Bases Loaded - Where To Find All Of The Little League Statues In Williamsport

 
It's hard to miss the 13 statues commemorating Little League, around Market Square in Williamsport.  But did you know that there are 6 additional statues located around town?  There's a shortstop near the transit center, A center fielder at the hospital, a left fielder at Penn College, and a right fielder at Bowman Field.  And lets not forget the pitcher...

Here's a look at each of the statues, what they represent, and a possible route to see them all, along with the site of the first game, and of course, Original Field (where you'll also find the pitcher)

================

Scroll ALL the way down to the very end of this post, and I have a  map and a suggestion of of  a route to see them all. 
=================

STARTING AT HOME PLATE

Six statues surround Home Plate, at the Northwest Corner of 3rd & Market

The "ball field",  is located at 3rd & Markets.  If you are coming from South Williamsport to Williamsport, you'll drive right through this as you leave the bridge.  There is typically plenty of parking available on the streets nearby - although parking may be harder to find during the LLWS.

The descriptions of what the statues represent are all listed on this sign at the backstop.  I've included the text under each of the statues below.

"The design for Bases Loaded is fashioned after a traditional baseball diamond with players loading the bases at each corner at the intersection of Third and Market Streets downtown. Each base is connected by a crosswalk, depicting the base lines. "

"Starting at Home Plate: The umpire is dressed in a 1940's - 1950's era uniform. He represents all of the dedicated volunteers, both men and women, who have (and will) give their time and resources over the years to the Little League Baseball program. The batter represents all present day youth (and adults) that dream of hitting the big home run to win the game. There is no logo on his uniform as he represents the past, present and future of the Little League Baseball program.

The catcher is an African-American boy wearing a 1950s-era uniform, with the letters "CS" on his cap and a number on his jersey, representing Jackie Robinson. He represents the 1955 Cannon Street YMCA Little League team from Charleston, S.C., which, at the time, was the only African-American team in South Carolina. Each of the 61 all-white teams in the state refused to play Cannon Street, which led league officials to ban all 61 from competition, making them ineligible to qualify for the World Series. However, the Cannon Street YMCA Little League team could not play because they had to have played at least one game in their region to have been accepted into the series and unfortunately that did not occur. League officials invited the team to Williamsport for the World Series anyway, making players official guests of the organization, and the team attended all of the Series games and even bunked in the Lycoming College dorms with the other teams."

Home Plate

Northwest Corner of 3rd & Market

This batter, placed in July 2022, replaced the original.  The original statue was vandalized, with the bat being bent or stolen, so many times, that a new design, attaching the bat to the ground, was necessary.

The original batter statue

On the bench to the right of the players, Carl Stoltz is depicted sitting on a bench

Read more about the first LLWS, and Carl Stotz, here:

https://susquehannavalley.blogspot.com/2021/08/the-first-little-league-world-series.html

" This is the only statue that represents an individual person. Carl Stotz, with the help of family and friends, worked tirelessly to create a baseball experience at a level for all youth to enjoy. He provided a foundation for adults to teach basic principles and values to children at the same time. Today, Little League Baseball is played in over 100 countries by over 2 1/2 million children. It is due to his vision and energy that we have this sport identified with the Williamsport and Lycoming County community."

Beside Stotz on the bench is a clipboard, with the names of each of the players.

Home Plate

Umpire, Catcher, Pitcher, Coach Stotz.

Cy Young, Jackie Robinson, and President George W. Bush, are depicted to the left of home plate.

In August of 2022, the last of the Bases Loaded statues were unveiled.

Cy Young, one of the charter inductees in the Baseball Hall of Fame, befriended Carl Stotz in the 1950s. Young attended LLWS tournament games, and Stotz was one of the honorary pallbearers at Young's funeral.

Jackie Robinson was the first Black American to join baseball’s major league in 1947 as a prominent member of the Brooklyn Dodgers. His number, 42, is retired across all MLB teams. [Forgive me - I'm not known for my extensive knowledge of baseball.  If Robinson had a connection to Little League, I couldn't find it. Unfortunately, the league bearing his name had it's own scandal, making it difficult to search for anything more]

President Bush played Little League, and was the only sitting President to have attended LLWS. He attended the games in 2001 when he was enshrined in the Hall of Excellence, Little League’s equivalent of baseball’s Hall of Fame

And a look at a few more of the details at home plate:

====================

1st Base

====================

Each base has two players, depicting different eras in baseball with period uniforms. 

