So many of us have played little league baseball, it’s almost considered a rite of passage for young Americans. Little league baseball is as bloody as it gets, along with mom and apple pie. Some of the biggest names in the world have played in Little League Baseball, including President George W. Bush, Adam Sandler and Kareem Abdul-Jabar.
Singer Jason Aldean played in Little League and received a baseball scholarship, but turned it down to pursue a singing career. Bruce Springsteen and Brent Musberger both cite Little League as one of their fondest memories. And if you think Little League is just for boys, think again: stars Julia Stiles and Elizabeth Banks both played baseball in Little League growing up.
Of course, not everyone who plays in Little League makes it to the World Series. This list is shrinking pretty quickly, but there are still a few notable names outside of baseball who have played on the little league’s biggest stage.
National Football League players Matt Cassel, Jake Fromm, Gale Gilbert, Billy Hunter, Jack Losch, Trey Quinn, Turk Schonert, Brian Sipe and Julian Vandervelde all performed in the LLWS when they were young.
The National Hockey League is represented by players like Chris Drury, Ray Ferraro, Stephane Matteau and Pierre Turgeon, all of whom have played at Williamsport.
Mo’ne Davis was one of two girls to compete in the 2014 Little League World Series and became the first girl in Little League World Series history to record a win and score a shutout. Mo’ne became the 18th girl overall to play and sixth to score. She was the first little league baseball player ever to appear on the cover of Sports Illustrated as a little league player.
NASCAR Champion Austin Dillon played in the 2002 World Series when he was on the Forsyth County, North Carolina team.
Krissy Wendell, former USA National Hockey Player and current scout for the Pittsburgh Penguins, was the first girl to start as a catcher when she played for Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, in the 1994 World Series.
However, the names you know from the LLWS are far from those who went on to play in the MLB. Interestingly, there are only three players who have ever appeared in the Little League World Series, College World Series, and MLB World Series: pitcher Ed Vosberg, outfielder Michael Conforto, and catcher Jason Varitek
Here is a list of notable MLB players who started out in the Little League World Series.
- Wilson Alvarez
- Jim Barbieri
- Jason Bay
- Derek Bell
- Cody Bellinger
- Christian Bethancourt
- Larvell Blanks
- Jim Brower
- Sean Burroughs
- Kevin Cash
- Gavin Cecchini
- Chin Feng Chen
- Jeff Clement
- Michael Comfort
- Billy Connors
- David Cortes
- Stephen Fife
- Jeff Frazier
- Todd Frazier
- Jace Fry
- Randal Grichuk
- Ben Hayes
- Charlie Hayes
- Yonny Hernández
- Ken Hubbs
- Eric Johnson
- Scott Kingery
- Keith Lampard
- Carney Lansford
- Adam lions
- Vance Lovelace
- Lance Lynn
- Lloyd McClendon
- Lastings Milledge
- Bobby Mitchell
- Max Moroff
- Jim Pankovits
- Francisco Pena
- Yusmeiro Petit
- Marc Pisciotta
- Arch Powell
- Nick Prato
- Yohel Pozo
- Jurickson Prof
- Guillermo Quiroz
- Colby Rasmus
- Cory Rasmus
- Brady Rodgers
- Michael Saunders
- Jonathan Schoop
- Gary Sheffield
- Andrew Stevenson
- CarlTaylor
- Ruben Tejada
- Clete Thomas
- Hector Torres
- Devon Travis
- Carlos “Bobby” Trevino
- George Tsamis
- Jason Varitek
- Dave Veres
- Ed Vosberg
- Dan Wilson
- Rick Wise
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