There were originally 355 plays in consideration as Little League Home Runs: 329 have been confirmed by media accounts and are discussed here; one other has confirmation pending as of date of publication. Three have been rejected because of circumstances surrounding the plays and the remaining 22 have been rejected because the media accounts conflicted with the play as recorded in Retrosheet’s play-by-play database. In addition, one confirmed LLHR originally credited to Ted Simmons has been changed and properly credited to Joe Torre, per newspaper accounts. Retrosheet has confirmed the veracity of the newspaper accounts and has committed to correcting these 22 plays in their database to match those accounts.

• Related link: Click here to access the SABR Little League Home Runs Database

Ironically, the first known mention in newspaper accounts of the term “Little League Home Run” found thus far did not refer to the phenomenon contemplated by this research study, but refers instead to Dusty Rhodes’ pinch-hit World Series home run that barely scraped over the Polo Grounds right field wall 258 feet from home plate in Game 1 of the 1954 World Series. The term was coined in a column written by Marty Levin, sports editor for the Wilmington (DE) Morning News.[fn]Marty Levin, “Sports Gazing,” Wilmington (DE) Morning News, September 30, 1954.[/fn]

The first mention of the term “Little League Home Run” that does refer to that which this study defines as such appeared in the game account of Denny Doyle’s LLHR hit on June 1, 1974. The beat writer was Jeff Prugh of the Los Angeles Times.[fn]Jeff Prugh, “Ryan’s No-Hit Bid Ends in 8th,” Los Angeles Times, June 2, 1974.[/fn]

As of publication date, there have been three days on which two Little League Home Runs were hit: May 30, 1933 (Bob Johnson, Jim Levey); June 30, 1991 (Alfredo Griffin, Will Clark); and June 16, 2012 (Miguel Cabrera, Edwin Encarnacion).

A surprising number of pitchers have hit Little League Home Runs: 18 in all, about 5.5 percent of the total. That may seem strange at first blush, but it makes sense as you think a little more about it: when pitchers bat, they typically bunt with a runner on first and/or second with less than two out, and as infielders rush in to grab the ball and hurry the throw to a base, it seems more likely they will throw the ball away and yield the LLHR.

Ted Simmons was originally thought to have hit three Little League Home Runs, only one of two players to have done so. However, when newspaper accounts were consulted, two of them were found to have been two separate plays instead of a single LLHR play, with Simmons stopping on base on the first play each time and then scoring on a teammate’s at bat — one of which was on Joe Torre’s own Little League Home Run!

Tony Fernandez of the Toronto Blue Jays hit Little League Home Runs in back-to-back at bats on two different days (June 15 and 16, 1988) against two different teams (Cleveland Indians, Detroit Tigers) in two different cities (Toronto, Detroit).

Joe DiMaggio’s three-run Little League Home Run against the Cincinnati Reds in Game 4 was the hit that scored the winning runs to clinch the 1939 World Series for the New York Yankees.

Despite there having been 24 Little League Home Runs hit in the ninth inning or later, there has been only one walk-off LLHR in history found as of publication date: Manny Mota’s two-run “shot” to turn a 1–0 deficit into a 2–1 win for the Pittsburgh Pirates over the New York Mets on August 27, 1963. (Of those 24 LLHRs, 19 were hit by the visiting team.)

Little League Home Runs By The Numbers

With the inclusion of qualifying one-error plays, and addition of play-by-play accounts for recent and prior seasons added to the Retrosheet archives after the 2016 season, there have been 329 confirmed Little League Home Runs in 155,856 recorded games. All numbers below are through the 2016 season.