The first base runner represents all the girls who play Little League Baseball. Approximately one out of seven players of Little League is a girl. Little League Baseball officially allowed girls to play in 1974. The player rounding first base has the logo from the 25th Anniversary on her jersey. The ethnicity of the player represents the first international team from Mexico to play in the Little League World Series which occurred during the first twenty-five years of the sport.

 

The first, second and third basemen are in the uniforms from the first three teams back in 1939.Those teams were Lundy Lumber, Lycoming Dairy and Jumbo Pretzel.

====================

Second Base

====================

The second base runner is wearing the logo from the 50th Anniversary on his jersey. The ethnicity of the player represents the growth of Little League Baseball during this period in the Asian continent, in particular Taiwan and Japan.

====================

Third  Base

====================

The third base runner represents Little League's Challenger program. He is wearing the logo for the 75th Anniversary on his jersey. It represents the timeframe of when the Challenger program was developed and has grown into an integral part of Little League's programming.

===================

Pitcher

===================

Located at  the Original Field on West Fourth Street

This statue is also located near the pitcher, at Original Field.

====================

Shortstop

====================

Located in the plaza behind the Trade and Transit Center

====================

Right Fielder

====================

Located At Bowman Field

====================

Center Fielder

====================

[I forgot to photograph this one - I'll do that next time I am in town]

Located at UPMC Susquehanna Williamsport Hospital 

====================

Left Fielder

====================

Located on the grounds of Penn College

From Maynard Street, turn on to Hagan Way to enter the college, the statue will be on your right.

=============
Monument At Max Brown Park
(across from original field, and beside Bowman field
======================

AT THIS SITE ON JUNE 6, 1939 WAS PLAYED THE FIRST LITTLE LEAGUE BASEBALL GAME. ORGANIZED AS A THREE-TEAM LEAGUE FOR YOUNGSTERS BY WILLIAMSPORT RESIDENTS CARL STOTZ, GEORGE BEBBLE AND BERT BEBBLE, LITTLE LEAGUE BASEBALL HAS GROWN INTO A HIGHLY RESPECTED INTERNATIONAL YOUTH SPORTS PROGRAM PROVIDING FOR TWO AND ONE-HALF MILLION PARTICPANTS EVERY YEAR THE BENEFITS OF FAIR PLAY, FRIENDLY COMPETITION, AND A DESIRE TO EXCEL THROUGH RESPONSIBLE VOLUNTEER LEADERSHIP. DEDICATED JUNE 6, 1989.

[I'm told that this inscription is inaccurate, and  the history has been updated by LLWS to reflect that the Bebbles were managers,  but Carl Stotz was the only founder of the LLWS.  ]

===================

ORIGINAL FIELD

====================

Located right across from Max Brown Park & Bowman Field.

===================

A MAP

And a Possible Route to see it all

======================

A, on the far right, is the little league World Series Complex in South Williamsport.  If coming from there, cross the bridge into Williamsport, and at the light you will be at the main "Bases Loaded" location.  There are 12 statues here, arranged on the 4 corners.

There is typically plenty of parking along the streets. That may not be true during the LLWS, but most of the rest of the year, you should be able to easily find parking.  If you turn west (it's one way) on to 4th Street, there is more parking there, and it will be a short walk to both "Home Base", and then on to the Short Stop, located along West Willow Street, between William & Laurel Streets.  (This is behind the Transit Center)

From there, return to your car and drive a short distance to UPMC.   This is a hospital, there is lots of parking available here.

Next, head to Penn College.  Be sure to go to Maynard Street and enter through the main entrance, on Hagan Way.    The Left Fielder will be on your right.

IF YOU HAVE EXTRA TIME - drive on into the campus - keep going straight - and on your left will be a really neat Dandelion fountain.  There's a parking lot there, and if you walk to the west a very short distance, there's a row of "student bodies", an art installation, that is interesting to see.

From there, take West Fourth Street To Max Brown Park. Bowman field is located right beside the park, and Original Field is located right across the road.  Once parked, I'd head to the First Game Statue and the Right Fielder at Bowman field, then cross the road and end at Original Field, where you will likely want to explore a bit, and take some photos.

===============

READ MORE

============

Read more, and see photos, Of the Origin of The Little League World Series in Williamsport

https://susquehannavalley.blogspot.com/2021/08/the-first-little-league-world-series.html

"The Bases Loaded project is a series of sculptures that commemorates the history of Little League – the centerpiece of which is 12 individual statues located in Market Square, each depicting different eras in Little League’s history and embracing the diversity and timelessness of a sport played around the world.   "