Little League World Series Top Ten Alumni

The two great sporting events in Central Pennsylvania every August are Penn State football starting their summer camp and the Little League World Series. Here's a look at the Top Ten Little League World Series alumni...

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Every summer, Williamsport, a small Pennsylvania town, for 10 days, becomes home to hundreds of 12-year olds, their families, their fans, and most of all, baseball. It is seemingly one of the last pure things left in sports: the Little League World Series.

The qualifying rounds have finished and the 16 teams are set for play to begin this Friday. Youngsters from places like Peabody, Mass., Kaiserslaurtern, Germany, Mercer Island, Wash., Chiba City, Japan, and San Antonio, Tex., will converge on Williamsport, hoping to capture youthful immortality. For most of the kids, it's the highlight of their baseball career, the absolute climax. But for a very select few, it is only the beginning of an amazing career.

Canada's Pierre Turgeon, an NHL star, four-time MLB All Star Boog Powell, Chiefs quarterback Matt Cassel, and MLB All-Star Jason Bay all get their starts in Williamsport. What star will the LLWS produce next? Only time will tell, but they may very well be getting their start in Williamsport next week...

10. Ed Vosberg...

Ed Vosberg played a total of 10 seasons in the MLB, spanning from 1986 to 2002, for eight different teams. He had a rather mediocre professional career, posting just a 10-15 record with 13 saves and a 4.32 ERA in 266 appearances. But he can boast about a fact he shares with only one other man: Vosberg played in the LLWS championship, the College World Series final, and the MLB World Series.

And he wasn't so bad as a Little Leaguer, either. Vosberg helped to lead his Tucson, Ariz. team to the 1973 final (a 12-0 loss to Tainan City, Taiwan), pitching a one-hitter in the semifinals to defeat the team from Birmingham, Mich.

9. Wilson Alvarez...

In 1992, in just his second MLB start Wilson Alvarez pitched a no-hitter for the Chicago White Sox against the Baltimore Orioles. Ten years earlier Alvarez played for the Coquivacoa Little League of Maracaibo, Venezuela, in the 1982 Little League World Series. Alvarez's Venezuela team lost in the first round of the LLWS, but his career in baseball lasted for years.

Alvarez stayed with the White Sox until 1997, earning an all-star selection along the way in 1994. In 1998 Alvarez was the first starting pitcher for the Tampa Bay (Devil) Rays history, throwing the organizations first ever pitch. Alvarez called it quits for his career in 2005, amassing a 102-92 record with 1,330 strikeouts and a 3.96 ERA.

8. Jason Bay...

The 2004 NL Rookie of the Year experienced baseball success 14 years earlier with his team from Trial, British Columbia, Canada. In 1990, Jason Bay helped Canada reach the semifinals before falling to eventual champions Taiwan.

In 2004, Bay became the first Canadian to win rookie of the year honors while with the Pirates. Bay made two all-star teams with the Pirates in 2005 and 2006 before being traded to the Boston Red Sox in the Manny Ramirez deal. Bay continued his stellar play in Boston, making the 2009 all-star team.

7. Chris Drury...

Long before Chris Drury was the captain of the New York Rangers he was the star pitcher of his Little League team. In 1989 Drury led Trunbull, CT to the LLWS championship over Taiwan. Drury pitched a complete-game 5-hitter and drove in two runs in the championship game. Drury was such a star that he threw out the opening pitch in game 2 of 1989 World Series. That same year Drury also won the national pee wee hockey championship.

Drury chose to follow hockey, and he probably made the right decision. In 1998 Drury won the Hobey Baker Award while at Boston University as the NCAA player of the year. The next year Drury won the Calder Memorial Trophy with the Colorado Avalanche as the NHL's top rookie. Drury won hockey's ultimate prize, the Stanley Cup in 2001 while with the Avalanche.

6. Matt Cassel...

For awhile it seemed like Matt Cassel’s crowning achievement was going to be his performance in the 1994 Little League World Series. He was the star of the Northridge, Calif. team dubbed "The Earthquake Kids," after a quake in their hometown earlier in the year (it actually led to Cassel’s home being condemned). He was 6-for-14 at Williamsport as the Northridge team won it all.

