Does the name Noah Shackles mean anything to you? Probably not, but if it does ring a bell, you may be wondering what the Little League slugger from the Hawaiian U.S. championship team’s chances are to crack the big leagues one day. As the Little League World Series finished up last Sunday with Japan’s victory against Hawaii, I found myself wondering how many of these pre-teenage All-Stars actually do end up in the pros.
As I dove into the depths of the Internet on my quest, I discovered a fair amount of these players actually do not fall off the face of the earth. Although every kid playing in the LLWS hopes to play in Major League Baseball’s Fall Classic one day, there have been only two players who played in the LLWS, the College World Series and the MLB World Series. One of them is Ed Vosberg, who played for the Tucson, Arizona LLWS team in 1973 before going on to play for the eventual 1980 NCAA champion University of Arizona. Vosberg’s 10-year Major League career culminated with his role as relief pitcher for the 1997 champion Florida Marlins. The other player to play in all three World Series owns two MLB rings — the long-time captain of the Boston Red Sox, Jason Varitek. “Tek” distinguishes himself from Vosberg by being the only player in the universe who has also played on an Olympic team and in the World Baseball Classic.
A handful of players have played in the LLWS and went on to play pro ball. Some have seen immense success in the big leagues. Gary Sheffield, for instance, hit 509 home runs throughout his 21-year pro career. Former New York Mets ace Dwight “Doc” Gooden, who led the 1986 champion team, played in the 1979 LLWS. Doc was the most dominant pitcher in the game for a few years during the late 1980s before succumbing to off-the-field problems such as drug issues. Former LLWS players have won Rookie of the Year honors just a few years removed from their Little League days. One such player is current Met Jason Bay, who played for the British Columbia team when he was just a wee lad. The greatest Baltimore Oriole not-named-Cal also played in the LLWS. Boog Powell — an Oriole great from 1961-74 who played in the 1954 Little League August Classic — led the team to four World Series, winning two of them and then going on to win an MVP distinction. And for all 10 of you Nationals fans from the D.C. area, Jason Marquis and former Nat Lastings Milledge both played in the LLWS. Milledge was at one time the youngest player in the league when he played for the 2006 NL East Champion Mets.
Surprisingly, there’s also a decent number of hockey players who once donned hats and gloves in their younger days. New York Rangers captain Chris Drury was the LLWS MVP when he played in Williamsport in 1989. Some 22 years later, the center won a Stanley Cup with the Colorado Avalanche and was a silver medalist in this year’s Olympic Games. Drury scored the go-ahead goal to break a 2-2 tie during the first game against Canada. Ray Ferraro, who scored more than 400 goals during his 18-year career, was a Little League all-star in 1976. Also, Stéphane Matteau represented Canada on Quebec’s Little League team. Matteau was an integral piece to the New York Rangers championship run back in 1994. Athletes outside the realm of baseball and hockey also have competed in the LLWS. You may think Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Matt Cassel made a name for himself filling in for the injured Tom Brady in 2008, but the former Patriots quarterback was on the national sports scene long before that in the 1994 LLWS.
Despite all this talk about former LLWS participants going pro, you may have noticed the most famous Little Leaguer of them all has yet to be mentioned. Where is Danny Almonte, the source of much controversy about an ambiguous birth certificate during the 2001 LLWS? Almonte led the Bronx Little League team to a third-place finish by dominating the kids two years younger than him. He even tossed the first perfect game the LLWS had seen since 1957. But Almonte has seen limited success since that historic moment, having tried out for a few Major League clubs to make it as far as the independent minor leagues. The now-23-year-old has recently claimed he has given up on his Major League aspirations. Almonte, who married a 30-year-old woman in 2005 — yes, when he was 18 — has been experiencing trouble in paradise and has decided to focus on fixing his relationship rather than playing baseball. But he has returned to the Bronx this year to serve as a volunteer assistant coach for his former high school’s baseball team.
So have we seen the Rookie of the Year winners for 2020 play baseball already or have they each exhausted their 15 minutes of fame? In 10 years, we may see the 22-year-old Noah Shackles doing what Ike Davis and Buster Posey are doing during their current rookie campaigns. In 20 years, we might even be comparing him to the likes of Jason Varitek. But there are only 750 jobs available in Major League Baseball and about 200-plus kids play in the LLWS each year. Only time will tell.
Mr. Cooper,
I can’t say how pleased I was to read your article on my son Noah. Noah is a great athlete and strives to be the best ball player he can be. he has enjoyed the game of baseball before he could even say the word. He is named after my grandfather, Noah Beal Hampton, who was an outstanding “sand lot” ball player in south during the 30′s and 40′s, in fact my grandfather was scouted by the St. Louis Browns picked to play for them. Unfortunately, shortly after reporting to the team he was called back home by my great-grandfather to help work the farm and never played. It is from him that my son get’s his passion for the game. While 2020 Rookie of the Year may be a stretch, I truly believe that if noah continues his passion and love for the game, and most of all has fun playing the game, that he may have a chance at playing in the major’s. Only time will tell, but I just wanted to thank you for a very well written article and the mentioning of my son.
Sincerely,
Dean Shackles
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