Courtesy: Sportingnews.com
The 2017 Little League World Series will feature a big-league cameo.
The Pirates and Cardinals are moving their Aug. 20 game from Pittsburgh’s PNC Park to Williamsport, Pa., home of the annual showcase for 10- to 12-year-old players. DKPittsburghSports.com was first to report a deal was done, and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch said an official announcement is expected later this week.
According to the reports, the Pirates-Cardinals game will be featured on ESPN’s “Sunday Night Baseball,” which will dovetail nicely with the network’s regular LLWS coverage.
Unfortunately, Howard J. Lamade Stadium (dimensions: 225 feet to all fields) is a bit too cozy for major league hitters, so the game figures to take place at historic Bowman Field.
Opened in 1926, the home of the short-season Williamsport Crosscutters is the second-oldest operating minor league ballpark in the country. It seats only about 4,500, ensuring the game will be one of the hottest tickets in baseball all season even if extra seating is added.
Those types of logistics are the biggest hurdle for the event. Playing the final game of a series 200 miles from where the first two are played is no easy feat, but when it comes to breaking up the occasional monotony of division rivals playing 18 times in a season, this event figures to go over well.
