Welcome to the most magical place on earth, Williamsport. Today begins play in the 2026 Little League World Series. 20 teams from around the world are in Williamsport, Pennsylvania to compete for this year’s championship. The regionals were great. But you have to understand the regionals aren’t even a blip on the screen to what the LLWS is.
Today when they open the gates, thousands and thousands of people from all over the country and, in fact, from around the world will be flooding in. There will be a steady stream of humanity, maybe 15,000 a day showing up there. This year Pennsylvania made it. When they play, watch out for how big the crowd could be.
The games will be on everywhere, in offices, in MLB clubhouses, in bars, in restaurants, in gyms. Families will watch together at home. It’s one of the few things almost everyone in the country can agree on. There will be incredible stories about the kids who are playing, about obstacles overcome. Just about every team will have neat stories about some of their players.
Kids will make amazing plays in the field. There will be clutch hits. We all love its wholesomeness. It will be 12 great days of Little League Baseball.
The team from Japan and the team from Massachusetts were practicing on Tuesday on nearby fields, and just like that they decided to combine practice. They took a combined team photo after practice.
These are the things that must happen all the time but we never hear about. And the kids breaking away from their teams in the game room, finding friends from different countries. Yes, it’s a baseball tournament but it’s so much more.
This is a once in a lifetime experience for these kids.
Little League International has done an amazing job in keeping the event the way it is.
It is a dream about how the world could be and it feels possible. The eyes of America turn to one place every summer to forget their problems, to come together, and bask in the magic that is Williamsport.