1992 Little League World Series

Far East series

Between 1967, when Japan's West Tokyo won, and 1992, the Little League World Series was won 19 of a possible 25 times by the Far East champion. Competing against the national champions of traditionally stronger baseball nations like Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan, Filipino teams had been unable to qualify for the LLWS. In 1992, however, the Far East was represented by Zamboanga City, which had won the national Filipino title.

The tournament

The 1992 tournament debuted the round-robin format; no longer would a team play against a predetermined opponent in the first round, with the winners facing each other in the semifinal, with the winner advancing to the Saturday championship.

The new format had each team play the other three teams in their bracket, and then having the top two teams play each other in the semifinal, with the winners advancing to the championship.

Zamboanga City defeated the teams from Germany and Quebec before losing to the Dominican Republic, in the round-robin. This was enough to get them into the international final, a rematch with the Dominican Republic, which they won 5–1. The championship game against California was a blowout, with Zamboanga City winning 15–4 after a seven-run first inning. The team was hailed as heroes in the Philippines, President Ramos giving the team a gift of 1,000,000 pesos to contribute to the livelihood of their families. Long Beach head coach Jeff Burroughs remarked that semi-final pitcher "Roberto Placious" had the poise of a high school or college pitcher.

Teams

Pool play

Elimination round

|August 27|Philippines Philippines|5|Dominican Republic Dominican Republic |1 |August 27|California California|1|New Jersey New Jersey|0 |August 29 Forfeit: see more|Philippines Philippines |0|California California|6}}

The Zamboanga City Little League team was disqualified for fielding ineligible players, forfeiting the final to Long Beach.

Notable players

• Sean Burroughs (Long Beach, California), MLB player from 2002 to 2012
• Anthony Forsberg, College player Long Beach State 2001

Champions Path

The Long Beach LL had an undefeated record of 12 wins and 0 losses to reach the LLWS. In total their record was 17–0, the last win coming from the forfeit by the Philippines.

Notes

References

References

1. (August 24, 1992). "Little Leaguers are set to play under the lights". Moscow-Pullman Daily News.
2. "Search by League Name".
3. "1992 Little League Baseball World Series".
4. "1992 Line Scores".
5. "Google Groups".
6. "Google Groups".
7. "Southern California Little League Tournament Results". Unpage.com.
8. "West Region Tournament". Unpage.com.