, dusty field for the first time in the spring of 2002 could know that just a few months later they’d be facing the biggest challenge of their young lives.
“Little Big Men – The Road to Williamsport” follows the team as it moves ever higher through the rankings, much to the players’ own surprise. Feel the suspense as parents sit on the edge of their seats, game after game, wondering whether they will leave cheering or picking up the pieces.
Follow them as they face hour after hour of training and drills, week after week of traveling and competition and month after month filled with moments when they felt like giving up, but pushed on in the spirit of the game they love.
“The only person who could have written the book in this fashion is Gary Yeagle. He lived the dream as a boy growing up in Williamsport…You will feel his pride as he meshes his own history in Little League Baseball with the steps it took for the Valley Sports Little League Team to write a piece of history.”
~ Bill Byham, broadcaster for 42 consecutive Little League World Series
A warm rain gently fell as Gary Yeagle stood at home plate surveying Lamade Stadium, home of the Little League World Series. Undecided about whether he should write a book chronicling the way a Louisville team had climbed its way to the top in 2002, he thought the answer might echo from the empty stadium.
Crouching slightly, he raised his arms into a batting position. He could almost feel the grip of a bat in his hands. Swing! Looking out over the soggy field and up into the stands he imagined how it must have felt to be a 12-year-old standing in the same place, only with a real bat in his sweaty hands and 40,000 people filling the stands.
Making his way up into the bleachers, he marveled at how immaculate they were – not a scrap of paper or popcorn kernel had escaped the eyes of the cleaning crew, then a flash of white caught his eye. Picking up a white card, he unfolded it to discover a scorecard from the final game of the 2002 Little League World Series. It was completely blank, but it held the answer to his question. |
