Williamsport excited to welcome President George W. and Laura Bush, Rachel Robinson and special guests to downtown ceremony
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The streets leading into Market Square will be closed Sunday as the dedication of the final installation of the Bases Loaded statue project is unveiled to the public with special guests, President George W. and First Lady Laura Bush, Rachel Robinson, widow of Jackie Robinson, Major League Baseball Commissioner Robert D. Manfred Jr. and Gov. Tom Wolf.
The ceremony, which is part of the celebration of the 75th anniversary of the Little League Baseball World Series, begins at 5 p.m. in Market Square and is open to the general public. The intersection of Market and West Third streets will be closed starting at noon Sunday and detours will be in place through the evening.
"Little League is beyond proud to call Williamsport our home and the Williamsport/Lycoming Chamber of Commerce's recognition of our organization through their Bases Loaded statue project has become a wonderful addition to our greater community," said Stephen D. Keener, Little League President and CEO.
The Bases Loaded project began in 2014 and is a series of sculptures that commemorates the history of Little League. The centerpiece of the project is 12 individual statues located in Market Square, each depicting different eras in Little League's history and embracing the diversity and timelessness of a sport played around the world, according to information from Little League Baseball.
The new statue featuring Cy Young, Jackie Robinson and President Bush will be behind the backstop as part of the home plate display, the organization revealed.
"We're extremely fortunate to have the former president making this trip back to Williamsport," said Williamsport Mayor Derek Slaughter, referring to the fact that Bush had visited the series in 2001, the only sitting president to do so.
"I'm looking forward to welcoming him back to Williamsport in honor of the 75th anniversary of Little League and of course his statue being unveiled," Slaughter said.
"We're particularly blessed to welcome Miss Rachel Robinson, who at 100-years young is making the trip to Williamsport. She's carried on the memory and legacy of her husband, of course the great Jackie Robinson for 50 years. It's extremely difficult to put into words what her being here means to so many of us," he said.
For Lycoming County Commissioner Scott Metzger, having a former president who was involved in Little League growing up and later having T-ball games on the White House lawns visit the city, is an honor.
"I think it's wonderful that the chamber has designed three more statues of influential people that were tied in with Major League Baseball and Little League Baseball as a legacy to be carried on throughout the community," Metzger said.
"It is wonderful that the former president and his wife would be taking their time to come back and revisit and sharing this special occasion and to have Rachel Robinson here. What Jackie Robinson did went far beyond baseball. It changed society forever for the good and to have (Rachel) here is an honor. I really look forward to having her here and to thank her for what she and her husband endured for many, many years. To have the opportunity for so many people through the years to have the ultimate dream, to achieve their dreams, to achieve what they wanted to do. So, it's going to be an honor to meet both the former president and Rachel Robinson," he said.
Metzger added that Carl Stotz, the founder of Little League, was a close friend of baseball great, Cy Young, who also is depicted in the statue being unveiled. Stotz was actually one of the pallbearers at Young's funeral, he said.
"They were very close. And for him (Young) to be here in the 50s over at the old field ... There are pictures down at Wegman's of Cy Young talking to those youth back in the 50s. That's several generations ago and he was the greatest pitcher of all time -- you look at the youngsters looking at him in that picture and their eyes are like saucers. 'Wow, that's Cy Young,'" Metzger said.
Congressman Fred Keller, R-Kreamer, who also plans to attend Sunday's event, said, "The Little League World Series is a special time of year for central Pennsylvania, where baseball lovers from across the world converge on Williamsport for friendly competition. It's exciting to have former President George W. Bush join us this year as we celebrate the 75th Little League World Series and the incredible work this organization has done for our youth."
The visit of the former president, for Williamsport City Councilman Adam Yoder, speaks to the role baseball plays in the community.
"Anytime you have a national leader, I think regardless of their affiliation, it's good to see," Yoder said. "I think it speaks to the role that baseball serves in our community and our culture and I think it really demonstrates Williamsport's importance in baseball -- the fact that we can attract a national leader like that."
Yoder plans on attending the ceremony.
"Whether it's a sitting president or a former president, or somebody campaigning for the presidency ... it's not very often you get to see them right in your backyard," he said.
Yoder sees Little League Baseball as a way of bringing the community together through events like the unveiling and the World Series.
"The history that Williamsport has with Little League Baseball, it's a really big part of our fabric and I think it's a point of pride for people in the community. There's a lot of craziness in the world right now on a lot of different levels and it's been a really tough couple of years with the pandemic and everything else," Yoder said.
"This is a really unifying aspect of our community and it's really great to see that we're able to display it in such a great way and demonstrate the pride we have in Little League Baseball and our role in it," he added.