By Season

• 9: 1991
• 8: 1972, 2000
• 7: 1925, 1927, 1978
• 6: 1930; 1964; 1966; 1974; 1976; 1979; 1983; 1985; 1993
• 5: Thirteen seasons (last: 2007)
• 4: Nineteen seasons (last: 2015)
• 3: Fifteen seasons (last: 2014)
• 2: Thirteen seasons (last: 2013)
• 1: Sixteen seasons (last: 2016)
• 0: 1989; 2003
• Incomplete Seasons[fn] Seasons with play-by-play available for fewer than 99% of regular season games. Seasons with play-by-play for 40.0-49.9% of games: 1921, 1943; 50-59.9%: 1941, 1942; 60-69.9%: 1938, 1939, 1940; 70-79.9%: 1922, 1932, 1934, 1935, 1936; 80-83.7%: 1925, 1927, 1930, 1931, 1933, 1937.[/fn]: 1921; 1922; 1925; 1927; 1930-1943
• No Play-by-Play Data (except World Series): 1871-1920; 1923-1924; 1926; 1928-1929

By Month

By Inning

How Reached Base

Number of Errors

Errors by Positions

Runs Scored

By League

Hit By Team

Note: National League hit one in 1938 All-Star Game.

Given Up By Team

NOTE: American League yielded one in 1938 All-Star Game.

By Ballpark

As of publication date, sixty-nine different ballpark venues have seen at least one LLHR hit within. Here is a list of every venue with ten or more:

Active Ballparks with no LLHRs

Players with 2 LLHRs

• Tommie Agee
• Chad Allen
• Johnny Bench
• Barry Bonds
• Donn Clendenon
• Tony Fernandez
• Curt Flood
• Dave Gallagher
• Jim Gilliam
• Bobby Grich
• Ron Hunt
• (Indian) Bob Johnson
• Carlos Lee
• Kenny Lofton
• Garry Maddox
• Jack Perconte
• Mario Soto
• Tris Speaker

Players with 3 LLHRs

• Luke Sewell 

Players Who Have Hit Little League Home Runs AND Played in the Little League World Series

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In a word, no. Baseball makes the world a better place, and SABR has given me myriad ways to appreciate that fact. Among SABR members I never have to try to prove that baseball is an important part of the cultural fabric of the United States. They know. They’ve written the articles and theses and books on the subject. The history of the country and the sociological underpinnings of our culture are reflected in baseball, and are intertwined with it. Pick an important thread in American history since the Civil War and you’ll probably find a baseball angle in it: waves of immigration, segregation, westward expansion, urban decay, urban renewal, capitalism, labor disputes. … Need I go on?

Among SABR members I also never have to argue the importance of data—collecting, correcting, preserving, and interpreting data with an open mind. SABR members understand that no matter how passionate we are about a team or the game itself, that passion is misplaced if we aren’t looking at the game with open eyes. Science gives us the flexibility to re-evaluate in the face of new information rather than being trapped by outdated dogmas. The proof is in the way every major league team has adopted some form of a sabermetric approach in order to remain competitive. Data analysis and decision science works. I find it not at all incongruous that one of the country’s top political analysts, Nate Silver, cut his teeth at Baseball Prospectus.

Another thing I’ve learned from baseball: both teams matter. The teams don’t just compete with each other, they also have to cooperate within the rules in order for their mutual goal of a win-loss outcome to be reached. For the people to accord it the importance it has, baseball had to prove it was not corrupt, that the feelings of the fans were respected by true competition and not an outcome manipulated by gamblers (or even crooked owners) to improve the bottom line. The rules of the game and the integrity of what takes place on the field are crucial to fan participation. If the fans abandoned the game, it would no longer have the sway in our culture that it does. I admit I’m a little leery of some of the proposed changes (eliminating the four pitches from the intentional walk?) but at least I have general faith that the commissioner and owners understand not to strangle the golden goose.

So I have faith that baseball will endure, even in the current fractured political climate. It has endured through World Wars, race riots, and natural disasters, after all. Then there’s my other favorite American institution: our democracy. I must also have faith that our democratic institutions will endure because I am an optimist, but if the people lose faith, could democracy fade, as well? SABR and baseball have taught me to respect history, respect science, respect the rules, and respect your opponent. Those, to me, are American values, not political ones. They are the torch I carry here at the BRJ. You will find them reflected again and again in the search for knowledge and understanding in each article herein. I am grateful to SABR members for never giving up the quest to know more and better than before

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CECILIA M. TAN is SABR’s Publications Editor. She can be reached at ctan@sabr.org.