Matt Cassel has been a member of some amazing teams but it wasn’t until only recently that he made this list. Sure, he had been on the roster of the USC Trojans when they won the AP National Championship in 2003 and the BCS Championship in 2004, but he barely played. He was also a member of the 2007 Patriots that went 16-0 during the regular season. Cassel seemed content to back up Tom Brady until he was thrust into the spotlight when Brady suffered a season ending injury in the first game of the 2008 season. Cassel guided the Patriots to an 11-5 regular season and was rewarded by signing a 6-year, $40.5 million contract with the Chiefs.

5. Brian Sipe...

Some players separate themselves from the pack at the Little League World Series and it’s clear they have a bright future in athletics. And then there is Brian Sipe. Sipe played in the 1961 Little League World Series with a team from El Cajon, CA. By his own admission he didn’t contribute much to his team winning it all:

“I was fortunate enough to be inducted into the hall of fame…But it's only because I was one of the few guys to go on and do something in professional sports - because I certainly didn't do anything in the series.”

But what he did in professional sports is quite amazing. Sipe was drafted in the 13th round of the 1972 NFL Draft by the Cleveland Browns. He spent the first two years in the NFL on the reserve squad. He became a consistent starter in 1976 and in 1980 he had a career year. Sipe threw for 4,132 yards and 30 touchdowns leading the Browns to the postseason for the first time in 8 seasons and was rewarded with the MVP award.

4. Pierre Turgeon...

Pierre Turgeon was the first player selected in the 1987 NHL Draft. But the four-time All-Star first got media attention for leading his Canadian little league team to the World Series. Turgeon went 7-0 on the mound while leading his team to Williamsport. At the LLWS he went 5 for 9 with 5 RBIs with a 1-1 pitching record.

Turgeon’s baseball and hockey careers have more in common than you might think. In both he was a star and in both he could never make the finals. In the World Series the Canadians lost in the semifinals and in the NHL Turgeon twice made it to the Conference Finals but never reached the finals.

Although Turgeon hasn’t been elected into the Hockey Hall of Fame yet, he did become the first native Canadian to be inducted into the Peter J. McGovern Little League Museum’s Hall of Excellence in 2007.

3. Jason Varitek...

Long before Jason Varitek was catching no-hitters for the Boston Red Sox, he was busy leading the Altamonte Springs National Little League (Altamonte Springs, Fla.) team to the 1984 Little League World Series championship game (a 6-2 loss to Seoul, South Korea).

The three-time MLB All-Star played three positions for his LLWS team (shortstop, first base, and catcher) during the tournament in Williamsport. In seven at-bats he tallied just one hit, but did mange three walks and scored a run. 'Tek's success was only just beginning: he is one of just two players ever to play in the the LLWS final, the College World Series championship game, and the MLB World Series.

2. Boog Powell...

Usually in the Little League World Series the best pitcher and hitter on a team are one in the same. So it’s not terribly surprising that Boog Powell, a 6’4, about 250-pound power hitter in the majors, was the star pitcher of the 1954 Lakeland Little League team. At that time they had no restrictions on how much a kid could pitch and Boog pitched in 11 games in just a couple weeks leading his team to the quarterfinals. But fatigue finally hit him as he was shelled by the eventual champions from Schenectady, New York.

But Boog probably doesn’t lose sleep over that loss because of his accomplishments at the major league level. Powell went to the World Series four times with the Baltimore Orioles from 1966-1971, winning twice in 1966 and 1970. In 1970 he won the AL MVP and homered in the first two games of the World Series against the Reds.

1. Gary Sheffield...

Gary Sheffield is in his 22nd professional season, has hit over 500 home runs and has been an All Star nine times. But he didn't become of his generation's fiercest hitters overnight. In fact, it began during his days as a Little League star.

Sheffield was not only a great hitter, but also an excellent pitcher, thanks to the tutelage of his uncle, Dwight Gooden. Led by Sheffield, and teammate and future MLB player Derek Bell, the Belmont Heights Little League All-Stars (Tampa, Fla.) made it all the way to the 1980 Little League World Series final, before falling to Taiwan, 4-3.

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