Little League Baseball World Series

Fan Teaser Solution: Week 200

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Has it already been a dozen years?

We never thought we’d be channelling our inner-Karl Marx here at the #FanTeaser, but when considering this week’s subject, baseball player Mo’ne Davis, Marx’s philsophy that “we make our own history” comes to mind.

Davis made history 12 years ago when she was became the first girl pitcher in the history of the Little League Baseball World Series to throw a complete-game shutout, when she spun a 2-hitter for her Mid-Atlantic Region squad against the Southeast during a 4-0 victory. Among her eight strikeout victims that day was future Major Leaguer, Robert Hassell III. (Hassell later logged one of his team’s two hits against Davis.)

Mo'ne Davis
The Mid-Atlantic Region representative at the 2014 Little League Baseball World Series hailed from Philadelphia. One of its pitchers that year was Mo’ne Davis, then the first girl on a U.S. roster since 2004. (Photo by Gene J. Puskar/The Associated Press)

Then, earlier this summer, Davis again made history. Leading off and playing centerfield for the Los Angeles Queens of the newly formed Women’s Pro Baseball League, Davis she scored the first run in league history following a 2-run single by Maggie Foxx.

This year’s Little League Baseball World Series began on Wednesday and concludes on Sunday, August 30

Davis’ 2-hit, eight strikeout shutout of the Southeast Region’s Nashville team was the first LLBWS shutout by a girl.
Highlights of Mo’ne Davis scoring the first run in WPBL history via the Women’s Sports Now.

Just to review, The Fan Teaser was the creation of former Ann Arbor News Sports Editor Geoff Larcom. Longtime friend and fellow Ann Arbor News alum, Pat Schutte, took it to heights previously unknown. We aim to keep it alive here at The Sports Fan Project. The cropped photo and the accompanying clue give you an idea as to who or what the image is of. We invite you to use the Comment option to take a crack at solving the Teaser and, if you’re so inclined, participate in some good-spirited banter with your fellow sports fans. The Fan Teaser will appear each Friday morning with the reveal coming to you Sunday.

The Fan Teaser: Week 148 Solution

DouglasTHill1 Comment
With all due respect to Dr. Seuss, “Oh, the places he went!”

What were you doing the summer you became a teenager?

Well, if you were Chris Drury, it was quite a lot.

In April of 1989, Drury helped lead his Bridgeport, CT, area pee-wee hockey team to the the U.S. Amateur Hockey Championship and a 64-2-1 record on the season.

Then, in August of the same year, Drury turned 13 on August 20th while with his Trumbull, CT, Little League team in Williamsport, PA, for the Little League Baseball World Series. Six days later he was Trumbull’s starting pitcher for the Championship game against Taiwan – a nation that had won 13 of the 20 previous championships. Drury pitched a complete game, drove in two runs on a key single in the fourth inning, and Trumbull won, 4-1.

Chris Drury
Chris Drury helped lead his Trumbull, CT, Little League team to the the World Series Championship in Williamsport, PA, back in 1989. (Photo by Ronald C. Modra/Sports Illustrated)

For many, the remainder of life may have struggled to reach the heights Drury’s did in the Summer of 1989.

His was/is an exceptional life.

He eventually focused on hockey and went on to play at Boston University where, as a freshman, won a National Championship, was named Hockey East‘s Player of the Year in both his junior and senior seasons, and was named the Hobey Baker Award winner as college hockey’s best his senior year. He left BU as the top career goal scorer in program’s history with 113. His Terriers also won the famed Beanpot Tournament all four of his seasons.

A season later he was skating for the Colorado Avalanche where he won the Calder Memorial Trophy as the league’s best rookie. Two years later he helped lead Colorado to the Stanley Cup Championship. All totaled, Drury played 12 NHL seasons for the Avalanche, Calgary Flames, Buffalo Sabres, and New York Rangers. He served as captain for both the Sabres and Rangers (one of only four players at the time to have been captains for two NHL clubs).

Oh yeah, he’s also a 3-time U.S. Olympian and 2-time Olympic Hockey Silver Medalist.

Today, Drury is preparing to enter his fifth season as the President and General Manager of the New York Rangers.

Finally, as if that’s already not a life well lived, Drury is a member of the both the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame, and the Little League Hall of Excellence.

For more reading about Drury and that magical 1989 LLBWS see this piece by NBC Sports and this piece by the New York Times.

Just to review, The Fan Teaser was the creation of former Ann Arbor News Sports Editor Geoff Larcom. Longtime friend and fellow Ann Arbor News alum, Pat Schutte, took it to heights previously unknown. We aim to keep it alive here at The Sports Fan Project. The cropped photo and the accompanying clue give you an idea as to who or what the image is of. We invite you to use the Comment option to take a crack at solving the Teaser and, if you’re so inclined, participate in some good-spirited banter with your fellow sports fans. The Fan Teaser will appear each Friday morning with the reveal coming to you Sunday.

The Magic of Williamsport, PA

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For no apparent reason, I’ve been fascinated by the Little League Baseball World Series this past week. It’s odd because, ordinarily, my interest piques near the end of the second week as the U.S. and International Champions are crowned.

Perhaps it was the special episode of our “Conversations with Sports Fans” podcast from last week featuring my buddy John Paklidenaz who, along with his son J.D., is once again volunteering at the LLBWS this year.

Or, perhaps, it’s the fact that ESPN has poured oodles of resources at the event over the course of several years to elevate it’s profile. As all of the regional tournament games are now televised, those interested are able to get to know the teams and players in advance of their arrival in South Williamsport, PA. Heck, two-thirds of ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball crew has been there from the onset (Karl Ravech and Eduardo Perez).

J.D. Paklidenaz
My friend John’s son, J.D., was part of a feature on volunteers at the LLBWS that aired Saturday.

Or, perhaps, more simply, it transports me to another time when I had few cares or considerations.

Forty years ago, Kirkland, WA, wasn’t known as the home to Costco and its eponymous product name. No, Kirkland, WA, was home to the LLBWS Champions. The team that took down the mighty Taiwanese juggernaut that had won 31-straight games in Pennsylvania and five consecutive LLBWS championships. The team that featured the man-child with the curly-blonde hair named Cody Webster who became a nationwide phenomenon. Shoot, the kid became the face of “the thrill of victory” on ABC’s Wide World of Sports program, replacing 1980 Team USA Miracle on Ice goalie, Jim Craig. Forty years ago I wasn’t yet able to drive.

I think that’s why I enjoy these pair of weeks so much. For us here in the north it means summer’s winding down, but it also – if only for a few fleeting moments – allows me to recapture some of the memories and feelings of my younger years before the obligations that come with adulthood.