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, St
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