MLB
How Many Players Have Appeared in Both the Little League World Series and MLB World Series?
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Get to know Luke Norris betterUpdated20 Aug 2022
Not every young baseball player gets the opportunity to play in the Little League World Series. In the same vein, not every Major League Baseball player gets the chance to play in the World Series. But over the last 75 years, a select few have been fortunate enough to appear in both.
Since the inception of the Little League World Series in 1947, just 14 players have accomplished this rare feat. But let’s be clear on how to be included in this highly exclusive club. While countless youngsters have appeared in regional action, we’re talking only about those who actually made it to Williamsport.
Along those same lines, the player must have also officially appeared in an MLB World Series game. To make the point, take the case of Andrew Stevenson. The Louisiana native represented his home state in the 2005 Little League World Series with Lafayette Little League, going 2-1 in pool play before losing to eventual champion Hawaii in the quarterfinals of the elimination round.
In 2019, Stevenson played 30 regular-season games for the Washington Nationals and appeared as a pinch runner in the Nats’ Wild Card Game win over the Milwaukee Brewers, scoring the crucial tying run in the 4-3 victory. But he was left off Washington’s playoff roster the rest of the way, meaning he obviously didn’t appear in the 2019 World Series. So he’s officially not included on this list of 14.
As for those who are, take a look.
Jim Barbieri — LLWS: 1953, 1954 (National LL-Schenectady, NY) — MLB: 1966
- Runner-up 1953 Little League World Series
- Won 1954 Little League World Series
- Lost 1966 MLB World Series with the LA Dodgers — 1 game: 1 AB, 1 SO
Boog Powell — LLWS: 1954 (Orange LL-Lakeland, FL) — MLB: 1961-1977
- Lost in the quarterfinals of the 1954 Little League World Series
- Appeared in four MLB World Series with the Baltimore Orioles (2-2) — 21 games: .234 BA, 2 HR, 7 RBI
Rick Wise — LLWS: 1958 (Rose City LL-Portland, OR) — MLB: 1964-1982
- Lost in the quarterfinals of the 1958 Little League World Series
- Lost 1975 MLB World Series with the Boston Red Sox — 2 games: 1-0, 5.1 IP, 8.44 ERA, 2 BB, 2 SO
Carney Lansford — LLWS: 1969 (Briarwood LL-Santa Clara, CA) — MLB: 1978-1992
- Lost in the finals of the 1969 Little League World Series
- Appeared in three MLB World Series with the Oakland A’s (1-2) — 13 games: .286 BA, 1 HR, 6 RBI
Ed Vosberg — LLWS: 1973 (Cactus LL-Tucson, AZ) — MLB: 1986-2002
- Lost in the finals of the 1973 Little League World Series
- Won 1997 MLB World Series with the Florida Marlins — 2 games: 0-0, 3 IP, 6.00 ERA, 3 BB, 2 SO
Charlie Hayes — LLWS: 1977 (Hub City LL-Hattiesburg, MS) — MLB: 1988-2001
- Lost in the quarterfinals of the 1977 Little League World Series
- Won 1996 MLB World Series with the New York Yankees — 5 games: .188 BA, 0 HR, 1 RBI
Gary Sheffield — LLWS: 1980 (Belmont Heights LL-Tampa, FL) — MLB: 1988-2009
- Lost in the finals of the 1980 Little League World Series
- Won 1997 MLB World Series with the Florida Marlins — 7 games: .292 BA, 1 HR, 5 RBI
Derek Bell — LLWS: 1980, 1981 (Belmont Heights LL-Tampa, FL) — MLB: 1991-2001
- Lost in the finals of the 1980 Little League World Series
- Lost in the finals of the 1981 Little League World Series
- Won 1992 MLB World Series with the Toronto Blue Jays — 2 games: 2 PA, 1 BB
- Was a member of the 2000 New York Mets but did not appear in the 2000 MLB World Series
Jason Varitek — LLWS: 1984 (Almonte Springs National LL-Almonte Springs, FL) — MLB: 1997-2011
- Lost in the finals of the 1984 Little League World Series
- Appeared in two MLB World Series with the Boston Red Sox (2-0) — 8 games: .250 BA, 0 HR, 7 RBI
Jason Marquis — LLWS: 1991 (South Shore American-Staten Island, NY) — MLB: 2000-2015
- Lost in the semifinals of the 1991 Little League World Series
- Lost 2004 MLB World Series with the St. Louis Cardinals — 2 games: 0-1, 7.0 IP, 3.86 ERA, 7 BB, 4 SO
Yusmeiro Petit — LLWS: 1994 (Coquivacoa LL-Maracaibo, Venezuela) — MLB: 2006-2021
- Won 1994 Little League World Series
- Won 2014 MLB World Series with the San Francisco Giants — 2 games: 1-0, 3.2 IP, 0 BB, 2 SO
Lance Lynn — LLWS: 1999 (Brownsburg LL-Brownsburg, IN) — MLB: 2011-Present
- Went 0-3 in pool play in the 1999 Little League World Series
- Appeared in two MLB World Series with the St. Louis Cardinals (1-1) — 7 games: 1-1, 11.1 IP, 5.56 ERA, 7 BB, 9 SO
Michael Conforto — LLWS: 2004 (Redmond North LL-Redmond, WA) — MLB: 2015-2021
- Went 1-2 in pool play in the 2004 Little League World Series
- Lost 2015 MLB World Series with the New York Mets — 5 games: .333 BA, 2 HR, 4 RBI
Cody Bellinger — LLWS: 2007 (Chandler National LL-Chandler, AZ) — MLB: 2017-Present
- Lost in the quarterfinals of the 2007 Little League World Series
- Appeared in three MLB World Series with the LA Dodgers (1-2) — 18 games: .121 BA, 2 HR, 8 RBI
Stats courtesy of LittleLeague.org and Baseball Reference
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