WITF, Inc., Harrisburg, PA
Transcript:
By the dawn of the twentieth century, Pennsylvania had become home to baseball teams in communities all across the state–from coal towns and farming villages to the big cities. At the same time Pennsylvania witnessed the growth of professional teams in the major, minor and negro leagues. Communities supported their teams with both their passion and their pocketbooks. They built grandstands. They tended fields. They created legends and realized dreams.America's first two important African American teams–the Pythians and the Excelsiors– formed in Philadelphia. In 1869, the Pythians became the first black team to play an all-white team, the Philadelphia City Items. The Pythians won.
In 1939, Williamsport native Carl Stotz and others founded and created Little League Baseball. What started as an organized league for local pre-teens has since grown into a global organization that involves millions and culminates each year in a World Series played in Williamsport and televised to the world.
